eLearning/CMS
- Project Wonderland: Good Avatars Make Good Neighbors
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7/2/2008
Sun Microsystems's Project Darkstar and the Wonderland Toolkit for building 3D spaces show why virtual reality is better for education than video conferencing. And Project Wonderland has announced its first education space.
- Wimba Classroom 5.2 Expands Classroom Capture Support, Adds MP3 Downloads
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7/2/2008
At the NECC 2008 conference in Texas this week, Wimba launched a new version of Wimba Classroom, the virtual classroom component of the company's Collaboration Suite. The new 5.2 release expands options for classroom capture and adds a variety of other functional and ease of use features.
- Automation Chimera: Education Is Not Management
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7/2/2008
The lure of automating workflow online so human intervention is minimized is continually reinforced in the minds of higher education administrators by examples of automated campus systems such as financials, student information systems, and other enterprise systems. But what's good for management is not always good for learning.
- Wake Forest U Aims To Reduce Note Taking with Classroom Capture
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6/30/2008
Students taking a course in venture capital at Wake Forest University have, over the last semester, benefited from the use of Recordant audio-capture technology that allows Web-based archiving, searching, and playback of course lectures. The university said one of the goals was to get students to close their notebooks and focus on comprehension, secure that they'd be able to access the captured lectures later on.
- Lyon's 1:1 Laptop Program Aims To 'Level the Playing Field' for Students
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6/26/2008
This fall Lyon College, a four-year liberal arts school in Arkansas, will join the elite ranks of post-secondary institutions offering laptops to all incoming freshmen. The program is part of a larger initiative, called "The Lyon Experience," which aims to bring "additional value to the education" the school provides. How can a small college roll out such an ambitious technology program? It's all a question of priorities, according to Lyon College President Walter Roettger.
- Podcasting in Instruction: Moving Beyond the Obvious
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6/25/2008
The lightweight, mobile nature of podcasting has the potential of moving education beyond familiar constraints of coursework and promoting a level of networking and input never seen before. But challenges still exist. Can more be achieved with podcasting that would heighten student engagement and maximize knowledge building in instructional contexts? Can we move beyond the obvious in their use?
- D2L: Blackboard's Comments 'Contempt(ible)'
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6/23/2008
On the heels of Blackboard's latest court action, Desire2Learn this week posted a response describing some of the commercial LMS leader's comments last week as "contempt(ible)" themselves and nothing more than a cynical attempt to create "fear, uncertainty, [and] doubt" in the marketplace. Blackboard filed a motion last Tuesday for contempt on the grounds that Desire2Learn had not fulfilled its obligations under a court order resulting from a patent infringement suit.
- Blackboard Continues Pursuit of Desire2Learn
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6/18/2008
[Update 2, 2:30 p.m. PDT] As Desire2Learn predicted last week, Blackboard is indeed continuing to pursue its rival, this time with a contempt motion that claims Desire2Learn's Learning Environment 8.3 did not sufficiently correct its software to remove code and features that infringe on Blackboard's e-learning patent. D2L released Learning Environment 8.3 in March as a "design workaround" in response to losing a patent infringement suit to Blackboard in February.
- Loyola, NOBTS Use Tech To Return to Pre-Katrina Numbers
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6/18/2008
A huge increase in freshman enrollment numbers for the fall semester has Loyola University in New Orleans pleased with its efforts to rebuild its student body after Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) is also looking at strong enrollment numbers, three years after the hurricane and its aftermath of flooding devastated New Orleans.
- Elicitus E-learning Authoring Tool Adds Embedded Sound Recorder
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6/17/2008
Harbinger Knowledge Products has released version 7.0 of Elicitus, its e-learning authoring tool. The new release provides usability enhancements, including an embedded sound recorder.
- Desire2Learn Pays Off Blackboard, Migrates All U.S. Clients to Learning Environment 8.3
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6/12/2008
Learning management system provider Desire2Learn Thursday said that it's finished migrating all of its clients in the United States to Learning Environment version 8.3. The company also said it's paid off Blackboard more than $3 million for the judgment Blackboard won in court in February. But the story doesn't end there.
