0.3 Introduction to connexions

Overview

Connexions is a web-based document creation and management system for educational and research materials. There are two parts toConnexions: a content repository that contains these materials, and the software tools necessary to create, manage, and access thesematerials. The software underlying Connexions is called Rhaptos and was initially developed by the Connexions project specifically for Connexions.

From its inception, Connexions was designed to allow the collaborative development and free availability of material.Instructors and authors can modify this material for any educational purpose. Connexions offers free and open source softwaretools to help students, instructors, and authors manage these information assets for sharing and advancing knowledge tobenefit the global educational community. All of this is accomplished through the use of the Creative Commons Attribution license .

There are several general categories of Connexions users:

• Students - who use Connexions to access information on-line, to prepare for their classes.
• Authors - who enter content into Connexions in document files called modules .
• Instructors - who build collections , which are documents created by linking related modules together in a specific order.
• Organizations - who endorse quality content, or highlight content affiliated with their organization, in a post-publication vetting system called lenses .

The connexions home page

The Connexions home page is the starting point for your use of Connexions. It contains thefollowing items:

• Home, Content, Lenses, About Us, Help, and MyCNX tabs
• Breadcrumb Navigation Bar
• Search Box and Quick Links
• My Account and Login Sidebar
• Featured Content
• Find Content
• Create Content
• Spotlight Sidebar
• Connexions News Sidebar

Home, content, lenses, about us, help, and mycnx tabs

On the upper left of the Connexions home page are tabs labeled Home , Content , Lenses , About Us , Help , and MyCNX . Clicking on these tabs display the following Connexions pages:

• Home returns to the Connexions home page.
• Content takes you to the Content landing page, where you can search for modules and collections of interest or browse the repository by subject, author, popularity and more.
• Lenses is a portal to all user and organization-created lenses .
• About displays the "About Us" page that contains a general descriptionof Connexions and links to more detailed information about Connexions, how it works, ways to get involved, the people behind it, and a listof contacts.
• Help displays the "Help" page that contains links to installation,reference, and other information to answer your questions about Connexions.
• MyCNX displays your member dashboard if you are signed in. Thispage includes links to your Work Areas , your lenses, and content you've recently visited.