Archive for November, 2009

by John Bowers, Julie Dent, and Kathleen Barnes

• Offering campus technology training online is an effective, sustainable alternative to live training workshops that saves space, time, equipment, and paper.
• Video tutorials are short, Flash-based animated sequences of screenshots with voiceover narration that can be combined with assessments for more comprehensive online workshops.
• Video tutorials for technology training are most useful when created by campus trainers and customized for campus audiences.
• Implementing video tutorials facilitates rolling out new campus technology initiatives with universally available training already in place.

Technology training is a resource-intensive endeavor with inherent potential for waste. Such training is commonly offered in live, face-to-face workshops on campus, without charge, by colleges and universities who value technology skills in their faculty, staff, and students. The true cost to the institution begins with the space used for training, the time (and salary) of the trainers, and the time of the training participants. Other direct costs include paper for training materials, travel for participants not on the main campus, computers used by the participants, licenses for software, and projection equipment used by the trainers. The live training model is wasteful for several other reasons, as well. Dedicated training facilities are often idle or used at less than full capacity, for example, and when users register for training and do not attend, training staff time is wasted or used less efficiently. For participants, if the training turns out to be too elementary, too advanced, something they already know, or something they’ll never be able to use, their time is wasted.

Online video tutorials offer a less wasteful, more sustainable method for delivering technology training. A video tutorial is produced once and can be used an unlimited number of times. This saves time for the trainer, who does not have to offer the same live training over and over. Because the training is available anytime and anywhere, it does not require specialized training facilities equipped with computers, software, and projection. It also saves time for the participants, who do not have to travel and commit time to scheduled workshops. Instead, they can view the training when they need it and can skip the material if it does not fit their needs.

Online training supports growth and development by offering convenient self-service options for user populations to improve their technology skills. This article discusses our experience at Western Kentucky University (WKU) developing video tutorials as an environmentally friendly, financially efficient alternative to live technology training.

Technology Training at WKU

Campus technology training is one of the major responsibilities of the Academic Technology Department, a unit of the Information Technology Division at WKU. We have offered more than 90 different workshop titles in face-to-face live training over the past three years. Technology training has to be customized for the various campus populations: students, faculty, staff, and sometimes individual departments. For example, students only need to know how turn in an assignment on Blackboard, while faculty require a more detailed understanding of how to use the Assignment feature in their courses.

Having users well trained in technology has become more crucial on our campus. This is documented as an objective in the WKU Strategic Plan: “Develop the professional, instructional, and technological competence of faculty and staff” (see item 3b). At the same time, other pressures have made it increasingly difficult to attract participants to live training workshops. Our university’s users are dispersed geographically and have more demands on their time than ever. We have an increasing number of online students and adjunct faculty not located near campus, many of whom never travel to campus. Addressing the needs of these populations — without increasing the workloads of a very limited number of training staff — was our challenge.

In July 2006, WKU Vice President for Information Technology and CIO Richard Kirchmeyer asked us to focus on providing better online training resources. At that time, we had begun closing some of our specialized technology training facilities in order to add work space for new staff. These events precipitated WKU’s new initiative to offer much of our training through video tutorials.

Our definition of a video tutorial is a Flash-based animated sequence of screen shots, with voiceover narration and explanation, illustrating how to perform a technology task. Video tutorials are designed for online consumption on any network-connected computer running a browser. Initially, we hoped to improve customer service and allow our users to receive assistance anytime, anywhere.

The result has exceeded our expectations, with our video tutorial project impacting the environment in which we work as well as the users we assist. Video tutorials let us reach adjunct faculty and online students, most of whom need assistance outside traditional working hours and cannot travel to campus for live training. Our video tutorials and online workshops reduce the amount of face-to-face training offered and allow users to obtain on-demand, self-service training that makes more efficient use of their time while saving travel time and costs. Video tutorials greatly reduce the use of paper because they don’t require printed materials, and utility costs are reduced because fewer training rooms are needed. A single video tutorial can be accessed an unlimited number of times by an unlimited number of users, positively affecting the overall trainers’ workload and leveraging their efforts.

WKU Video Tutorial Guidelines

Our previous customer service model offered a limited number of face-to-face training sessions each month in specialized technology training rooms. The small number of trainers made it difficult to offer training sessions on nights or weekends. Live training was generally favored over written instruction sheets because many technology tasks involve a complicated sequence of instructions, and the clearest way to teach a task to someone is to demonstrate it in real time with screenshots, animated mouse movements, and explanatory narration. In 2006, we began to apply these same live training skills to friendly, recorded training tutorials that would be customized for our users and offered online.

All Academic Technology training staff have learned to create video tutorials and participate in the group that reviews and approves each new tutorial. As we began to create a fledgling collection of new video tutorials, we realized that we needed to put guidelines and practices in place to ensure that all tutorials conformed to some basic standards. For example, we decided our video tutorials should be less than five minutes long, because they are designed to answer one or two “How do I…?” questions. We believe that a user sitting at his or her computer will be looking for just-in-time answers, will be multitasking, and will have limited patience and attention span for complicated technical material. Some of the other foundational guidelines for the WKU video tutorials are:

• All video tutorials have audio narration captioned on screen.
• The trainer/narrator introduces him or herself at the beginning of each tutorial.
• Opening and closing screens are standardized across all tutorials.
• The trainer/narrator pays careful attention to screenshots, assuring the image shown in the tutorial matches what the users will see on their own screens.

Because each tutorial is created, scripted, produced, and narrated by a single Academic Technology trainer, the tutorials take on the trainer’s personality. This is encouraged, because we understand that faculty and staff know our trainers and appreciate the sense that these same trainers are hosting and guiding them. We know software manufacturers produce generic training tutorials and that commercial tutorial libraries are available, but our tutorials are customized for the WKU computing environment and do not have an impersonal or boilerplate feel. Use of local knowledge and training talent is a key to this training model, which we believe can be adapted for any university with its own technology training program.

We choose content for video tutorials based on our existing face-to-face training sessions, help desk cases, and specific faculty or staff requests. Popular topics include Microsoft Office, Adobe products, Blackboard, and Tegrity. Figure 1 shows a current list of the categories in which we have created video tutorials.

Figure 1. Categories of WKU Video Tutorials

Once created, the tutorials can be accessed by an unlimited number of users as many times as desired. The Flash format ensures the easiest access, since Flash capability is nearly universal with browsers, and the Flash player can be downloaded from the Internet. Help desk staff use the tutorials to answer clients’ questions, as well as to sharpen their own technical knowledge. We have also created 15 extended online workshops consisting of a series of video tutorials and interactive quizzes. This format accommodates the user’s schedule, pace, and location and replaces full-scale training sessions that were, in some cases, poorly attended. Adding the online component to the existing face-to-face training schedule has increased our potential audience substantially.