- Free Lecture Capture Platform Adds Blackboard integration, Podcasting Features
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6/11/2008
Panopto told us this week that it's releasing CourseCast v2, an update to the company's classroom capture system, and making it available to educators free through its Socrates Project beta program.
- University Distance Learning Brings Flexibility to State-wide Training
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6/11/2008
Conducting disaster preparedness meetings among 14 Pennsylvania universities no longer requires hours or even days of travel time for university administrators. Instead, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) is using interactive collaboration software from Wimba to conduct some of its state-wide staff meetings and training sessions.
- Elluminate Launches Learning Suite, Planning Software for Online Learning
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6/9/2008
Ed tech developer Elluminate Monday announced new collaborative learning bundles--the Elluminate Learning Suite and the Elluminate Next bundle--and launched a new tool for planning online learning sessions called Elluminate Plan! The company also told us it's revamping its education licensing structure, moving away from a concurrent user model to a structure based on the full-time enrollment of educational institutions.
- iLinc Web Conferencing Tool Updated, Adds 'Green Meter'
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6/5/2008
iLinc released a new version of its Web conferencing tool, iLinc 10, which bolsters session management and adds a "green meter." The green meter shows cost savings, carbon emissions, and total distance not traveled by using Web conferencing versus in-person meetings. Administrators can also customize several variables in the meter to match their organization's specific policies.
- Gartner: E-learning Market Pushing Toward Open Source
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6/4/2008
With open source products maturing, Blackboard's ongoing lawsuit with Desire2Learn, and more and more functions linked to learning management systems, it can be a tough time for institutions to standardize on an e-learning platform.
- Can We Trust Students to Learn in Web 2.0?
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6/4/2008
A core debate about learning design arises from the fear that, if we allow learners too much freedom, they will not learn the right things. Web 2.0 exacerbates that fear because it is beyond the control of educators.
- Update: Blackboard Defends Patent, Files More Claims
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6/3/2008
As we reported last week, Blackboard has responded to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, urging it to rescind its rejection of the company's electronic learning patent. Blackboard has also appended new claims to the patent. Rival Desire2Learn accused Blackboard of reversing its position on the reexamination.
- DyKnow Software Suite Expands Active Directory, Blackboard Integration
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5/30/2008
Interactive classroom technology provider DyKnow this week released an update to its DyKnow Software Suite. The new release, version 5.1, includes updates to both components of the suite, DyKnow Vision and DyKnow Monitor, along with general administrative enhancements.
- Smart To Update Classroom Response System in July
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5/29/2008
Education technology developer Smart Technologies this week announced a new version of its Senteo interactive response system, Senteo 2.0. The free upgrade is expected to be available in July.
- Blackboard Defends Patent, Files More Claims
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5/28/2008
Blackboard this week defended its e-learning patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The USPTO in March rejected all of the claims in Blackboard's patent following a reexamination prompted by requests from open source advocate the Software Freedom Law Center and commercial rival Desire2Learn. But the patent rejection was not final, allowing Blackboard a window of time to respond to the decision.
- Social Networking: Learning Theory in Action
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5/28/2008
There has been a lot of recent debate on the benefits of social networking tools and software in education. While there are good points on either side of the debate, there remains the essential difference in theoretical positioning. Can social networking both as an instructional concept and user skill be integrated into the conventional approaches to teaching and learning? Do the skills developed within a social networking environment have value in the more conventional environments of learning?
- Frankenstein in the University
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5/28/2008
In our day-to-day encounters with new media, online education, and vendor software products, we may sometimes be tempted to believe that encroaching technology is controlling the way people teach and learn. Is there a monster in our midst, determining our actions?
- Angel LMS To Integrate with Classroom Response System
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5/27/2008
Angel Learning has teamed up with eInstruction to integrate the Classroom Performance System into Angel's learning management system. The integration will bring real-time gradebook input to Angel LMS, including attendance, assessments, and grade posting.
- Office Live Workspace Beta Released Internationally
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5/23/2008
Microsoft this week released an international beta of its Office Live Workspace (OLW) suite of productivity tools. The company also quietly launched an Office Live Update last week that takes on performance issues and brings in some additional functionality when working with Office 2007, XP, and 2003.
