Decision support systems

• Decision support systems are designed to assist decision-makers by providing them with relevant information,
data analysis, and tools to enhance the quality of their decisions.

• DSS offers interactive interfaces that allow users to manipulate data, explore scenarios, and perform “what-if”
analyses, fostering more informed decision-making.

• It utilizes advanced data analysis techniques, predictive modeling, and simulations to process and interpret
complex data, enabling insights and predictions.

• DSS can support various decision types, from unstructured strategic decisions to structured operational choices,
catering to different organizational needs.

• What is a Learning Management System?

• A Learning Management System is an educational platform that allows schools, colleges and
universities to manage their online learning materials and interactions in one place. Also
known as LMS, a Learning Management System gathers all course content, daily lessons,
assignments, tests/quizzes, feedback, and grading. In addition, an LMS handles student-
educator communications and serves as a place for instructors and learners to meet virtually.
A good Learning Management System offers an easy-to-use interface accessible from a
computer or mobile device.
• Learning Management Systems can be installed (self-hosted) or cloud-based platforms. An
installed LMS is a software application hosted locally and managed through the institution's
internal servers. While a cloud-based LMS is hosted in the cloud, making it easily accessible
from the internet.
• Most reliable Learning Management Systems follow the IMS Global Learning Consortium,
among other organizations that standardize the edtech industry. This helps assure efficient
integration and communication between e-learning tools and applications. A robust LMS
facilitates integration while providing security through preventative and detective mechanisms.
It also has secure processes, controls, and tools. As with any other technological application,
an LMS must follow data privacy laws to protect user information and ensure it's used only to
support students, institutions, and education.
• What are the benefits of using an LMS in your school system?
• Whether learning happens fully online, hybrid, or in-person, an LMS, or Learning Management
System, is the foundation of modern classroom management. It speeds up teaching and
learning, provides scalability for schools, colleges and universities, and can improve student
retention rates.
• Here are 10 benefits of using an LMS in your school, college or university:
• Automation
• an LMS saves money by automating daily tasks
• Productivity
• an LMS saves student and teacher time by assembling all e-learning materials, tools and
communications in one place
• Process Acceleration
• an LMS speeds up regular tasks, like grading and feedback, giving teachers more time to
teach
• Profitability
• one way an LMS can boost institutions profitability is by providing broad access and flexibility
to students, helping institutions take their businesses beyond their local markets
• Student Retention
• an LMS has several tools to keep today’s learners interested in learning and engaged, helping
drive retention rates
 • Tracking of Student Progress
• analytical data and reporting are generated in an LMS in order to measure student
achievements
• Personalized Learning
• an LMS provides customized learning paths, instructions, and assignments, respecting student
needs and pace
• Equitable Access
• in an LMS, all materials and instructions can be accessed online anywhere, anytime
• Consistency
• an LMS enables learners to keep learning alive even during unusual life events, helping
students create a consistent learning experience
• Innovation
• an LMS speeds up institutions digital transformation, keeping them relevant in a very
competitive and constantly changing market.

What Are Desktop Applications?

Desktop applications are software programs run locally on computer devices. They aren’t accessible from a browser, like
web-based apps, and require deployment on a personal computer or laptop.

• Desktop applications are software programs that run on computers and use system resources to perform their
functions123. They run on top of operating systems such as Linux, Microsoft Windows, and macOS2. Examples of
desktop applications include1243:Windows File Explorer

• Microsoft Office

Core apps and services

• Microsoft Word is a word processor included in Microsoft Office and some editions of the now-
discontinued Microsoft Works. The first version of Word, released in the autumn of 1983, was for the MS-DOS
operating system and introduced the computer mouse to more users. Word 1.0 could be purchased with a
bundled mouse, though none was required. Following the precedents of LisaWrite and MacWrite, Word for
Macintosh attempted to add closer WYSIWYG features into its package. Word for Mac was released in 1985.
Word for Mac was the first graphical version of Microsoft Word. Initially, it implemented the
proprietary .doc format as its primary format. Word 2007, however, deprecated this format in favor of Office
Open XML, which was later standardized by Ecma International as an open format. Support for Portable
Document Format (PDF) and OpenDocument (ODF) was first introduced in Word for Windows with Service
Pack 2 for Word 2007.[19]

• Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet editor that originally competed with the dominant Lotus 1-2-3 and eventually
outsold it. Microsoft released the first version of Excel for the Mac OS in 1985 and the first Windows version
(numbered 2.05 to line up with the Mac) in November 1987.

• Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program used to create slideshows composed of text, graphics, and
other objects, which can be displayed on-screen and shown by the presenter or printed out
on transparencies or slides.

