First Look: Desire2Learn Essentials

By David Nagel

This week Desire2Learn introduced a new course management/learning management system--Desire2Learn Essentials--targeted toward smaller institutions: those with fewer than 5,000 users, including K-12 schools and districts, virtual high schools, colleges, universities, and e-learning programs. We have an exclusive first look at this new system.

The new tool, called Desire2Learn Essentials, offers functionality similar to that of D2L's large-scale Desire2Learn Learning Environment, along with customization features designed to enhance experiences for students and faculty alike. The hosted solution (hosted by Desire2Learn) is designed to deliver full-scale features but in a compact, modular design that can be customized at virtually every level of the interface--from the welcome screen all the way down to individual courses....

Read Complete Article | Back to top

Cherokee County Uses ViewCast for Distance Learning

The Pennsylvania Department of Education will implement new real-time collaboration capabilities using LiveAccess from Vemics Inc., a developer of collaboration and learning tools. Live Access combines multipoint video, voice, and data technologies with content, consulting, and customer support....

Read more | Back to top

Autodesk Outlines Education Support

Autodesk, the developer of CAD, post-production, and 3D animation tools, has laid out plans for its support of education in the coming year. The company announced several initiatives impacting K-12 education, in particular investments supporting STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math)....

Read more | Back to top

Patent Office Grants D2L Reexam Request

Desire2Learn is, at present, the defendant in a patent-infringement lawsuit filed by Blackboard in July 2006....

Read more | Back to top

Canon Intros New LV-Series Projectors

Canon has introduced three new models in its LV series of LCD multimedia projectors. The new models are targeted toward the presentation market and range in price from $999 to $1,499....

Read more | Back to top

Angel LMS Integrates with Horizon Wimba

Angel Learning has released enhancements to its Angel Learning Management Suite (LMS), enabling it to integrate with Horizon Wimba's Live Classroom and Wimba Voice Boards....

Read more | Back to top

ProProfs Launches Free Online Quiz Service

Online learning resource provider ProProfs.com has launched a new service called ProProfs Quiz School, which allows teachers to generate custom quizzes online. The new service is available free for educators and students....

Read more | Back to top

• JUNE 24-27, 2007
  NECC 2007
  28th-Annual National Educational Computing Conference
  Atlanta, GA

Share Your Best Practices

T.H.E. Journal is currently looking for the following types of articles for future issues and for our eNewsletter, T.H.E. SmartClassroom:

• School Perspectives - discuss a specific topic, trend, or concern about education technology.
• Case Studies – have you implemented technology and learned a lot from the experience? If so, share your efforts about what worked -- and what didn't.

If you have a potential article, or questions about the above topics, please e-mail [email protected]

Awesome Clipart for Educators

Awesome Clipart for Educators offers educators FREE clipart, backgrounds, fonts, icons, worksheets, wallpaper and more. Click here to see how easy searching for clipart can be!