e-Learning Technology Review

Integrated Solutions - General Information

Many e-learning providers offer complete turnkey solutions consisting of content and multimedia, an authoring environment and training management systems in order to competitively differentiate themselves from others in the market. "With learning technology development now at a fever pitch, claims of a "total training solution" have become a comical mantra in the press releases of product developers." (Barron 2000a). Many e-learning portals offer integrated solutions as their services.

Other names these products are often called are integrated learning systems and end-to-end solutions

Contact Information	Partners	Technical Requirements
Blackboard Blackboard (Was Course Info) Blackboard Inc. 1899 L Street, NW 5th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Phone: 202-463-4860 Fax: URL: www.blackboard.com Blackboard 5 is the definitive e-Learning software platform encompassing a course management system, customizable institution-wide portals, online campus communities, and an advanced architecture allowing easy integration of multiple administrative systems. While bringing courses online is still a critical component of online learning, the Internet offers tremendous potential for enhancing academic programs and communities beyond the walls of the classroom or campus. Years of research and feedback from our global user base have shaped Blackboard 5 into the most comprehensive, scalable platform to date. Blackboard 5 has evolved from the Blackboard's award-winning Course Info software.	Platform Partners EDUCAUSE IMS Project Course Content Partners Academic Systems Archipelago Productions International Thomson Publishing LearnWare International Corporation Pearson Education W.W. Norton & Company Enterprise Partners KPMG LLP Oracle PeopleSoft Portal Partners Hungry Minds.com People's University International Alliance Partners NextEd Blackboard Enabled Providers Tegrity Inc. Hardware Partners Dell Sun	Minimum / Suggested Hardware Requirements License Level One: Solaris 2.6, 2.7 One Machine Configuration 1 to 2 - Ultrasparc II 400 MHz or greater 256 MB to 512 MB RAM 9 GB to 50 GB disk space (MySQL database and Apache web server bundled) or Red Hat Linux 5.x (Requires upgrade to glibc), 6.x One Machine Configuration 1 to 2 - Pentium III 500 MHz or greater 256 MB to 512 MB RAM 9 GB to 50 GB disk space (MySQL database and Apache web server bundled) or Windows NT 4.o SP 4, Windows Server, Advanced Server, and Data Center Server One Machine Configuration 1 to 2 - Pentium III 500 MHz or greater 256 MB to 512 MB RAM 9 GB to 50 GB disk space Microsoft SQL Server 7 database with SP1 / SP2 (not bundled) Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 4 / 5 (not bundled) (MySQL and Apache not supported) License Levels Two and Three: Solaris 2.6, 2.7 Two Machine Configuration Application Server - machine #1 1 to 4 - Ultrasparc II 400 MHz or greater 1 GB to 2 GB RAM 9 GB to 100 GB disk space Database Server - machine #2 1 to 4 - Ultrasparc II 400 MHz or greater 1 GB to 2 GB RAM 9 GB to 100 GB disk space Oracle 8i database (not bundled) or Red Hat Linux 5.x (Requires upgrade to glibc), 6.x 1 to 4 - Pentium III 500 MHz or greater (Xeon recommended) 1 GB to 2 GB RAM 9 GB to 100 GB disk space Database Server - machine #2 1 to 4 - Pentium III 500 MHz or greater (Xeon recommended) 1 GB to 2 GB RAM 9 GB to 100 GB disk space Oracle 8i database (not bundled) or Windows NT 4.o SP 4, Windows Server, Advanced Server, and Data Center Server 1 to 4 - Pentium III 500 MHz or greater (Xeon recommended) 1 GB to 2 GB RAM 9 GB to 10 GB disk space Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 4 / 5 (not bundled) Database Server - machine #2 1 to 4 - Pentium III 500 MHz or greater (Xeon recommended) 1 GB to 2 GB RAM 9 GB to 100 GB disk space Microsoft SQL Server 7 database with SP1 / SP2 (not bundled) (Oracle 8i database supported but not bundled)
