March 2008 — News
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On Heels of Injunction, Desire2Learn Releases New LMS, Repository, ePortfolio
These new features of the Learning Environment (part of the Enterprise eLearning Suite) include expanded customization options, including in the ares of course migration and "individualized learning paths"; new collaboration through group management (group discussion areas, group drop boxes, and group lockers); and expanded assessment and learning outcomes management features.
D2L has also released Learning Repository 3.9.5, an update to the company's digital asset management and content management tool. It includes new, "advanced" metadata features for sharing and reusing resources; new search capabilities; a consolidated "pool of learning objects"; and integration with Learning Environment and other external repositories.
In the category of completely new software, the company this week also launched Desire2Learn ePortfolio. the new electronic portfolio solution was developed with input from 75 individual institutions, the company told us, about 70 percent higher education, 20 percent K-12, and 10 percent corporate.
It includes personalized tools for organizing and sharing digital "artifacts" in online portfolios, with a wide variety of settings for customizing the portfolios into which assets will be placed and who can view them. "The user's ability to publish anything within the ePortfolio creates a complete view of their learning journey," the company said in a statement released yesterday. Students can also publish individual assessments, though instructors can determine which elements of those assessments can be viewable (questions and answers together, answers alone, overall score alone, etc.).
Some specific features include:
- Support for static and dynamic portfolios;
- Web 2.0 features, including widgets and tagging;
- Pre-defined, customizable themes;
- Administration of themes to allow institutions to create consistent elements (headers, footers, main sections, backgrounds, navigation, etc.) across all student portfolios;
- Customizable forms to allow students to display characteristics like work and education history and allow those data to be captured by the institution for analysis;
- A customizable dashboard; and
- An open-source WYSIWYG editor for creating new artifacts within the system.
Desire2Learn ePortfolio is also designed to integrate with D2L's Learning Environment. More information can be found at D2L's site, here.
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About the author: David Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's online education technology publications, including THE Journal and Campus Technology. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.
Proposals for articles and tips for news stories, as well as questions and comments about this publication, should be submitted to David Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.
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