Home Page of Course

Recommended Practice	Reasoning
The home page of your course should be uncluttered. It should not be used to post course handouts.	Promotes content organization. Cuts down on the confusion. More aesthetic. Banner adds sense of identity and community. See example below.

Student Discussion Lounge	Reasoning
The discussion tool is an asynchronous communication tool. The student discussion area is an area for students to talk freely among themselves about topics that do not necessarily relate to class topics. Inform the students that you will not check this area for messages. Encourage them to use Netiquette when talking to classmates.	Giving students an area where they can socialize will build more sense of community for the class. This will also avoid cluttering the other discussion areas used for class topics.
Student Chat Lounge	Reasoning
The chat tool is a synchronous communication tool like Instant Messenger. The student chat lounge is an area for students to talk freely among themselves about topics that do not necessarily relate to class topics. Inform the students that you will not participate in this particular chat room. Encourage them to use Netiquette when talking to classmates.	The chat room lends itself to a different type of communication. It is better suited to brainstorming, or conversations that require a quick back-and-forth style of communication. This provides them an area to socialize in real time.
Learning Modules Folder	Reasoning
All learning units (learning modules) are located in this folder on the home page.	Grouping all learning units in a single area makes it easy for students to locate content from one course to the next.
Live Classroom (Wimba)	Reasoning
Live classroom is the best of all worlds for communication in real-time. Students can actually speak with each other across the Internet. All the students need are a microphone and speakers. Headsets with microphones are best.	This is pretty obvious. A human's normal mode of communication is through speaking. You can add as many Live Classrooms to a course as you like.