Creating a Quality Product

The Academic Technology video tutorial project began with a group of trainers who wanted to create a better online training experience for users, providing 24 × 7 access to excellent WKU-customized training resources without incurring additional costs. Much discussion centered on what software to use in creating the video tutorials and how to create a product that was professional and engaging. After investigating several types of software, we chose Adobe Captivate as our standard. Other software programs adopted elsewhere for similar projects include the commercial products Camtasia Studio from TechSmith, lecture capture software from Tegrity, Mien Software’s ScreenRecord, iShowU from ShinyWhiteBox, Telestream’s ScreenFlow (a Macintosh alternative), and AllCapture from Balesio Software. Free software alternatives include CamStudio, TechSmith’s JingProject, Screencast-O-Matic, and Wink from Satish Kumar’s DebugMode site. The key consideration was maximum flexibility in recording and editing narration and screenshot sequences, with final output as a Flash file that runs in any compatible browser with the free Flash plug-in properly installed. At the time we selected it, Captivate was the only software that fulfilled all our requirements.

From the beginning, each trainer had his or her own ideas about how to create a video tutorial. We had to meld those ideas to make the project successful. At first, we tried to record our audio on the fly as we performed screen captures, but that method created more headaches in terms of editing. Ultimately, we adopted the method of recording our screen captures and then recording the audio separately, matching it to the screen captures. It is easy to set the length of time that a screen capture displays in a Captivate video tutorial, so each screen displayed can be easily matched to the relevant recorded audio narration. Although not spontaneous, this approach is well suited to a tutorial with narration scripted from start to finish. It also allowed us to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements by providing text captions for our narration. The relevant regulation, in section 1194.24 “Video and multimedia products,” reads as follows:

“All training and informational video and multimedia productions which support the agency’s mission, regardless of format, that contain speech or other audio information necessary for the comprehension of the content, shall be open or closed captioned.”

We developed the following video production standards for WKU (although an institution with different requirements might choose different standards):

1. Use 790 × 545 window size in Captivate. Set the window of the software you are demonstrating to the same size. We discovered that this was the lowest common denominator in terms of screen size being used on campus.
2. Video tutorials should be scripted. Use active voice, if possible.
3. Use the following language at the beginning of your presentation: “Hello. I’m _____________ with Academic Technology, and welcome to this _______________ training tutorial.”
4. Use verbatim captions of audio recording.
5. Captions should be displayed in a 14-point, bold, sans serif font. Use the customized Presenter Black as a caption background. All type should be centered in the caption. Place your caption in the same area consistently throughout your video. If an object interferes with your caption, adjust accordingly.
6. We worked with the IT help desk to develop the last slide viewed in each tutorial. Because the help desk prefers a phone call to be the first point of contact, we only provide the phone number on the slide. The IT help desk slide uses the following language: “Thank you. This tutorial was developed by the Western Kentucky University Information Technology Division. If you have questions or need further assistance, please contact the IT help desk at (270) 745-7000.”

Figure 2 shows a screenshot from a video tutorial illustrating how we apply many of these standards. See also the WKU video tutorial on using Captivate to produce video tutorials, “Setting Up Your Captivate Files,” developed for WKU users by Kathleen Barnes (requires Flash).

Figure 2. Screenshot Showing Tutorial Standards Applied

Once finished, a video tutorial cannot be released to the public until it is reviewed by the IT Video Tutorial review group, which consists of trainers, help desk staff, and an instructional designer. We check for clarity, grammar, and overall quality. This time-consuming and stressful process is essential to our reputation for producing high-quality training tutorials. On occasion a tutorial has been sent back for major revisions because the group did not feel it met our standards. Once the author has made his or her changes, the video tutorial is ready to be uploaded to the IT Video Tutorial site.

When a product such as Blackboard is scheduled for upgrade, the team reviews the existing tutorials and determines which tutorials need revision. Then, each member is assigned specific tutorials to edit. In most cases, the tutorial must be completely recreated, since application features available and the location of buttons will have changed. In the rare case where the look of a user interface has changed but the features and buttons have not, it is possible to replace screenshots without re-recording the narration. The process of reviewing and revising tutorials begins at least three months before an official university upgrade.

When we began producing online training, we underestimated the amount of time required to make a clean, concise, five-minute video tutorial. Initially, we put in an average of eight hours per video. As we have become more comfortable with the process, we have reduced the preparation time by about half. Even our most experienced trainers spend a minimum of about four hours producing each short video tutorial.

Index of Video Tutorials

When a new video tutorial is completed and approved, it is linked for public access. A given tutorial might have a special purpose and be linked with related web materials, but all video tutorials are also included as links in the comprehensive index page, which is a database-driven resource that organizes all the video tutorials by category. Currently, there are 24 video tutorial categories (see Figure 1) and 294 total video tutorials. Tutorials can be cross-referenced by assigning them to more than one category. A larger category will have subcategories, which assist the user in accessing the information required. Categories expand when clicked to show a tutorial list or a list of subcategories. Figure 3 shows the 20 subcategories for Blackboard. When a user hovers over a tutorial title, the index page displays the introductory text the trainer provided in that tutorial.

Figure 3. Subcategories for Blackboard Video Tutorials

The index page also links mobile versions of all video tutorials. Because our tutorials are in Flash, they work almost universally in web browsers on desktop and laptop computers, but they do not run in some mobile devices — most notably the Apple iPhone. We used other software from Moyea to create alternate versions of most of our tutorials to run in QuickTime, which is a format friendly to the iPhone. (See “The Challenges Ahead” below for detailed information on the conversion.)

Campus Technology Initiatives

Video tutorials and online training have become an integral part of the roll-out of new campus technologies in the IT Division at WKU. In planning for new technology initiatives, we look ahead to imagine key questions that our users will have, and we develop tutorials in advance to answer those questions. For example, we recently began a campus-wide conversion to Active Directory, for which we scripted and created four new video tutorials before a single user desktop was touched:

• How to use the new AD account and password
• Logging in and finding network drives
• Setting up a printer
• An “overview” of AD

The total time for users to watch all four customized tutorials was less than 14 minutes. Campus-wide communication highlighted the links to these tutorials to help users learn the answers to their questions without making a phone call to the help desk.

This spring we brought an end to unlimited free printing in campus computer labs, switching to a free print-allocation quota for each lab user. We responded to student concerns about overuse of classwork printing by pushing selected video tutorials designed to help faculty members learn to reduce paper usage for course materials. Topics included how to use the Comments feature in Word to grade papers, and how to use the Blackboard Assignments tool.

Video tutorials and our technology training program in general allow us to focus attention on university-supported software, meaning those applications provided centrally by the IT Division with user assistance available from the help desk. This might look like a “command and control” approach, but many faculty members also use software of their own choosing or specialized academic packages. Training for applications like these would be outside the scope of Academic Technology’s training program, but efficient use of trainers’ time has allowed us to expand the number of software titles we support to include more specialized academic applications than ever before. Institutions adopting WKU’s model for video tutorial training will certainly have varied experiences, but most institutions have some core of supported software, enterprise systems, and live training that they can adapt to delivery by online tutorials.

