First of all, the WBC environment should be very easy to use so that even inexperienced students quickly find their way. A student should be able to freely navigate in the course structure and to have simple access to tools like a keyword search engine, communication sections and an index and glossary. If the basic functions of a WBC aren't extremely easy to use, most of the students will be frustrated and refrain from studying online. To support the student to work on the course material, it should be possible for them to make personal annotations - at least pure text or better formatted text, formulas and graphics. As paper is still one of the most trusted and handy media, the system should support printing the entire or parts of a course including personal annotations.
Social contacts are a crucial point in learning situations.
Students should therefore be able to present themselves in a personal homepage with a photograph, a list of hobbies and other personal aspects. Such personal presentations are not toys, but they can help the students to get into contact even more easily than in live classroom situations. We distinguish between asynchronous and synchronous communication facilities. Email is the most important asynchronous way for communication. The system should also support group communications by offering discussion forums and shared workspaces where students can exchange documents.