Once the course has been created, the Course Tools can be configured. Course Tools is a collection of course features that may be useful for various types of learning activities. It is found under the instructor's Manage tab. Tools include: Forums, Glossary, Site-map, Links, Polls, TILE Repository Search, Tests & Surveys, My Tracker, Export Content, Chat, Directory, Inbox, and Packages. Instructors can decide where these tools will be accessed from - the Main Navigation, and/or Course Home. Instructors can also set the Course Tools to display as just tool icons, or as tool icons plus details from each tool, by clicking the toggle image ( 
). Various additional information is included with the detailed view, such as links to the latest posts for forums, random words and phrases from the glossary, or the latest links added to the link database, for example. Also see Student Tools for details on moving tools to their own separate screen, removing them from the course home page.
If neither Main Navigation or Course Home options are selected, then that Course Tool be "turned off", or not accessible to students. An instructor might choose to turn on Course Tools as they are needed, for example turning on the Tests & Surveys tool when a test is available, or turning on the Chat when an online meeting is going to take place.
Using the arrows in the Order column will change the ordering of the student tool as it appears in the Main Navigation and on the Course Home page.
It is also possible to install the Course Tools Module, and use it as a place to locate links to the various ATutor tools, leaving the course home page as a splash screen, or as a place to display course announcments.