In addition to the traditional uses of our video tutorials, we have discovered that they are being used by instructors in their own Blackboard course sites as a student reference tool. Other WKU departments have supplemented their training efforts with our tutorials, which conserves staff and financial resources. On a larger scale, other universities and community organizations have requested permission to use our tutorials for training and development.

The planning, preparation, production, and review time required for a new video tutorial are factors that generally make this an unsuitable format for any urgent unplanned user communication needs, such as an emergency campus closing or an unexpected power outage. In the same vein, we understand that the video tutorial format is best suited for hands-on software training and is less appropriate for any topic that cannot easily be reduced to screen captures, interactive mouse movements, and voiceover narration. Video tutorials are not necessarily the ideal format for presentation of complex conceptual material, training on how to use specialized scientific equipment, or for a topic better demonstrated by live interaction (such as training on sexual harassment policies).

We have seen widespread acceptance and appreciation of our video tutorial project on campus. For example, a faculty member wrote in an unsolicited thank-you note:

“I just wanted to let you know how well done the video tutorials for Blackboard are! I needed to learn how to use MyFiles, Portfolio, and Portfolio Sharing with External Users for a study abroad program I am leading. After Shawn helped me identify the best route to get my task accomplished, it was easy to use the tutorials to learn what I needed to know. And so quick!”

Other WKU departments, including Human Resources and the Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching, have begun developing their own video tutorials after seeing the success of our model.

IT Help Desk, Knowledge Base, and Use of Tutorials

The help desk works closely with the IT trainers in choosing topics and tweaking the content for video tutorials. Not only can the help desk staff (including student employees) become familiar with WKU systems and features by watching the tutorials, they can cut the response time to a user question by referring the user to a relevant video tutorial. If a software setup takes five minutes to explain, but the help desk consultant can assist a user in 30 seconds by showing the user how to find and launch the appropriate video tutorial, then we have saved four and a half minutes of staff productivity — valuable time if other help desk calls are in the queue waiting to be answered. Links to video tutorials are permanently embedded into many of the templates used by help desk staff as they enter a new user case into their tracking system.

Similarly, our homegrown Knowledge Base for Blackboard users links extensively to video tutorials to provide answers to questions, with 124 video tutorials on the site about Blackboard topics. (The number fluctuates often, as tutorials are added on new features or replaced for features that have been updated.) Since the Blackboard tutorials are listed on the video tutorial index page in 20 subcategories (see Figure 3), it’s not surprising that a user with a question might not intuitively know where to find the video tutorial with the answer. A separate online system from the video tutorial index, the Blackboard Knowledge Base allows users to search for answers to their questions. In designing and maintaining the Knowledge Base, we begin with users’ questions and point to answers, rather than asking users to browse categories within the video tutorial index. Within the answer to each Knowledge Base question, we link to the video tutorial with the appropriate information.

We have been using Google Analytics to track use of our tutorials since February 2008 and have documented discovery of our tutorials by many users outside the WKU campus. By the end of June 2009 (16 months of tracking), the video tutorials site had been accessed by 2,708 unique visitors who made 11,084 visits with over 27,000 page views. The average time each user spent on the site was more than six minutes (6:29). In the first six months of 2009 alone, visits to the video tutorial site originated in 44 states and 74 foreign countries, with more than 93 percent of the visits originating from the United States. International visits to the site often coincide with the WKU study abroad program, but it is clear from the usage data that our video tutorials are consulted by users outside the WKU population. Our four most popular video tutorials are all on Blackboard topics: “Blackboard Overview,” “Backing Up Your Course Site,” “Turning In An Assignment,” and “Uploading Files.”

Online Workshops

Since most video tutorials last less than five minutes, the format does not lend itself to in-depth coverage of technology topics. By strategically sequencing a series of video tutorials and adding carefully designed learning assessments, however, we’ve demonstrated that it’s possible to cover a topic comprehensively in a way that can effectively replace a face-to-face workshop. For example, WKU’s Blackboard environment is heavily customized, and we require faculty to attend a training session before they can be certified to create a Blackboard course site. The face-to-face training session typically lasts 90 minutes and covers faculty tools for creating sites, adding and disabling users, and the basics of Blackboard and the control panel. In December 2007, we began offering an online workshop using video tutorials covering the same content.

The online Blackboard New Course Instructor training workshop contains 11 sections, each having between two and seven tutorials. Following each section is a self-assessment review quiz, which allows the workshop participant to gauge his or her understanding of the section material. An assessment at the end of the workshop draws 70 questions from a test pool, with no time limits or proctors. Participants must score 85 percent correct answers in order to complete the workshop; then they are automatically permitted to set up course sites. Offered as a course within Blackboard, the workshop uses Blackboard’s assessment and automated grading features. Figure 4 shows an example of how the assessment questions are delivered.

Figure 4. Sample Screen of Online Blackboard Workshop Assessment Questions

To date, 378 WKU faculty have enrolled in this online workshop, with 258 successfully completing the final assessment. Based on data from our training registrations, most of those who did not complete the online workshop opted to attend live training instead, demonstrating that a notable minority would rather attend a live workshop. Learning styles vary, and offering online video tutorials taught us that some people still prefer the interaction of a face-to-face setting where they can ask questions. At the same time, a majority of our users place a high value on the convenience of online delivery. Because the Blackboard New Course Instructor training is required for all faculty using Blackboard in their courses, we continue to offer live workshops every semester, and we continue to deliver live versions of this workshop via interactive television to faculty at our regional campuses. In a face-to-face setting, the instructor takes on the role of assessment and insures that each participant masters the material.

We now have 15 fully online workshops consisting of tutorials and assessments, covering various topics. Each workshop includes a quality evaluation survey. We use these results to constantly revise and improve our training. The Blackboard New Course Instructor Training is the only workshop that leads to certification and requires a final passing grade. The other 14 online workshops have self-assessment review quizzes but are not graded. We do not track or record assessment scores of our online workshop participants, and grading is fully automated within Blackboard, eliminating concerns about privacy of participants’ scores.

The Challenges Ahead

As we continue to refine and expand our online training and video tutorial efforts, we look for ways to go beyond the inherent limitations and solve some of our challenges.

Macintosh Computers

We adopted Adobe Captivate as our standard production software, and no comparable version currently exists for Macintosh computers. As a result, we have not created any Mac-based tutorials. Although our Mac user population is small, we hope to find a good software alternative to begin targeting this population. Tutorials for web-based systems such as Blackboard are still relevant for them.

Searchability

The text content in a Flash file does not have the built-in capability to be discovered by a search engine. Our users can find tutorials by browsing through the titles in the index, but they have a harder time finding them through Internet search, which is one of the most often used methods of finding answers to technical questions. To address this problem, we have begun to build a separate framework that makes our video tutorial site accessible to search engines using tutorial titles, keywords, and descriptions.

