Requirements Document
Louisa Rosenheck - lrosenhe
Teaching Tools - A Customizable Electronic Classroom

1. Premise

There is a lot of teaching and learning software available, from teaching
aids for the classroom to learn at home CD Roms, with a wide range of
content such as arithmetic, foreign languages, or home improvement. This
type of software is very effective because of the visual and audio
components and most of all because people can learn on their own time and
at their own pace. But- what about those creative people that want to
spice up their syllabus with their own electronic lessons? They must
resort to one-sided Power Point type presentations or struggle with
html. What teachers need is a creative software with built in templates
for the kinds of interactive lessons they need which can be customized to
fit an individual's teaching style and philosophy.

2. Focus

An advanced version of this software might either be very generic or have
enough specific modules so as to fit the needs of a very diverse group of
teachers. For this semester, I think it would be best to choose a certain
area of study and focus on implementing the features most applicable to
teaching that subject. For this requirements document, I will describe
software used for language learning, but the features specific to that
course of study could easily be changed to another subject.

3. Users

The user base of this version of Teaching Tools is anyone who wants to
teach a language to someone else. This could include teachers of language
courses at Brown, in high schools, or even in younger grades, that
want to supplement their lesson plan with review or practice on the
computer. It would also be useful for TA's that want to explain a specific
topic their students are having trouble with, or even for someone who is
trying to teach their friends a second language.

4. Description & Organization

Each user will have their own account, with seperate types of accounts for
teachers and students, and capabilities to specify which students have
access to which lessons. The students will be able to study lessons, do
practice exercise, and take quizzes and tests, as well as to see their own
grades. Teachers accounts have many more capabilities, including looking
at each student's accomplishments, creating and editing new lessons, and
reading the gradebook for their class.  The lesson editor will have a GUI
similar to common painting and drawing programs people are familiar
with. They can specify whether lessons are continuous or seperate, and the
result will be something in between a Power Point presentation and an html
document, that is, it will have direction, but the user also interacts
with it and can decide to go back and forth.

5. Functionality

5.1 Generic Features - features a version for any subject matter would
have

Gradebook
A database to keep the results of students tests as well as how many
lessons they have done, how much time they spent on it, and any other
pertinent information.

Quizzes/Tests
Functionality for creating all kinds of questions, including multiple
choice, fill in the blank, short answer, essay, etc. The teachers can
either grade them themselves or enter answers and have them
automatically graded.

Practice & Review Exercises
Formats similar to quizzes and tests would be available with optional
capabilities to check the correct answers and redo the exercises.

Games
Combine fun and learning by playing computer games that incorporate the
subject material.

Lessons
A multimedia editor, this creator can use images, sounds, text, movie
clips, etc. to create effective lessons.

5.2 Specific Features - features included in a version specializing in
language learning

Lessons
Templates and options would include vocab words, commonly used phrases, 
various texts, grammar explanations, additional boxes for notes on culture
or other things of interest, etc.

Games
Word-search or crossword puzzle creators, or existing word games modified
to incorporate teacher specified vocab.

Hyper-Words
This feature would enable the creator to specify words that are clickable
and provide definitions and recorded pronunciation.

Pronunciation Practice
This feature would provide a way for the students to record themselves
speaking and listen to it again to compare it with the native speaker's
pronunciation. A recording could also be handed in as part of an
examination.

Student's Notepad
A place for the students to keep links to pages in lessons they want to
keep for reference. Also includes space for a list of notable vocab words.