Docent Enterprise Docent, Inc. 2444 Charleston Road Mountain View, CA 94043 Phone: (650) 934-9500 Fax: (650) 962-9411 URL: www.docent.com Email Address: info@docent.com Whether you need to dramatically increase the knowledge and skill level of your employees, business partners, or customers, or successfully bring your education and training business to the web, Docent, Inc. can help you unleash the power of the Internet with a cost-effective knowledge exchange solution that delivers a compelling and measurable bottom-line impact. Docent's award-winning knowledge exchange platform, Docent" Enterprise, empowers individuals and organizations with critical knowledge that can be accessed in just the right amount, at just the right time. Docent, Inc. helps successfully transform the corporate education experience from a series of discrete, isolated events to an integrated, dynamic and on-going process.	Sales Partners Andersen Consulting Belle Productions (Belgium) Caliber Cegos Interactive (France) CeleXx Hewlett-Packard Education NIAM TMS (Netherlands) Content Providers Blessing-White C³i Harvard Business School IMPAXselling.com Instruction Set Miller Heiman The Richardson Company SMGnet TRG Enterprise Consumers Pitney Bowes Schering-Plough TIAA-CREF Destination Communities National Association of Manufacturers Virtual University Sales & Marketing Management Implementation Partners Andersen Consulting Aptech Worldwide C³i CDT MicroGraphics Hewlett-Packard Education Internal & External Communications KSI International BV (Netherlands) Learning Voyage Orbit Development Rapid Learning Deployment Complementary Partners Caliber Centra InterWise Microsoft Oracle PlaceWare Siebel	Technical Requirements Docent Desktop Windows 95/98 or Windows NT 16 MB RAM Docent Learning Management Server / Content Delivery Server Windows 2000, Windows NT or UNIX (Solaris 2.5+) 256 MB RAM minimum Supported web (HTTP) servers: Netscape 3.6+ Microsoft IIS Apache or other CGI enabled web server Supported web server interfaces: NSAPI ISAPI lightweight CGI Supported databases: Oracle 7.3.3+ and 8.0 Microsoft SQL Server Server 7 Student System Requirements Any hardware platform that supports HTML and compatible web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. No plug-ins or Java / JavaScript required
Eutectics SocratEase Eutectics Corporation 535 Connecticut Avenue Norwalk, CT 06854 Phone: (203) 852-4200 Fax: (203) 852-4290 URL: www.eutectics.com Email Address:info@eutectics.com SocratEase is designed to empower organizations with the ability to create custom web-based learning environments that teach, test, and train. It allows organizations to build private training portals that educate and test employees on products, services, and systems. Users can create training for business or educational purposes, deliver this training to whomever they choose, and track their students' use and performance. SocratEase is a complete solution for any business or school that wants to create its own training environment. The focus of the product is ease of use -- anyone can create content-rich, high-impact, dynamic training without any programming knowledge. SocratEase is installed with a single mouse click and includes everything needed to build an online training system. Read the Snapshot for complete details.		Technical Requirements SocratEase Departmental Server The SocratEase Departmental Server will run on any platform that supports a Java VM of 1.2 or higher. Currently, these include: Windows 95, 98 Hardware Minimum Pentium 200, 32MB RAM Hardware Recommended Pentium II 233, 64MB RAM Windows NT Hardware Minimum Pentium 200, 32MB RAM Hardware Recommended Pentium II 233, 96MB RAM Linux Hardware Minimum Pentium II 233, 64MB RAM Hardware Recommended Pentium II 233, 128MB RAM Solaris Hardware Minimum Pentium II 233, 64MB RAM Hardware Recommended Pentium II 233, 128MB RAM Administrator, Instructor, Manager, Author, and Student Clients Explorer 4.0+ or Netscape 4.0+ - clients receive standard HTML ONLY and no Java or plug-ins are required or used. Client for SocratEase Java Authoring Program 4.0+ Browser (Explorer or Netscape) with Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.2 equivalent or higher installed on workstation. Database (Departmental Server Only) SocratEase includes a Java database. Users can plug in any JDBC compliant database with the supporting JDBC drivers. Database drivers are available for Microsoft SQL, Oracle, DB2, Sybase, etc. Web Server (Departmental Server Only) SocratEase includes a powerful built-in web server. SocratEase can also be configured for use with other web servers such as Microsoft IIS, Netscape, and Apache.