Full-Motion Animation

To compensate for Captivate’s inability to capture full-motion animation, we record separate screen captures for minute movements, which creates smooth transitions and gives the illusion of full-motion animation. If we choose to cover a topic in the future that will require true full-motion animation, we will need to use another method to develop the tutorial.

Mobile Devices

Most mobile devices, including iPhones, are not Flash-enabled. To provide access to this user population, we use the following conversion process to output our tutorial files to mobile format:

• Open the .swf file using Moyea and export as a medium-quality Apple QuickTime movie.
• Open the .mov file in QuickTime Pro and use the Export to Web feature, which generates the .mov, Desktop .m4v, iPhone .m4v, and .3gp formats.
• Upload mobile files to the web server.
• Enable the mobile link on the IT Video Tutorial site.

Hardware Training

Using a screen-capture method is a great way to offer real-time software training, but it doesn’t work as well for hardware tasks such as illustrating how to use a camera or a projector. Live-action demonstrations would require input from another recorded source, presumably a video camera, making the process more complicated and lengthy. This type of project would require video editing capabilities.  In the future, we would like to expand the video tutorial collection to include training titles orienting users on how to use cameras, microphones, and other equipment available for loan from our Technology Resource Center, but these will require us to use another approach to development and editing.

Conclusion

Producing customized online training and animated video tutorials allows a campus IT group to stretch limited training resources and offer improved access and self-service options to students, faculty, and staff. The sustainability aspects of such an initiative are substantial: reducing use of training room resources, paper usage, travel, equipment, and time commitments. At WKU, we have reduced our technology training facilities by 125 seats while still expanding the scope and reach of our technology training program by focusing on developing online video tutorials. We are reaching populations we couldn’t reach before, including online students and adjunct faculty not located near campus. Our overall effort is more efficient, since we reach a theoretically unlimited number of people with each tutorial rather than being limited by the number of seats in a training facility. In addition, our video tutorials provide an essential library of resources for the IT help desk staff.

The jobs of our training staff have become more interesting and efficient, with more of their effort dedicated to producing new training tutorials and less to repetitive sessions of live workshops. While we continue to offer a reduced schedule of live training, we have found that the majority of our users prefer to get most of their technology training online, and we have seen widespread acceptance of our video tutorial project across campus. The success of online training has meant we could redirect budgets formerly used for paper and equipment to other projects, such as the purchase of multimedia equipment available for loan to students. Undertaking online training using video tutorials is within the reach of even a small technology training organization using current software and following the WKU model.

• WKU Technology Training, Video Tutorial List, by WKU video tutorial creators Kathleen Barnes, Shawn Brewer, Julie Dent, Jeff Jones, Josh Marble, and Brian Taylor.
• “12 Screencasting Tools for Creating Video Tutorials” from Mashable: The Social Media Guide.
• “How I Create Video Tutorials,” Tom Johnson’s blog I’d Rather Be Writing.
• “How to Produce a Good Video Tutorial,” BlenderNation.
• “Doc: Tutorials/Resources/How To Create Video Tutorials,” BlenderWiki.
• “How to Create Video Tutorials,” Stefan Mischook, Idea22.
• “Video Tuts — Avoiding Common Errors and Issues When Creating Video Tutorials!” Video Tutorials.
• “Section 508 Standards,” Section 508 (ADA accessibility standards).
• Danielle Lusk, Amber D. Evans, Thomas R. Jeffrey, Keith R. Palmer, Chris S. Wikstrom, and Peter E. Doolittle, “Multimedia Learning and Individual Differences: Mediating the Effects of Working Memory Capacity with Segmentation,” British Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 40, no. 4 (July 2009), pp. 636–651.
• Chandralekha Singh, “Interactive Video Tutorials for Enhancing Problem-Solving, Reasoning, and Meta-Cognitive Skills of Introductory Physics Students,” 2004 Physics Education Research Conference, AIP Conference Proceedings Series, vol. 720, no. 1 (New York: Springer Verlag, July 2008), pp. 177–180.

© 2009 John Bowers, Julie Dent, and Kathleen Barnes. The text of this article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 license.

Kathleen Barnes

Instructional Designer

Western Kentucky University

John Bowers

Director of Academic Technology

Western Kentucky University

Julie H. Dent

Coordinator of Instructional Technology

Western Kentucky University

Technorati Tags: education sustainability, green initiatives in education

FOR RELEASE:
November 23, 2009
Contact: Justin Hamilton
(202) 401-1576 or
press@ed.gov

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today praised corporate and philanthropic leaders for stepping up to support improvements in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.

“The president and I believe that ensuring our nation’s children are excelling in the STEM fields is essential for our nation’s prosperity, security, health and quality of life,” Secretary Duncan said. “All of us need to be engaged in task of improving STEM education. Business leaders and major donors are leading the way, and leaders from other sectors need to join them.”

Duncan attended at an event at the White House where the president addressed the importance of STEM education to a group that included other Cabinet members, business executives, foundation leaders and students from Washington, D.C. schools.

At the event, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Corp. of New York, and several corporate leaders announced they will work together to gather support for STEM education and recruit others to join them. They also will raise awareness of the STEM education priority in the department’s $4 billion competition for states to develop comprehensive reform plans under the Race to the Top Fund.

Board members of the new group include Craig Barrett, the former chairman of Intel; Ursula Burns, the chief executive officer of Xerox; Glenn Britt, chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable; and Antonio Perez of Kodak.

Time Warner Cable committed $100 million in media time and promises to produce shows that promote STEM issues. Media efforts will be launched by other partners, including Discovery Communications and Sesame Street. The MacArthur Foundation and other donors are supporting National Lab Day — an effort to promote and celebrate learning in science labs and other learning environments, and to build communities of support for STEM teachers across the country through the Web site nationallabday.org. National Lab Day will include a year-long effort to expand hands-on learning methods throughout the country.

Technorati Tags: arne duncan, STEM

This year-end conference will preview 2010 trends and outlooks from leading public and private companies in the education market. The conference will feature company presentations, one-on-one investor meetings and panels that will address key topics and emerging trends in the for-profit education market.

Signal Hill 3rd Annual Education Preview Investor Conference
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Hyatt Regency
Baltimore, Maryland

Attendees include:

American Public University Systems (APEI)
Apollo Group (APOL)
ATA Inc. (ATAI)
Blackboard (BBBB)
Bridgepoint Education (BPI)
Capella University (CPLA)
Career College Association
China Distance Education (DL)
China Education Alliance (CEU)
ChinaCast Education Corp. (CAST)
ChinaEdu Corporation (CEDU)
Connections Academy
Corinthian Colleges (COCO)
DeVry Inc. (DV)
Dickstein Shapiro
Education Management Corp. (EDMC)
Eduventures
Grand Canyon Education (LOPE)
Inside Higher Ed
K12 (LRN)
Lincoln Education (LINC)
National American University
Noah Education (NED)
Nobel Learning Communities, Inc. (NLCI)
Plato Learning (TUTR)
Princeton Review (REVU)
School Specialty (SCHS)
Schoolnet
Scientific Learning (SCIL)
SignificantFederation, LLC
Strayer (STRA)
Teachscape
TUI University
2tor, Inc.
U.S. Department of Education
Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (UTI)
Wireless Generation

http://www.hummingbirdevents.com/events/SignalHill/

Technorati Tags: American Public University Systems, Bridgepoint Education, Capella University, deVry, Eduventures, Signal Hill, Teachscape

Contact: Justin Hamilton (202) 401-1576

Final application, notice inviting applications and more

Conference call with reporters

MP3 (7.3MB; 35 minutes)

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today released the final application for more than $4 billion from the Race to the Top Fund, which will reward states that have raised student performance in the past and have the capacity to accelerate achievement gains with innovative reforms.

