> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.chamilo.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.chamilo.org/student-guide/student-guide/courses/course-tools-overview.md).
# Finding Your Way Around a Course
Once you open a course, you'll see its homepage with a grid of tool icons. This page explains what each tool means for you as a learner, and links to where the underlying feature is described in more detail.
Only tools your teacher has made visible to learners appear in your grid — your teacher may see additional, hidden tools that aren't shown to you. If a tool you expect isn't there, it may simply be hidden, or disabled for the whole course; ask your teacher.
## The Tool Grid
| Tool | Icon | What it means for you | Learn more |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Documents | 
| Read and download files your teacher has uploaded | [Documents](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/adding-content/documents.md) |
| Learning paths | 
| Follow a guided sequence of activities in order, tracking your own progress as you go | [Learning Paths](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/adding-content/learning-paths.md) |
| Links | 
| Open external resources your teacher has curated | [Links](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/adding-content/links.md) |
| Tests (Exercises) | 
| Take quizzes and exams; some are graded automatically, some by your teacher | [Exercises](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/assessing-learners/exercises.md) |
| Announcements | 
| Read important updates posted by your teacher | [Announcements](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/adding-content/announcements.md) |
| Assessments (Gradebook) | 
| See your own scores across the course's graded activities, and any certificate you've earned | [Gradebook](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/assessing-learners/gradebook.md) |
| Glossary | 
| Look up key terms defined for the course | [Glossary](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/adding-content/glossary.md) |
| Attendances | 
| See your own recorded attendance, if your teacher tracks it | [Attendance](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/assessing-learners/attendance.md) |
| Course progress | 
| See a summary of how far you've advanced through the course | [Course Progress](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/additional-tools/course-progress.md) |
| Agenda | 
| See course-specific events and deadlines | — |
| Forum | 
| Read and post in threaded discussions with your teacher and classmates | [Forums](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/collaboration-and-communication/forums.md) |
| Dropbox | 
| Exchange files privately with your teacher or classmates | [Dropbox](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/additional-tools/dropbox.md) |
| Users | 
| See who else is enrolled in the course | — |
| Groups | 
| Work within a smaller group assigned by your teacher, with its own shared tools | [Groups](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/collaboration-and-communication/groups.md) |
| Chat | 
| Message your teacher or classmates in real time | [Chat](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/collaboration-and-communication/chat.md) |
| Assignments | 
| Submit files or text for your teacher to review and grade | [Assignments](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/assessing-learners/assignments.md) |
| Surveys | 
| Answer questionnaires, sometimes anonymously | [Surveys](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/assessing-learners/surveys.md) |
| Wiki | 
| Collaboratively write and edit shared pages | [Wiki](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/collaboration-and-communication/wiki.md) |
| Notebook | 
| Keep your own private notes within the course | [Notebook](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/additional-tools/notebook.md) |
| Portfolio | 
| Build a personal collection of work to showcase or submit | [Portfolio](/teacher-guide/teacher-guide/additional-tools/portfolio.md) |
| Reporting | 
| Nothing, for you — see below | — |
## Tools You Won't See — and One That Won't Work
A few entries exist only for teachers and course administrators to configure the course itself — course settings, course maintenance (backup/import/export), the course homepage editor, and (on most platforms) the Blog tool live in a "More actions" menu that only appears to people with edit rights on the course. As a learner, you won't see this menu at all.
The **Reporting** tile is a special case: it does appear in your grid, but it opens the whole-class tracking view meant for teachers, so clicking it gets you an access-denied message rather than anything useful:
Don't worry — your own progress is available elsewhere: from **My Progress** in the main sidebar (see [Understanding the Interface](/student-guide/student-guide/getting-started/understanding-the-interface.md) and [My Progress](/student-guide/student-guide/my-progress.md)), and from the **Course progress** and **Assessments** tools above, both of which show your own data.
If your course has AI features enabled, you may also notice that a teacher's "AI analyzer" option (used to pre-train the AI Tutor on the course's own content) is different from the learner-facing **AI Tutor** chat — see [AI Tutor Chatbot](/student-guide/student-guide/courses/ai-tutor.md).
## Tips
* **Missing a tool?** Ask your teacher — it's most likely hidden or disabled rather than broken.
* **Course description and announcements** can be turned off entirely by your teacher; if so, they won't appear for anyone, teacher included.
* **Everything here can vary by course** — your teacher decides which tools are active and visible for each course individually.