Generation 21 Learning Systems Total Knowledge Management (TKM) System Generation 21 Learning Systems 1536 Cole Boulevard Suite 250 Golden, CO 80401 Phone: (303) 233-2100 Fax: (303) 233-1404 URL: www.gen21.com Email Address:info@gen21.com Generation21's TKM software is the only fully integrated solution that employs Dynamic Learning Objects" and allows for development, multiple delivery, maintenance, and management of all forms of training and knowledge management throughout an organization. By building training from reusable Dynamic Learning Objects, the system keeps training content consistent across all training modes: Internet-based, CD-ROM, print, and instructor-led. In addition, the TKM system provides customization for each learner, and maintains all content in a database for immediate on-the-job reference-a key element of the Instant Knowledge performance support feature.		Technical Requirements Server Specifications Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server or Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 or greater Internet Information Server 4.0 with Option Pack 4 or greater Pentium II or III Processor Dual 600 Mhz+ CPU 512MB RAM 10/100 Ethernet 2- 18 GB or greater SCSI hard drives for redundancy ( 3 recommended) 12/24 GB DAT tape drive (minimum)-Tape Backup System 15-inch Color Monitor UPS PERL 5.0 Client Server Database (provided by Generation21) Development Station Pentium II or III 266 Mhz+ 64MB RAM 4GB Hard Drive 10/100 Ethernet 17 inch Color Monitor Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 or Microsoft Windows 95 or 98 Remote Developers will require ISDN or DSL modems Database Capabilities A relational database is built into the TKM system. The database is ODBC-compliant and provides direct interface to Oracle and SQL Server. Scalability of the System for Enterprise Use Generation21 provides scalability for global enterprise-wide use. Because most of the processing occurs in the client environment, the server can manage many simultaneous transactions. If usage requirements exceed a server's capabilities, additional servers can be added to meet client needs. Multiple servers are integrated through the Generation21 object-distribution model, including server mapping, automatic mirroring, and backup functions. Application Programming Interface TKM is an Open Architecture and Standard system. TKM has a published API and supports ODBC. All logical interfaces are written in Java, Perl, or TCL/TK, allowing rapid integration with other open systems. Generation21 already has a strong history of interfaces with other management systems, platforms, and content providers. It has also had several database interfaces.
Lotus Learning Space Lotus Development Corporation 55 Cambridge Parkway Cambridge, MA 02142 USA Phone: (617) 577-8500 Fax: URL: www.lotus.com LearningSpace 4.0 is an open, best-of-breed, Web-based e-learning solution. Whether you want to train one group or your entire enterprise, LearningSpace 4.0 is the answer. It's a complete learning management and delivery system that lets you seamlessly integrate your course content, whether you create it yourself or purchase it from leadinproviders. You can mix and match delivery methods in a single course  including self-directed, asynchronous collaboration, or realtime collaboration. You can assess and track results. And LearningSpace 4.0 offers a robust set of learning management capabilities that make it easy to manage even the most extensive learning programs.	Content Provider Partners AB Utposten - Utö, Sweden Adaptive Performance AB - Stockholm, Sweden Akademos Sistema, c.a. - Caracas, D.F., Venezuela ANELIA SA - BORDEAUX LAC, France Appligate B.V. - Leusden, Netherlands Business Management Engineering Associates Ltd - Stockport, United Kingdom CALC/Canterbury (Computer Applications Learning Center) - Parsippany, NJ United States Concord Consortium - Concord, MA United States CrossWare Aps - Copenhagen, Denmark C.G. Warden and Associates - Grimsby, Ontario Canada Digital AV - Knoxville, TN United States EDS - Herndon, VA United States Edumicro - Montreal , Quebec Canada EQES, Inc. - Glen Ellyn, IL United States Esource - Lawrenceville, GA United States Estudio Campastro - Consultores de Empresas - Salta, Argentina ExecuTrain Italia S.p.A. - TORINO, Italy GlobalServe Corporation - Cleveland, OH United States inform. Consult GmbH - Köln, Germany Infotec Commercial Systems - Austin - Austin, TX United States Infotec Commercial Systems - Edison - Edison, NJ United States Infotec Commercial Systems - Los Angeles - Los Angeles, CA United States Infotec Commercial Systems - Portland - Portland, OR United States Infotec Commercial Systems - San Francisco - San Francisco, CA United States Infotec Commercial Systems - Santa Ana - Santa Ana, CA United States Institut AFOGEC - Paris, France Instruction Set, Inc - Natick, MA United States LeaderShip OnLine - Delafield, WI United States