“The president said last week that Race to the Top will require states to take an all-hands-on-deck approach,” Duncan said. “We will award grants to the states that have led the way in reform and will show the way for the rest of the country to follow.”

The U.S. Department of Education is asking states to build comprehensive and coherent plans built around the four areas of reform outlined in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The application requires states to document their past success and outline their plans to extend their reforms by using college- and career-ready standards and assessments, building a workforce of highly effective educators, creating educational data systems to support student achievement, and turning around their lowest-performing schools.

The $4.35 billion for the Race to the Top Fund is an unprecedented federal investment in reform. Duncan will reserve up to $350 million to help states create assessments aligned to common sets of standards. The remaining $4 billion will be awarded in a national competition.

To qualify, states must have no legal barriers to linking student growth and achievement data to teachers and principals for the purposes of evaluation. They also must have the department’s approval for their plans for both phases of the Recovery Act’s State Fiscal Stabilization Fund prior to being awarded a grant.

The final application released today includes significant changes to the proposal released by the U.S. Department of Education in July. After reviewing responses to the draft proposals from 1,161 people, who submitted thousands of unique comments, ranging from one paragraph to 67 pages, the U.S. Department of Education restructured the application and changed it to reflect the ideas of the public.

“The public’s input on this application was invaluable to us,” Duncan said. “The comments helped us clarify that we want states to think through how they will create a comprehensive agenda to drive reform forward.”

The final application also clarifies that states should use multiple measures to evaluate teachers and principals, including a strong emphasis on the growth in achievement of their students. But it also reinforces that successful applicants will need to have rigorous teacher and principal evaluation programs and use the results of teacher evaluations to inform what happens in the schools.

In Race to the Top, the department will hold two rounds of competition for the grants. For the first round, it will accept states’ applications until the middle of January, 2010. Peer reviewers will evaluate the applications and the department will announce the winners of the first round of funding next spring.

Applications for the second round will be due June 1, 2010, with the announcement of all the winners by Sept. 30, 2010.

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Chris Curran, Managing Director

Original Article available at the Berkery Noyes Website – Permission to Distribute and Post Given by BN

School’s back in session, and students are working toward new milestones. What are yours?

As students prepare for their first exams of the new academic year, owners and investors in the education markets are sharpening their pencils for 2010 and beyond, grappling with the imperative of growing their businesses in a rapidly changing market.

There is an increasing awareness among suppliers to the education market that the desire to leapfrog competitors and capitalize on evolving customer demands requires near-term action. M&A-driven growth has returned as a critical component of companies’ strategy, as smaller, entrepreneurial innovators deliver products and services fueling the transformation of education as we know it.

Key Secular Trends Driving M&A Activity

Several secular market trends underpin the anticipated increase in M&A activity in the coming year:

• Based on historical patterns, the pace of mergers and acquisitions across the various education markets we cover is poised to accelerate dramatically. Sharp drops in M&A activity are always followed by equally sharp spikes.
• Pricing has firmed up to the point where valuations based on revenue and EBITDA multiples are consistent with historical norms – neither inflated to bubble-induced heights nor softened to post-burst lows.
• Significant pent-up demand among cash-rich buyers and an increasing influx of investors pursuing a dynamic sector creates a strong selling climate for well-performing businesses.

While these conditions apply to high-quality companies across a wide spectrum of industry sectors, there are additional considerations that are unique to the education marketplace.

Federal Policy Clarity Sharpens Focus on Attractive Segments

As the policy priorities of the Obama administration and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have become more explicit over the past several months, the markets have gained greater confidence in those solutions and segments that stand to benefit. In K-12, some of the companies that should benefit are those that:

• Measure, track, and analyze student performance and teacher efficacy;
• Deliver longitudinal data management and analytics solutions;
• Strengthen the pipeline, preparation, and professional development of educators;
• Provide innovative school models (e.g., charters, online) that offer options to parents and those students who are struggling or dissatisfied with traditional public models.

From a postsecondary perspective, a strong focus on community colleges has highlighted opportunities and challenges facing that segment, while increased Federal funding resources for Pell Grants and the new GI Bill has flooded the market with additional resources for students. Companies that benefit include those that:

• Deliver vocational and career-oriented certificate and degree programs in areas with expanding labor needs (e.g., allied health, education, green/clean technology);
• Augment the study and academic skills of students and adults seeking to enroll in post secondary programs;
• Strengthen mission-critical, student-focused administrative and academic processes for institutions.

Expansion into Global and Consumer Education Channels

Many companies are increasingly taking a more aggressive stance toward accessing new markets outside the United States and/or finding opportunities to deliver products and services into consumer channels. The biggest beneficiaries of this movement have been language learning businesses, both center- and/or site-based models delivering instructional programs to students and professionals and online-delivered instructional programs and resources. Similarly, a host of consumer-directed online businesses have emerged marrying remedial and enrichment math and language arts programs with engaging gaming and competition-like qualities.

Solid Track Record for Education IPOs in 2009

The industry has delivered four strong education IPOs through October – Grand Canyon University, Bridgepoint, Rosetta Stone, and Education Management Corporation – with recent filer Archipelago Learning waiting in the wings. As the public markets provide a showcase for a diverse collection of education businesses, strategic and financial buyers are redoubling efforts to find attractive companies enabling them to tap into these emergent areas.

These trends, combined with the macro-economic shifts described above, are already raising the temperature for education market mergers and acquisitions. Owners and investors in education-related businesses understand that the road to growth is paved with creative acquisitions, and many are working with advisors like Berkery Noyes to formulate and execute the strategies that will enable them to prosper in a market that promises only more and faster change over the near and longer terms.

For a more detailed discussion of these concepts and how they apply to your individual situation, contact Chris Curran or Mark DeFusco, managing directors, or Vivek Kamath or Adam Newman, directors, in the Berkery Noyes Education Group at 212.668.3022.

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* Rapid Changes Drive Education Market M&A
* Charts and Figures

Technorati Tags: Berkery Noyes, Chris Curran

Hellman & Friedman to acquire Datatel from Thoma Bravo and co-investors

FAIRFAX, Va. (BUSINESS WIRE), November 09, 2009 – Datatel, the industry’s most experienced provider of higher education software, services and insight, announced today that they reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by Hellman & Friedman LLC. Hellman & Friedman and its affiliates, co-investor JMI Equity, and Datatel management and employees will purchase the company from current investors Thoma Bravo and its co-investors in the transaction including Trident Capital, HarbourVest Partners and JP Morgan Asset Management. Hellman & Friedman is a leading private equity firm with a focus on investing in superior business franchises.

