News
Desire2Learn Packs Unprecedented Capabilities, Features and Functionality in Two New Product Versions Reinforcing Innovation Leadership
SYNOPSIS: Desire2Learn introduces the Desire2Learn Learning Platform 7.4 and the Desire2Learn Learning Object Repository 3.1 enabling educators to deliver a high quality education experience to students through added capabilities and enhancements
Kitchener-Waterloo, ON, April 13, 2005 – Desire2Learn Inc., a world-leading provider of mission-critical enterprise learning systems, today unveiled two new product versions: the Desire2Learn Learning Platform 7.4, its flagship product, and the Desire2Learn Learning Object Repository (D2L LOR) 3.1. These two releases represent a significant research and development investment effort by Desire2Learn.
The Desire2Learn Learning Platform 7.4, a complete suite of easy-to-use teaching and learning tools for course development, delivery, assessment, communication, learning management and much more, empowers educators to create teaching and learning environments that reflect their vision, objectives and pedagogy. The Desire2Learn Learning Platform enables educators to impact the learning outcomes and effectively deliver a high quality learner-centric learning environment where students can excel. With a rich feature set and the ability to easily tailor features and interfaces, the Desire2Learn Learning Platform is scalable from a single department to an entire university system.
In addition, the Desire2Learn Learning Object Repository 3.1 is an easy-to-use fully integrated standards-based true learning object repository enabling the storing, sharing and tracking of learning objects. The D2L LOR empowers institutions to effectively capture, reuse and manage content across multiple programs, courses, sections and even across the entire organisation. Costs associated with development, delivery and management of the learning environment can be significantly reduced, while improving the satisfaction for students, faculty and administrators.
"Our goal with these product introductions was to keep our client-driven focus on feature enhancements, and to continue our track-record of product innovation and leadership," said John Baker, Desire2Learn President and CEO. "When combined with our exceptional service and support, these two new releases strengthen the Desire2Learn offering, excite existing clients and attract new organizations who are seeking an effective mission-critical enterprise solution for their learning. Already we have seen a great response from our early adopters, and we are pleased to be showcasing these two products at upcoming events worldwide."
Desire2Learn Learning Platform 7.4 New Features Overview
The following are a few of the new features found in the Desire2Learn Learning Platform to help enhance the student experience, improve teaching and learning and assist administrators to more efficiently manage courses:
- Self Registration: Easy-to-use new tool accessible from the Course Management Console to simplify course roster management. Workflows can be setup to allow existing and new users to register themselves in course offerings
- Copy Course Components Enhancements: Drastically reduce time required to re-offer a course by allowing copying of D2L Quicklinks (links to various D2L tools, such as a particular quiz), conditional release criteria and content display settings as course components
- Conditional Release Enhancements: Extend conditional releases to extensive list of tools and condition criteria to define learning paths based on student’s past performance and interaction
- Tool Specific Secure Sockets Layer (SSL): Define which tools to employ SSL; thus, reducing page load time (lower bandwidth) for tools not transferring sensitive data
- Shared Quizzes/ Quizzing Reports: Enhanced quiz sharing, by making a quiz available to multiple organizational units, and quiz reports, by exporting quiz/ survey results and reports in Coma Separated Values (CSV) format for offline data analysis; this functionality will enable instructors and administrators to better compare quiz results and aggregate data across organizational units
- Chat/ Canvas Tool (Mojo Chat): Improved real-time chat/ whiteboard application that supports personalized text display options
- Gradebook: New design to enhance performance for institutions with classes of over 4,000 students: added new functionality and improved usability
- Additional Performance/ Scalability: Unmatched scalability to meet the needs of large eLearning implementations running as a mission-critical application for hundreds of thousands of users. Additional performance benefits will have a positive impact on all users, whether small or large.
Desire2Learn Learning Object Repository 3.1 Feature Overview:
The new version of the Desire2Learn Learning Object Repository offers the following additional features and benefits:
- Learning Object (LO)/ Asset Management: Ability to manage all learning objects (LOs) and assets inside the repository, including hiding, moving and deleting
- Version Control: Overwrite existing LOs or assets with new ones
- Access and Permission: New security trust parameters, allowing more flexibility and security structures
- Enhanced Usability: New LOR search and retrieve interfaces; view more details on LOs or assets, including all sub-objects, their files and their metadata
- Improved Performance: New search algorithms designed to support larger numbers of LOs and/ or assets in repository(s)
- Dynamic/ Locked Links: Create a link to a LO or asset in the repository enabling the link to be updated when the object is updated; or create a link that is locked to a specific version of the LO or asset
- Support of other LMS Platforms: Download and upload standards-based learning objects into other systems allowing large consortiums additional flexibility and portability of content.
Availability
Both the Desire2Learn Learning Platform 7.4 and the Desire2Learn Learning Object Repository 3.1 are available immediately. Call (519) 772-0325, email Sales@Desire2Learn.com or visit www.Desire2Learn.com for details.
About Desire2Learn Inc.
Desire2Learn, Inc. is a world-leading provider of mission-critical enterprise learning systems that empower education organizations to build teaching and learning environments that reflect their vision and objectives. Desire2Learn clients include colleges, universities, schools, and other education providers, as well as associations, and other leading organizations. There are more than 2 million users of the Desire2Learn enterprise eLearning technology worldwide. Founded in 1999, Desire2Learn is headquartered in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.
For more information, please visit: www.Desire2Learn.com
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Jacqueline Chioreanu
PR/ Media Contact
Desire2Learn Inc.
(519) 772-0325
Jacqueline.Chioreanu@Desire2Learn.com
