Desire2Learn Integrates Elluminate Live! Collaboration Software
The Desire2Learn Learning Environment is gaining new collaborative capabilities thanks to the integration of the eLearning platform with Elluminate Live!, a suite of Web-based tools designed to facilitate online learning.
Desire2Learn and Elluminate announced recently that the two companies technologies will work together seamlessly within the D2L environment.
The Desire2Learn Learning Environment is a Web-based learning and course management system. Elluminate Live! is an electronic learning, conferencing, and online collaboration tool designed for use in education. It includes note taking features, two-way interactive video, archiving and automatic indexing of e-learning sessions, organizational tools for teachers (pop-up announcements, sorting of participants by hand raising, timers, and other features), whiteboarding, and various other collaboration tools.
Through the integration of the two, Desire2Learn users will be able to schedule Elluminate Live! sessions, deliver and attend sessions, and create and access Elluminate Live! interactive recordings.
"We have had positive feedback from our clients about the Elluminate Live! environment," said John Baker, president and CEO of Desire2learn, in a prepared statement. "By leveraging the extensibility of our growing framework for integrating third-party technology, we are making it easier for our joint clients to tightly integrate Elluminate's capabilities to our award-winning platform. Tighter relationships and integrations with partners have been a theme of our latest Learning Environment release and will continue to be a key driver in creating value for our clients in the future."
"For many organizations, a successful eLearning solution means a blended approach using both asynchronous and synchronous technology," said Maurice Heiblum, president of Elluminate. "We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Desire2Learn to provide this opportunity for academic institutions of all levels. The integration of Elluminate Live! enables even more educators to add synchronous distance learning and collaboration to their learning environments."
Desire2Learn also this week released its Open Source Developer Kit and a new Open Web Services API. The API provides programmatic access to Desire2Learn resources, including courses, enrollments, grades, and users. The Developer Kit is designed to assist in the creation of applications. According to Jeremy Auger, COO of Desire2Learn, the kit is "just the first step in our ongoing plan to incrementally enhance our service offerings providing greater collaboration with the broader development community."