Following the higher education market’s strong positive reaction to Datatel’s new solutions in the areas of teaching and learning, recruiting, and mobility, Datatel President and CEO John Speer said, “Datatel’s new solutions, strong professional services, and exceptional client relationships coupled with our consistent performance are what attracted Hellman & Friedman to Datatel.”

Mr. Speer went on to say, “Datatel will continue to be led by our current executive and management teams and remains focused on delivering strong, compelling solutions for higher education.”

“We are delighted to be part of a company that has out-performed the market,” said David Tunnell, Managing Director of Hellman & Friedman.

Anupam Mishra, Director of Hellman & Friedman added, “We see our partnership as an opportunity to support Datatel’s continued success in helping colleges and universities meet their institutional goals.”

“Our partnership with Datatel has been an exceptional experience,” said Orlando Bravo, a Managing Partner of Thoma Bravo. “Together we have substantially increased the value of the company while expanding the solutions and services available to Datatel clients.”

About Datatel, Inc.

Datatel is the most experienced provider of technology products, services, and insight to higher education. Colleges, universities, and technical schools across North America partner with Datatel to build Strategic Academic Enterprises dedicated to achieving student success. The company has focused exclusively on higher education since 1979, and its technology is used by nearly 800 institutions serving more than five million students. For more information, visit www.datatel.com.

About Hellman & Friedman

Hellman & Friedman LLC is a leading private equity investment firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and London. Since its founding in 1984, Hellman & Friedman has raised over $25 billion of committed capital. The Firm focuses on investing in superior business franchises and serving as a value-added partner to management in select industries including business services, software and information services, internet/digital media, asset management, insurance, other specialty financial services, media, healthcare, energy and industrials. Representative investments in the software sector include Activant Solutions, Inc., Blackbaud, Inc., Intergraph Corporation, Iris Software Group Limited, Kronos Incorporated, SSP Holdings plc, and Vertafore Corporation. For more information on Hellman & Friedman, visit www.hf.com.

About Thoma Bravo, LLC

Thoma Bravo is a leading private equity investment firm that has been providing equity and strategic support to experienced management teams building growing companies for more than 28 years. The firm originated the concept of industry consolidation investing, which seeks to create value through the strategic use of acquisitions to accelerate business growth. Thoma Bravo applies its investment strategy across multiple industries with a particular focus on the software and services sectors. In the software industry, Thoma Bravo has completed 40 acquisitions across 13 platform companies with total annual earnings in excess of $600 million. For more information on Thoma Bravo, visit http://www.thomabravo.com/.

©2009 Datatel, Inc. All rights reserved. Datatel is a registered trademark of Datatel, Inc. All other names, products, and services mentioned are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Technorati Tags: acquire Datatel, Datatel Inc., Hellman & Friedman, Teaching and Learning, Thoma Bravo

The Gilfus Education Group is your go to place for Academic Business Advising.

As the nation’s leading academic business advisor to both early stage and established education companies, the Gilfus Education Group is one of few firms built on a foundation of education, technology and entrepreneurial principles, with an ethos of innovation and creative strategy. The firm’s unique expertise allows us to deliver innovative solutions specifically aimed at helping client companies grow, from advising early stage companies with the development of successful growth strategies, to helping mature organizations prepare for their next level of maturity and liquidity events.

The firm’s expertise allows The Gilfus Education Group to find unique solutions specifically aimed at helping client companies grow, from advising early stage companies with growth strategy, to assisting mature operations in preparation for their next level of maturity or liquidity events.

The Gilfus Education Group consists of experienced individuals who know the education industry inside and out.

In addition, the Gilfus Education Group has found that in many situations an independent perspective can either help reassure an existing customer or persuade a potential customer to make a purchase decision. In addition, sometimes your customers are more comfortable discussing their problems, needs or wishes with independent parties. Who do you turn to as your trusted advisor? If your team needs assistance in contacting potential customers, developing sales relationships, or developing an overall sales strategy to make market then the Gilfus Education Group can help you. We have developed highly effective best practices for collaborating on sales opportunities, conducting leadership team meetings, and providing sales support, through the use of tools and professional development. Let’s work together to increase your pipeline, close opportunities and bring your company to its next level of maturity.

Academic Business Advising can fast track your company to success!

Technorati Tags: Academic Business Advisory, Gilfus Education Group

Teachers and Schools Celebrate Success at 2009 Microsoft Worldwide Innovative Education Forum
Microsoft Partners in Learning expands global network for educators.

SALVADOR, Brazil — Nov. 4, 2009 — Today, at its fifth annual Worldwide Innovative Education Forum (IEF), Microsoft Corp. is celebrating the impressive work that teachers and school leaders from around the world are doing to help every student realize his or her full potential. In addition, Microsoft is announcing the launch one of the world’s largest networks for educators at http://www.partnersinlearningnetwork.com.

The network underscores Microsoft’s commitment to expand the power of education for all through personalized learning by connecting millions of teachers and school leaders around the world in a community of professional development.

Partners in Learning Network

Today’s launch of the Partners in Learning Network is the next generation of the Innovative Teachers Network (ITN), a global network expected to serve more than 2 million teachers and school leaders by next year. The network has evolved to include advances in social networking technology that will help teachers and school leaders do their jobs better by connecting them with one another in professional development communities. The site is available today in English and Ukrainian, with more in the coming months. As new languages become available for the Partners in Learning Network, existing ITN users will automatically have access to the new, more powerful features that this version of the network provides.

Members of the Partners in Learning Network will be able to take advantage of new capabilities such as the following:

• Connecting with peers around the world based on professional interests, teaching subjects or location

• Creating communities dedicated to innovative teaching and learning, and professional development

• Finding new content and curricula such as peer coaching and the Innovative Schools Toolkit

• Becoming content creators by sharing the latest thinking, tips and tricks, lesson plans, recommended links, and more

At its core, the Partners in Learning Network helps promote practices that school leaders and teachers can use to improve students’ 21st-century skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration, communication, contextual learning, creativity, and information and media literacy.

“The Partners in Learning Network provides a unique and powerful way to connect with educators around the world and offers them an accessible forum dedicated to the exchange of ideas, educational tools and collaboration,” said Michael Golden, corporate vice president of the Education Products Group at Microsoft. “The network demonstrates our continued focus on empowering educators to engage their students more deeply.”

Worldwide Innovative Teacher Awards

Each year, Microsoft Partners in Learning searches the world for teachers who have demonstrated an exemplary use of technology in the classroom. Thousands of teachers participate from around the world in country-level and regional competitions. After each competition, winners move to the next level, culminating each year at the Worldwide Innovative Education Forum, taking place this week in Salvador, Brazil. More than 250 regional winners from more than 60 countries are vying for 12 Worldwide Innovative Teacher Awards, to be announced at the end of the week.

“For me the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Forum is about recognizing an individual teacher’s practice that has had a real impact in the classroom. I believe that computer games have a huge amount of potential in the classroom so, for my project, I used an Xbox game as a contextual hub for learning and as a way to encourage the social interaction of children as they moved between primary and secondary school,” said Ollie Bray, deputy head teacher, Musselburgh Grammar School, Scotland. “My project was so well received that it was adopted and rolled out across all 47 schools in East Lothian, Scotland. I am pleased that Microsoft is recognizing this as an investment in learning and children as well as an innovative use of technology.”

Innovative Schools Program

Microsoft is expanding its Partners in Learning Innovative Schools program from a pilot program to a full-scale global program, with the addition of 30 new Pathfinder Schools and 12 Mentor Schools, representing 35 countries. Leaders from all 42 schools are gathering in Salvador for a four-day workshop to begin a journey of transformation in their school communities. Over the next 12 months, these school leaders will go back to their home communities with a mission to transform the way their schools operate. They will be encouraged to rethink all aspects of school life, from the structure of the day and the use of technology in the curriculum to ensuring that teachers have the space and time to bring innovative practices to the classroom. Microsoft is working in close partnership with local ministries of education to implement this program and ensure its success.

The schools chosen to participate in the Pathfinder Program were selected from more than 110 applicants from around the world. Each school in the program has demonstrated strong school leadership with a proven record of innovation and successful change implementation. The Pathfinder Schools have been chosen because of their vision for learning and have already started on the road to reform and improvement.

“By working hand in hand with Microsoft Innovative Schools program, the education community can gain an improved understanding of what students need to advance in a global economy,” said Bo Kristoffersson, principal of Viktor Rydberg Gymnasium in Sweden, a 2009 Innovative Schools Pathfinder school. “The Innovative Schools Program gives us the resources we need to provide the best education available, and we look forward to working with Microsoft and other schools in the program to identify the ways in which we can equip our students with knowledge, a drive for innovation, and a passion for technological discovery.”

The Pathfinder Schools will work with 12 regional Mentor Schools, chosen primarily among participants in the Innovative Schools Pilot Program, which ran over the last two years. The Mentor Schools will be honored at the event because they have achieved a level of change within their education systems and are viewed as leaders in their countries and regions. Their innovations have a global interest and are replicable models that other schools can follow. Some Pathfinder Schools will have the opportunity to share the knowledge they gain as Mentor Schools in the future.

Partners in Learning

The Worldwide Innovative Education Forum is hosted by Microsoft Partners in Learning, a 10-year, nearly $500 million commitment by Microsoft to transform education systems around the world. Announced in 2003, Partners in Learning helps schools and teachers more effectively use technology to advance teaching and learning, provides leadership and change management information to school leaders, works to strengthen teachers’ capacity to use technology effectively in the classroom, and provides greater access to technology for teachers and students.

About Microsoft Education

We believe that technology can expand the power of education and unlock the potential of students, educators and schools. Microsoft partners with education communities around the world to deliver relevant solutions, services and programs that focus on improved personalized learning outcomes.

About Unlimited Potential

Microsoft, through its Unlimited Potential vision, is committed to making technology more affordable, relevant and accessible for the 5 billion people around the world who do not yet enjoy its benefits. The company aims to do so by helping to transform education and foster a culture of innovation, and through these means enable better jobs and opportunities. By working with governments, intergovernmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations and industry partners, Microsoft hopes to reach its first major milestone — to reach the next 1 billion people who are not yet realizing the benefits of technology — by 2015.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.

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Merger of ERP and LMS technologies creates a new paradigm for the Education Enterprise.

November ^4th, 2009, Washington, DC (PRWEB) – The Gilfus Education Group, a Washington DC Education Consulting firm announced today the release of a landmark whitepaper, “Intelligence Emerges from Enterprise Education Platform” furthering the idea that a new cohesive platform will be required to advance educational intelligence and promote greater student success.

 “Over the last decade the education industry has experienced an incredible transformation in its use of computers, technology and the Internet.  From my involvement in founding Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBB) and with our intimate work with academic institutions we have witnessed technology applications evolve from ‘Exploratory’ to ‘Mission Critical’ to ‘Transformative,’ along with countless challenges and opportunities that materialize along the way.”,  said Stephen Gilfus, President and CEO of the Gilfus Education Group, “ Today’s release of the ‘Enterprise Education Platform’ marks a milestone moment in redefining the current possibilities of transformational technologies for our educational institutions.  The convergence of ERP and LMS technology into a single holistic platform can, and will, increase individual and organizational intelligence, reduce total operational costs and improve institutional outcomes and student success.”

 According to an announcement today, at Educause 2009, Datatel Inc. a 40 year old, highly respected enterprise software provider to over 800 higher education institutions, will be the first to embrace the Enterprise Education Platform concept. Datatel announced during its Corporate Presentation at EDUCAUSE 2009 how it will make the “Enterprise Education Platform” a tangible reality through its exclusive partnerships and the coupling of open source LMS technologies. The Gilfus Education Group expects to see a consolidation of the education marketplace prompted by the introduction of the Enterprise Education Platform. 

To further advance these concepts the Gilfus Education Group has submitted the “Intelligence Emerges from Enterprise Education Platform” and another one of its popular white papers, “Social Learning Buzz Masks Deeper Dimensions” to the National Educational Technology Plan being developed by the U.S. Department of Higher Education.  The Gilfus Education Group was encouraged to contribute to the National Educational Technology Plan after meeting with members of ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) and the NSBA (National School Boards Association) during an international education summit held in Washington, DC during October.

The new National Educational Technology Plan will provide a vision for how information and communication technologies can help transform American education. The plan will provide a set of concrete goals that can inform state and local educational technology programs as well as inspire research, development, and innovation.  The initial draft plan is expected in early 2010.

The Gilfus Education Group is a significant endorser of the Federal administration’s efforts under President Obama’s guidance to significantly advance the U.S. educational system.

“The Gilfus Education Group is aligning itself to support the initiatives generated b y the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with the goal of improving the overall American education system by creating an education continuum that spans pre-school, K12 and higher education,” said Frank Ganis, a General Partner at the firm. “We are very interested in advancing the current administration’s efforts to provide guidance to support Arne Duncan’s vision for a new ‘System of Excellence. ’ Clearly educators at all levels throughout academia should be evaluating how their institutions will address this rapid consolidation of education technologies to increase academic intelligence, reduce total operational costs, and improve institutional outcomes and student success.”