LearningOnline AG - Neuler, Germany MAJOR 1 Srl - Milano, Italy Mesiniaga Berhad - Subang Jaya, Selangor Malaysia Metamor Worldwide Inc. - Norcross, GA United States MICA Computing Services Ltd - London, United Kingdom NetLearningInc - Cambridge, MA United States Netsource - East Perth, Australia Neural Solutions Pty Ltd - NORTH SYDNEY, NSW Australia NuTechs - Bloomfield Hills, MI United States PBSC Computer Training Centres - Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada Protocol Systems International - Nottingham, United Kingdom QuattroEmme S.p.A. - Roma, Italy R H MARKETING LTD - CHESTER, United Kingdom Shared Resource Management, Inc. - Saint Paul, MN United States Softtek Mexico - Mexico, Mexico Tactics Asia - , Singapore TEAM UP Srl - Roma, Italy TELETECH International Services Groupware - Paris, France The Jacobson Group, Inc. - Cambridge, MA United States The Learning Continuum Company Ltd. - Boca Raton, FL United States TRANSITION ASSOCIATES - Tatsfield, United Kingdom Trefz & Partner GmbH - Düsseldorf - Düsseldorf, Germany United System Solutions - Toronto, ON Canada University of Wisconsin, Learning Innovations - Madison, WI United States U.S. Technologies, Inc. - Tampa, FL United States Web Trans Software Development, Ltd. - Taipei, Ta Whittman-Hart Inc., Cleveland - Independence, OH United States Whittman-Hart, Inc - Indianapolis, IN United States Whittman-Hart, Inc. - Chicago, IL United States Whittman-Hart, Inc. - Cincinnati - Cincinnati, OH United States X Data Education srl - Mirandola, Italy ZEL S.r.l. - Milano, Italy	Technical Requirements Learning Space 4.0 Core Intel Pentium II 500 or higher 256 megabytes RAM (512 recommended) NT 4.0 Server SP4 or higher Learning Space 4.0 Collaboration Intel Pentium II 500 or higher 256 megabytes RAM (512 recommended) NT 4.0 Server SP 4 or higher Clients For Pathware Windows 95/98, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation Database Server Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 or 7 on Windows NT 4.0 Server DB/2 version 5.2 on Windows NT 4.0 Server Oracle 7.3 or 8.0 on Sun Solaris or NT 4.0 Server One megabyte of disk space per user in the database Discussions & Live sessions Internet Explorer 4.01 SP2 Internet Explorer 5.0 Netscape Navigator 4.0.8 Netscape Communicator 4.7
Pathlore Learning Management System Corporate Headquarters 7965 North High Street, Suite 300 Columbus, OH 43235 Phone:888-PATHLORE (728-4567) 614-781-0036 Fax: 614-781-7200 URL: www.pathlore.com Email Address: info@pathlore.com Pathlore provides the most comprehensive enterprise training management solution in the industry today. The Pathlore Learning Management System (LMS) is the only open, scalable system that provides a complete foundation for all aspects of learning. With the Pathlore LMS, you can assess, plan, deliver, manage, and improve both the self-paced and the instructor-led learning process - creating a single e-Learning presence for your extended enterprise.	Partners Best Software Centra The Chapman Group Handshaw IBT Financial Instruction Set NETg NIIT RELATE Question Mark Computing Ltd. SkillScape Element K Press	Minimum System Requirements Learner Workstation Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator Administrative Workstation/Client Tier Windows 95, 98, 2000, or NT 4.0 200 MB hard disk space Microsoft Word 7.0 (or later) to create and print letters Application Tier (optional for scalability) Windows 95, 98, 2000, or NT 4.0 Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0 or higher or Netscape Web Servers Database Tier Oracle Server with Oracle 7.3 and higher (on any Oracle-supported platform), or MS SQL Server 7.0 MAPI-compliant e-mail system to send correspondence (e.g., MS Exchange, Lotus Notes, cc:Mail, etc.)
WBT Systems TopClass Reservoir Place, Block C 1601 Trapelo Road Waltham, MA 02451 Phone: (781) 839-2800 Fax: (781) 290-5021 URL: www.wbtsystems.com Email Address: info@wbtsystems.com Our award-winning family of TopClass Products and Services significantly speeds up the creation and delivery of training. Combining unmatched training development, delivery, and certification technology with comprehensive Professional Services and our network of partners, we save millions of dollars annually for over 600 organizations with over 2 million users worldwide.	Content Partners Cell Media Competence Software Global Support Agency Macmillan McGraw-Hill NETg Celexx Tertia Edutec AG Value Added Resellers Eduprise (US - English language site) Hyper Information Systems (South Korean - Korean language site) HyperOffice France - French language site) IOCORE (Worldwide) MicroPower (Brazil - Portuguese language site) Presens AS (Norwegian site) Tertia Edusoft AG (Germany - German language site) Tertia Edutec AG (Switzerland - German language site) System Integrators MTW RWD Technologies Training Providers Oracle Online University Application Service Providers RWD Technologies Technology Partners Centra Pathlore	Technical Requirements Supported Platforms TopClass 4 Windows NT Server Windows NT Server 4.0 Pentium II or equivalent processor 128MB RAM or higher. IIS 4.0 or Netscape Enterprise 3.5.1. Solaris Solaris version 7 with patch number F106327 (available from the Sunsolve website : http://sunsolve.Sun.COM/pub-cgi/show.pl?target=patches/patch-access) SPARC or UltraSPARC processor 128MB RAM or higher. Netscape Enterprise 3.5.1 or Apache 1.25. Please see the TopClass 4 Install Guide for your Oracle requirements. TopClass Server 3.1 Windows NT Server A Pentium II class computer running at 266MHz At least 128Mb of RAM Windows NT Server 4 Either Microsoft Internet Information Server 3.0/4.0 or Netscape Enterprise 3.51/3.6 servers. Solaris Solaris version 2.5.1 UltraSPARC processor Sun recommended patches Latest "SunOS 5.5.1: Shared library patch for C++" (currently patch 106529-04) should be applied Netscape Enterprise 3.51/3.6 or Apache 1.25. Red Hat Linux RedHat Linux version 5.2 Intel Pentium-class processors running at 166MHz 128MB RAM Apache 1.25 TopClass Player 3.1 Available for Windows 95, 98 and NT 4.0 only TopClass Assistants for Office 97 Available for Windows 95, 98 and NT 4.0 only TopClass Publisher Available for Microsoft Windows 95, 98 and NT, with the exception of TopClass Server (see requirements above). TopClass Publisher requires a 100Mhz Pentium PC with 64Mb of RAM and 40Mb of disk space.
WebCT WebCT, Inc. Two Corporation Way Peabody, Massachusetts 01960 Phone: (978) 538-0036 and 877-WebCTme Fax: (978) 538-0309 URL: www.webct.com Email Address: information@webct.com WebCT is a tool that facilitates the creation of sophisticated World Wide Web-based educational environments. It does this in three ways: 1. It provides an interface allowing the design of the presentation of the course (color schemes, layout, etc.) 2. It provides a set of educational tools to facilitate learning, communication and collaboration. 3. It provides a set of administrative tools to assist the instructor in the process of management and continuous improvement of the course. WebCT is a tool built by instructors for instructors. It was built by educators at the University of British Columbia as a tool to allow other educators to build sophisticated Web-based learning environments without a lot of time, resources or technical expertise. The project lead, Murray Goldberg, won the university teaching prize in the first year as a faculty member at UBC and has published in the area of the educational effectiveness and student acceptance of web-based learning resources both in a distance learning setting and as a supplement to lecture-based courses. Still, WebCT is pedagogically neutral. Its goal is to provide a set of tools useful for a broad range of teaching methodologies, yet make it easy to experiment with new techniques.	Content Partners Bedford, Freeman and Worth Publishing Cogito Media EMC Paradigm Harcourt Higher Learning including      Archipelago      Harcourt College Houghton Mifflin John Wiley and Sons Mayfield Publishing McGraw-Hill Higher Education Pearson Distributed Learning including      Addison Wesley Longman      Allyn & Bacon      Prentice Hall Thomson Learning including      Brooks/Cole      Course Technology      Delmar      Heinle & Heinle      South-Western      Wadsworth W.W. Norton & Company Technology Partners SCT and Campus Pipeline Eduprise DigiTerra PeopleSoft Institutes Bellevue Community College and NWCET Cal State - Chico Marshall University Marylhurst University Mississippi State University Ohio State University San Diego Community College District University of Central Florida University of Connecticut University of Georgia University of Maryland University of Missouri University of Texas-Pan American Tools HorizonLive.com TeamWave SRI Virtual Ink Corporate JobDirect	Recommended System Requirements for WebCT Servers For Unix Servers: Average Installation (less than 15,000 user accounts) - PIII 550 [or equiv] - 256 MB of Ram Large Installation (more than 15,000 user accounts) - dual PIII 550 [or equiv] - 512 MB of Ram For NT Servers: Average Installation (less than 15,000 user accounts) - PIII 550 [or equiv] - 512 MB of Ram - dual CPU a consideration Large Installation (more than 15,000 user accounts) - dual PIII 550 [or equiv] - 1 GB of Ram - quad CPU a consideration Hard Drive Space Hard drive space is totally dependant on user usage. Here are some general guidelines for any type of WebCT system: - An installation takes approximately 40 MB - Each course requires approximately 2 MB - Allow 1 MB per user account - x MB for designer uploaded material For example, if you have 200 courses, 1000 users, and the average designer upload amount is 10 MB, then: 40MB + (200*2MB) + (1000*1MB) + (200*10MB) = 3,440MB These are guidelines where the variable is how much a given designer will upload. The amount of materials uploaded will of course vary.