• Microsoft OneNote is a notetaking program that gathers handwritten or typed notes, drawings, screen
clippings and audio commentaries. Notes can be shared with other OneNote users over the Internet or a
network. OneNote was initially introduced as a standalone app that was not included in any Microsoft Office
2003 edition. However, OneNote eventually became a core component of Microsoft Office; with the release
of Microsoft Office 2013, OneNote was included in all Microsoft Office offerings. OneNote is also available as
a web app on Office on the web, a freemium (and later freeware) Windows desktop app, a mobile
app for Windows Phone, iOS, Android, and Symbian, and a Metro-style app for Windows 8 or later.
• Microsoft Outlook (not to be confused with Outlook Express, Outlook.com or Outlook on the web) is a personal
information manager that replaces Windows Messaging, Microsoft Mail, and Schedule+ starting in Office 97; it
includes an e-mail client, calendar, task manager and address book. On the Mac OS, Microsoft offered several
versions of Outlook in the late 1990s, but only for use with Microsoft Exchange Server. In Office 2001, it
introduced an alternative application with a slightly different feature set called Microsoft Entourage. It
reintroduced Outlook in Office 2011, replacing Entourage.[20]

• Microsoft OneDrive is a file hosting service that allows users to sync files and later access them from a web
browser or mobile device.

• Microsoft Teams is a platform that combines workplace chat, meetings, notes, and attachments.

Windows-only apps

• Microsoft Publisher is a desktop publishing app for Windows mostly used for designing brochures, labels,
calendars, greeting cards, business cards, newsletters, web sites, and postcards.

• Microsoft Access is a database management system for Windows that combines the relational Access Database
Engine (formerly Jet Database Engine) with a graphical user interface and software development tools. Microsoft
Access stores data in its own format based on the Access Database Engine. It can also import or link directly to
data stored in other applications and databases.[21]

• Microsoft Project is a project management app for Windows to keep track of events and to create network
charts and Gantt charts, not bundled in any Office suite.

• Microsoft Visio is a diagram and flowcharting app for Windows not bundled in any Office suite.

Mobile-only apps

• Office Lens is an image scanner optimized for mobile devices. It captures the document (e.g. business card,
paper, whiteboard) via the camera and then straightens the document portion of the image. The result can be
exported to Word, OneNote, PowerPoint or Outlook, or saved in OneDrive, sent via Mail or placed in Photo
Library.

• Office Mobile is a unified Office mobile app for Android and iOS, which combines Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
into a single app and introduces new capabilities as making quick notes, signing PDFs, scanning QR codes, and
transferring files.[22]

• Office Remote is an application that turns the mobile device into a remote control for desktop versions of Word,
Excel and PowerPoint.

Server applications

• Microsoft SharePoint is a web-based collaborative platform that integrates with Microsoft Office. Launched in
2001, SharePoint is primarily sold as a document management and storage system, but the product is highly
configurable and usage varies substantially among organizations. SharePoint services include:

• Excel Services is a spreadsheet editing server similar to Microsoft Excel.

• InfoPath Forms Services is a form distribution server similar to Microsoft InfoPath.

• Microsoft Project Server is a project management server similar to Microsoft Project.

• Microsoft Search Server

• Skype for Business Server is a real-time communications server for instant messaging and video-conferencing.

• Microsoft Exchange Server is a mail server and calendaring server.

Web services
• Microsoft Sway is a presentation web app released in October 2014. It also has a native app
for iOS and Windows 10.

• Delve is a service that allows Office 365 users to search and manage their emails, meetings, contacts, social
networks and documents stored on OneDrive or Sites in Office 365.

• Microsoft Forms is an online survey creator, available for Office 365 Education subscribers.

• Microsoft To Do is a task management service.

• Outlook.com is a free webmail with a user interface similar to Microsoft Outlook.

• Outlook on the web is a webmail client similar to Outlook.com but more comprehensive and available only
through Office 365 and Microsoft Exchange Server offerings.

• Microsoft Planner is a planning application available on the Microsoft Office 365 platform.

• Microsoft Stream is a corporate video sharing service for enterprise users with an Office 365 Academic or
Enterprise license.

• Microsoft Bookings is an appointment booking application on the Microsoft Office 365 platform.

Office on the web

Office on the web

Clockwise from top

left: Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint in Office on
the web as of September 2018

Type of site • Spreadsheet

• Presentation

• Notetaking

• Word processor

• Web mail
 • File hosting service

Owner Microsoft

Created by Microsoft

URL www.microsoft.com/en/microsoft-
365/free-office-online-for-the-web

Commercial Freemium

Registration Mandatory for webmail and file

sharing; optional for others

Launched June 7, 2010; 14 years ago[23]

Office on the web is a free lightweight web version of Microsoft Office and primarily includes three web
applications: Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The offering also includes Outlook.com, OneNote and OneDrive which
are accessible through a unified app switcher. Users can install the on-premises version of this service, called
Office Online Server, in private clouds in conjunction with SharePoint, Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft
Lync Server.[24]

Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on the web can all natively open, edit, and save Office Open XML files (docx, xlsx,
pptx) as well as OpenDocument files (odt, ods, odp). They can also open the older Office file formats (doc, xls,
ppt), but will be converted to the newer Open XML formats if the user wishes to edit them online. Other formats
cannot be opened in the browser apps, such as CSV in Excel or HTML in Word, nor can Office files that are
encrypted with a password be opened. Files with macros can be opened in the browser apps, but the macros
cannot be accessed or executed.[25][26][27] Starting in July 2013, Word can render PDF documents or convert them
to Microsoft Word documents, although the formatting of the document may deviate from the original. [28] Since
November 2013, the apps have supported real-time co-authoring and autosaving files.[29][30]

Office on the web lacks a number of the advanced features present in the full desktop versions of Office,
including lacking the programs Access and Publisher entirely. However, users are able to select the command
"Open in Desktop App" that brings up the document in the desktop version of Office on their computer or device
to utilize the advanced features there.[31][32]

Supported web browsers include Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer 11, the latest versions of Firefox or Google
Chrome, as well as Safari for OS X 10.8 or later.[33]

The Personal edition of Office on the web is available to the general public free of charge with a Microsoft
account through the Office.com website, which superseded SkyDrive (now OneDrive) and Office Live Workspace.
Enterprise-managed versions are available through Office 365.[34] In February 2013, the ability to view and edit
files on SkyDrive without signing in was added. [35] The service can also be installed privately in enterprise
environments as a SharePoint app, or through Office Web Apps Server.[24] Microsoft also offers other web apps in
the Office suite, such as the Outlook Web App (formerly Outlook Web Access),[36] Lync Web App (formerly Office
Communicator Web Access),[37] Project Web App (formerly Project Web Access).[38] Additionally, Microsoft offers
a service under the name of Online Doc Viewer to view Office documents on a website via Office on the web. [39]

• LibreOffice

LibreOffice is a powerful and free office suite, a successor to OpenOffice(.org), used by millions of people around
the world. Its clean interface and feature-rich tools help you unleash your creativity and enhance your
 productivity. LibreOffice includes several applications that make it the most versatile Free and Open Source office
suite on the market: Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), Draw (vector
graphics and flowcharts), Base (databases), and Math (formula editing).

LibreOffice is compatible with a wide range of document formats such as Microsoft® Word (.doc, .docx), Excel
(.xls, .xlsx), PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx) and Publisher. But LibreOffice goes much further with its native support for a
modern and open standard, the Open Document Format (ODF). With LibreOffice, you have maximum control
over your data and content – and you can export your work in many different formats including PDF.

• Web browsers

• Adobe Photoshop

What is a Web Application?

A web application is an application software that does not require installation and can
instead be accessed from a remote server via web browser. Web applications are made for
interaction, allowing users to send and consume data between the browser and the web
server. This interaction can be as simple as logging in to an account, or as complex as
making a payment with your credit card.

What is the Difference Between a Website and a Web

Application?
While the terms website and web application are often used interchangeably, they can
denote somewhat different things. Most commonly, a website is defined as a set of
information-carrying pages that are inter-related and accessed through a web browser. A
web application, on the other hand, is an application software that runs on a web server
and is accessed by the user through a web browser.

If a website could be said to be defined by its content, then a web application would be
defined by its interaction with the user. As such, web applications are significantly more
complicated than static websites, both in general architecture and features.

Web Application Architecture

In order to facilitate this complex flow of data, web applications are usually designed with
different layers. The most common design paradigm is a three-layered design consisting
of a presentation layer (web browser), application layer (server), and storage layer
(database). In this system, the presentation layer is responsible for relaying user data to
the application layer, which can process that data and do any number of things, including
passing it to the storage layer for “safe-keeping.”

Many times, web applications can grow to be very complex. In these cases, a three-layered
design may fall short. This may necessitate the introduction of additional layers to handle
this complexity. For instance, the introduction of an integration layer between the
application and storage layers can help provide a uniform interface for data access,
allowing the application layer to be insulated from changes that occur to the storage layer
implementation.

If you’re interested in learning more about the technology that’s behind your favorite web
applications, install the Wappalyzer chrome extension. If you navigate to a site, you can
click on it and it will give you a list of the different technologies used to build it.