eLearning eVolution

In today’s world of public relations, blogging, podcasting, and multimedia is where it’s at. While Elluminate and our new Elluminate Learning Suite received some much appreciated traditional media coverage, we also want to highlight some not-so-traditional recognition.

We’ve always been very proud of the awards we’ve received. But here’s a first! Susan Nash Smith, the eLearning Queen, has bestowed us with one of the inaugural Corgie Big Bark Awards that recognize innovations in eLearning. Bow WOW!

- In The Royal Treatment: Education Product Reviews and Interviews, Ken Royal presents a You Tube video with our own Gary Dietz demoing Elluminate Plan! at NECC 2008.

- Rod Murray of Thomas Jefferson University interviews Gary about our flagship Elluminate Live! products and our new Elluminate Next> bundle on Rod’s Pulse Podcast.

As you can see, the classroom is not the only thing going virtual!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

I love shoping, but I’m not a fan of those products that claim they are “one size fits all or most.” Because, quite often, they don’t! On the other end of the spectrum, I hate those stores that have so much product you can’t navigate the display floor. I find almost endless choices overwhelming.

At Elluminate, we’ve made some additions and changes to our products that enable us to have something for everyone.

- New to the virtual classroom. Begin with Elluminate vRoom, our free, 3-person virtual room.

- Need more seats? Try one of our new single-room, entry-level products. Elluminate vOffice is a personal meeting room for 10 or more participants that starts at $999 for an annual license. Elluminate vClass is a classroom for up to 200 students, with customizable meeting/moderator names.

- Once you graduate to multiple rooms, there’s Elluminate Live!, which easily scales from department to campus to multiple institutions.

- The next step is Elluminte Next>, with new Elluminate Plan! for packaging content and activities before the live session and Elluminate Publish! for creating audio podcasts and standalone recordings from session recordings.

So there you have it. Not too big. Not too small. Just right. If Goldilocks was looking for live eLearning and web collaboration, I think she’d be pleased!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

So just what is the online instructional cycle? At Elluminate, we define it as what happens before, during, and after the live online session. While dynamic interaction in the live virtual classroom is key to transforming teaching and learning on a global level, we wanted to look at how to leverage this real-time opportunity to enhance the experience for teachers and students as well as to promote the use of the enabling technology throughout the department, campus, and institution.

Next stop: Elluminate Plan! and Elluminate Publish!
I talk to a lot of customers, and many want advice about how to promote and facilitate the use of live eLearning beyond those who enthusiastically embrace using new technology. For us, the answer was to develop Elluminate Plan! enabling instructors or course designers to organize content and activities before the Elluminate Live! session. Then during the live session, routine tasks, like starting the recording, advancing to the next slide, playing a multimedia file, or loading a quiz, are automated, so the instructor can focus on interacting with students. On an institutional level, even those less experienced online instructors can navigate the virtual classroom with confidence.

We also looked at what happens after the live session. Certainly, Elluminate Live! recordings can leverage content, but what if they could be more portable. Enter Elluminate Publish! allowing the creation of industry-standard podcasts and standalone recordings to use when not connected to the Internet. Now content is resuable and portable.

So there you have it: The Elluminate Learning Suite for planning, presenting, recording, and publishing plus the Elluminate Next> bundle, which combines Plan! and Publish! If you want to know more, here’s a few press releases and a Sneak Peek session recording. And you can try Publish! free for 30 days, too. Plan! is being formally launched at NECC 2008 at the end of June at which time a free 30-day trial for that product will also be available. So give ‘em a try.

We think we’re on to something here. Hope you think so too!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

While live interaction in the virtual classroom is key to transforming teaching and learning on a global level, Elluminate understands that the eLearning landscape is evolving to include what happens BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER the live, online session.

We believe the “next big thing” in the real-time collaboration space is a solution that addresses an entire instructional cycle that includes the design, delivery, archival, distribution, and integration of interactive content and activities on a system-wide level. At the same time, this 21st Century eLearning solution must support communities of practice where experiences are shared, creativity is embraced, and innovative ideas are formed.