ABOUT THE GILFUS EDUCATION GROUP
Based in Washington, DC, the Gilfus Education Group delivers education innovation by bringing refreshing clarity and a pragmatic approach to academic and corporate enterprises through educational, technology, and business consulting. The company provides a wide array of services to clients across the United States and around the world, offering insightful and diversified expertise to the education industry. Since 1997, the Gilfus Education Group team has served thousands of universities, colleges, schools, academic content providers, and education and technology companies in meeting their mission-critical planning and technology needs. The group consists of individuals of the highest caliber talent and experience in educational research, strategy, planning, and technical implementation services representing capabilities for meeting organizational objectives and compliance, evaluating education quality and outcomes, and supporting technical integration, infrastructure, and delivery.

Refreshing Clarity. Education Innovation.

Website: www.gilfuseducationgroup.com

CONTACT:
Gilfus Education Group, (888) 861.3375
Frank Ganis,  frank@gilfuseducationgroup.com

Technorati Tags: Datatel Inc., Educuase 2009, Enterprise Education Platform, ERP, Frank Ganis, Gilfus Education Group, ISTE, lms, national education technology plan, NSBA, social learning, Stephen Gilfus

The GoingOn Community Platform Leverages Social Web Technologies to Create Online Communities for Collaboration, Learning and Social Knowledge Management

November 3, 2009/San Francisco, CA – GoingOn provider of the first open source community platform for education, will showcase its cornerstone technology, The GoingOn Community Platform at EDUCAUSE 2009, November 3-6, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.

The GoingOn Community Platform integrates the latest social networking, collaboration and publishing technologies to enable schools to create vibrant online communities and transform silos of information into an open social knowledge network.

“The evolution of the social web and the emergence of the Facebook generation have fundamentally changed the way people communicate, share ideas and manage relationships,” said Jon Corshen, CEO of GoingOn. “For schools, this is both a challenge and an opportunity – by building online communities, schools can dramatically improve student engagement, increase faculty productivity, and enable new models of social learning, collaboration and knowledge management.”

Based on the widely-adopted open source software packages Moodle and Drupal, and delivered onDemand, The GoingOn Community Platform offers a new approach to updating legacy portal, knowledge management and online learning infrastructures.  GoingOn combines the ease-of-use of popular consumer-focused tools such as Facebook and twitter, with an enterprise-grade platform geared specifically to the education and learning market.  Users can easily configure a wide-range of social features such as micro-blogging, video sharing, and advanced discussions, into engaging communities, each built around specific courses, programs, activities or interests.

“We were looking for a platform that would provide a more engaging and participatory environment for our online courses,” commented Marni Baker Stein, Director of Program Development at the College of Liberal and Professional Studies, University of Pennsylvania.  “At the same time, we also found great internal demand for building communities that extended beyond the classroom for our various departments, programs and groups.”

“From the dawn of history, formal and informal learning had its origins within communities. With the incredible evolution of online technologies, the very concept of community is being redefined,” commented Stephen Gilfus, General Partner at the Gilfus Education Group. “Colleges and universities can now construct a variety of learning applications that leverage and advance many of the underlying concepts of community based learning theory.”

GoingOn can be found at Booth #1070 at EDUCAUSE 2009 where attendees can participate in a demonstration of the product and learn more about the company. 

About GoingOn GoingOn delivers the market’s first open source community platform for education. Leveraging the best of today’s social web, the GoingOn Community Platform enables academic institutions to deliver new, more engaging models of knowledge management and collaboration to meet the needs of today’s social campus. Built on a modern open source foundation, the GoingOn Community Platform is designed to allow non-technical users to quickly and easily deploy a variety of different community types without complexity. The result is a uniquely modern approach to building and managing social knowledge.

Technorati Tags: Community Platform for Education, Drupal, Educause 2009, GoingOn, GoingOn Community Platform, Jon Corshen, Moodle, open source, Social Web, Stephen Gilfus

Datatel Embraces Enterprise Education Platforms That Will Answer Challenges and Provide Integrated Academic and Administrative Intelligence, Plus Cost Savings

DENVER (BUSINESS WIRE), November 03, 2009 – The Gilfus Education Group, a Washington, DC-based education consulting firm, has released a white paper detailing the many disadvantages faced by higher education institutions that concurrently manage and operate disparate learning management systems (LMSs) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The paper, Intelligence Emerges from the Enterprise Education Platform, poses that colleges and universities now can reap the benefits of recent advancements in information technology and business intelligence to combine teaching and learning and administrative processes fully into one platform. The Enterprise Education Platform, as termed by the Gilfus Education Group, will result in easier collaboration among users, improved learning efficiencies, myriad cost savings throughout learning institutions, and a 360-degree view of constituents.

Datatel has embraced the Enterprise Education Platform concept and will provide details of how the company plans to fulfill this vision at its corporate presentation here at EDUCAUSE 2009 tomorrow from 10:30 AM to 11:20 AM in the Korbel Ballroom 2C at the Colorado Convention Center. In her presentation, Social Learning that Won’t Break the Bank, Datatel Chief Client Officer Liz Murphy will explain how the company’s recent agreement with Moodlerooms will allow Datatel to provide higher education institutions with a fully integrated, tested, and supported Enterprise Education Platform that unites teaching and learning applications with administrative functions.

The white paper and further information about the Enterprise Education Platform will be available during EDUCAUSE at the Datatel (#304) and Gilfus Education Group (#689) booths. It also can be downloaded from a link on the Teaching and Learning page at Datatel’s website.

“Teaching and learning is at the heart of every institution’s mission,” said Murphy. “With Datatel’s Enterprise Education Platform, teaching and learning becomes more collaborative, team-oriented, and relevant to the entire student lifecycle, and provides a more holistic experience for all constituents.”

Gilfus Education Group President and CEO Stephen Gilfus commented: “Educators will make great progress over the next few years in achieving institutional efficiency, accountability, and improved academic performance. We are excited to share how the immersive experiences made possible by the Enterprise Education Platform can enhance many aspects of the education experience to generate new dimensions of intelligence.”

About Datatel, Inc.

Datatel is the industry’s most experienced provider of technology products, services, and insight to higher education. Colleges, universities, and technical schools across North America partner with Datatel to construct Strategic Academic Enterprises dedicated to achieving student success. The company has focused exclusively on higher education since 1979, and its technology is used by nearly 800 institutions serving more than five million students. For more information, visit www.datatel.com.

About the Gilfus Education Group

Based in Washington, DC, the Gilfus Education Group delivers education innovation by bringing refreshing clarity and a pragmatic approach to academic and corporate enterprises through educational, technology, and business consulting. The company provides a wide array of services to clients across the United States and around the world, offering insightful and diversified expertise to the education industry. Since 1997, the Gilfus Education Group team has served thousands of universities, colleges, schools, academic content providers, and education and technology companies in meeting their mission-critical planning and technology needs. The group consists of individuals of the highest caliber talent and experience in educational research, strategy, planning, and technical implementation services, representing capabilities for meeting organizational objectives and compliance, evaluating education quality and outcomes, and supporting technical integration, infrastructure, and delivery. For more information, visit www.gilfuseducationgroup.com.

Technorati Tags: Datatel Inc., Educause 2009, Enterprise Education Platform, Gilfus Education Group