September 2005 — Industry Perspective
Print this article | Email this articleClick here to receive your FREE subscription to T.H.E. Journal
eLearning that Goes Beyond Text and Graphics
Matching Learning Objectives with lodeStar
In the summer of 2001, a small team of instructional designers and programmers, led by Mark Burrs and Robert Bilyk, launched an alpha version of a new tool that would finally realize their career-long dream in instructional technology. Their goal was for teachers to use one simple tool called lodeStar (www.lodeStarLearning.com) to create WebQuests, flash cards, games, timelines, slide shows, quizzes, presentations, and more—all by filling out a form. With a click of a button, teachers could publish to Class Server, or with several clicks, publish to Blackboard, Desire2Learn, WebCT, and other learning management systems (LMS). With lodeStar (not another authoring system or LMS), teachers can quickly create activities that closely match their learning objectives. LodeStar is a simple step-by-step program that lets teachers create activities quickly; there are no features that make the product confusing or impractical for teachers to use.
Today, lodeStar is used by US and Canadian teachers in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary schools. To date, lodeStar has been translated into two European languages and meets both the IMS content packaging specification and the Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM).
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