In the days and weeks that follow, I’ll be sharing what’s new at Elluminate with you. So stay tuned. We hope you’ll be as excited as we are about what we call EDU 2.0!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

I was just perusing the CR 2.0 wiki. This site is devoted to building resources for the classroom and professional-development use of Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies.

Their event series is called CR 2.0 Live Conversations and the sessions are amazing! Plus there are recordings of past sessions. Topics include: educational blogging, Ning, reinventing project-based learning, living with learning disabilities, and much more!

This is another resource you’ll want to check out!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

Under the ‘what will they think of next’ category, our friends at Florida Virtual School are holding a virtual Shakespeare Festival. What a great idea! It’s a full week of speakers, activities, and even a Shakespeare Idol Contest. Check out the schedule to get some ideas of what you could be doing at your school with the help of Elluminate Live!

And speaking of FLVS, here’s an article they wrote, “Taking the Edge Off College Admissions.” It discusses The College Hub, the school’s online resource and student network that provides students with 24/7 access to help them with the college application process. Students and their parents can even speak directly with college representives via Elluminate Live!

By the way, this article is part of our new Community Resources portal that contains white papers, best practice briefs, and article, like this one, about how Elluminate Live! is being used in specific applications.

Keep on Elluminating!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

Can students learn literacy effectively in the virtual classroom? The answer is a resounding YES! And this blog entry, “Legitimate Literacy Instruction in the Virtual School,” explains how.

“I believe that because this literacy instruction and the overall course content is being delivered digitally, it is more engaging and authentic for the students than what they might encounter in the traditional classroom,” says Florida-based blogger J-Lang. He also makes the larger point that online instructors can work to improve literacy, regardless of their content area. In other words, it’s not just about reading.

As the Elluminate Goddess of Communication, I talk with a lot of customers, and I’ve heard first hand about the advantages of the virtual classroom from instructors and students for five years now.

In fact, one of our 2008 Elluminate Centers of Excellence, Broward County Public Schools, developed a pilot project to recapture those students who didn’t pass the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) reading subtest. One of the results of the pilot was that the experience created life-long learners of many of the students, who are now seeking academic courses in the online format.

So keep on Elluminating!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

For the past three years, Elluminate has recognized those academic institutions and other organizations that are on the leading edge of adopting our live eLearning and web collaboration technology in innovative and creative ways. We call them Elluminate Centers of Excellence. This year we have 11 winners that have demonstrated a progressive approach to change with a goal of transforming teaching and learning.

I encourage you to learn about more about these schools and their Elluminate Heroes who are doing groundbreaking work. I have no doubt that these stories will spark your imagination and fuel your creativity. Get ready to be inspired!

Here also is something new we’ve been trying out. It’s a social media release, the Web 2.0 version of the traditional press release. Check out the one for the 2008 CoEs. And let me know what you think about the format.

Think you have what it takes to be an Elluminate Center of Excellence? Apply now for 2009.

Keep on Elluminating!

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication

If you do, then you’ll want to know about Elluminate Bridge for Moodle. We’ve partnered with leading Moodle developers, Remote-Learner.net and Open Knowledge Technologies to integrate the Elluminate Live!® virtual classroom with your Moodle CMS, enabling you to add synchronous content to your distance learning courses.

In addition, Elluminate Bridge for Moodle is included in our free offer for unlimited access of Elluminate Live! Lite Edition™ for one year for any K-12 academic institution.

We’re also trying out a “new-media” style press release for the first time to announce the integration. Check it out. I’d love to hear what you think about the format.

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess fo Communication

Attending EDUCAUSE this year? We’d welcome the opportunity to meet you. Make sure to stop by booth #2510 to see for yourself how you can engage your students in new ways to transform the teaching and learning experience.

View product demos, hear from our customers and partners, learn more about our LMS/CMS integrations, and even check out a brand new Elluminate product. Plus, you could win an Apple iPhone.

Not attending? Don’t miss our “Live! from Seattle, It’s EDUCAUSE” webinar. We’ll be hosting this fun and informative event live from our booth on Wednesday at 3:00pm EDT. Click here to register.

Hope to see you there - in person or online.

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication