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Emerging E-Learning Technologies:

Tools for Developing Innovative
Online Training

By Gary Woodill, Ed.D.

Director, Research and Analysis

Brandon Hall Research

690 W. Fremont Ave. Suite 15
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
Phone: (408) 736-2335
www.brandon-hall.com

© Brandon Hall Research

 Table of Contents
Our Statement of Independence_____________________________________________________ 5
Preface _________________________________________________________________________ 2
Part I: E-Learning Architectures and Frameworks ___________________________________________ 3
Part II: Emerging e-Learning Technologies ________________________________________________10
Affective Computing______________________________________________________________11
Animation Software ______________________________________________________________14
Agents_________________________________________________________________________15
Animation Software ______________________________________________________________20
Artificial Intelligence______________________________________________________________23
Assessment Tools _______________________________________________________________35
Audio and Podcasting Tools _______________________________________________________42
Authoring Tools _________________________________________________________________45
Avatars ________________________________________________________________________52
Blogs __________________________________________________________________________54
Browsers_______________________________________________________________________57
Classroom Response Systems _____________________________________________________59
Collaboration Tools ______________________________________________________________62
Communications Tools ___________________________________________________________74
Competency Tracking Software_____________________________________________________77
Content Management Systems_____________________________________________________80
Data Mining ____________________________________________________________________82
Decision Support Software ________________________________________________________85
Displays _______________________________________________________________________88
E-Portfolio Tools _________________________________________________________________90
Gaming Development Tools _______________________________________________________93
Gesture and Facial Recognition ____________________________________________________97
Graphics Tools ________________________________________________________________ 100
Haptics ______________________________________________________________________ 103
Interface Devices ______________________________________________________________ 106
Learning Management Systems __________________________________________________ 109
Learning Objects and Repositories ________________________________________________ 114
Location Based Technologies ____________________________________________________ 119
Mashups, SOAP and Web Services________________________________________________ 122
Metadata, Ontologies and Taxonomies ____________________________________________ 124
Mobile Devices________________________________________________________________ 127

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 Natural Language Processing ____________________________________________________ 131
Peer to Peer Technologies_______________________________________________________ 134
Personal Learning Environments _________________________________________________ 137
Personalization Software________________________________________________________ 139
Portals_______________________________________________________________________ 145
Presentation Tools _____________________________________________________________ 148
Rapid e-Learning Tools _________________________________________________________ 152
Robotics _____________________________________________________________________ 155
Search Engines _______________________________________________________________ 158
Semantic Web ________________________________________________________________ 165
Simulation Tools_______________________________________________________________ 169
Smart Labels and Tags _________________________________________________________ 174
Social Bookmarking ____________________________________________________________ 176
Social Networking _____________________________________________________________ 180
Telepresence Technologies______________________________________________________ 186
Video and IPTV ________________________________________________________________ 189
Virtual Reality _________________________________________________________________ 193
Visualization Technologies ______________________________________________________ 196
VoIP and Telephony ____________________________________________________________ 203
Wearable Computing ___________________________________________________________ 205
Web Feeds ___________________________________________________________________ 207
Wiki Tools ____________________________________________________________________ 211
Part III: Innovation in E-Learning – Where We Are Heading_________________________________ 214
Part IV: List of Companies and Organizations____________________________________________ 218
Index ____________________________________________________________________________ 259

© Brandon Hall Research

Our Statement of Independence
Brandon Hall Research Is Independent, Unbiased, and Objective

> Brandon Hall Research reports and online services are independently written and edited.
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Do not reproduce
 were very supportive team mates who
Preface allowed me to be more productive. Thanks
also to Chad Nolan for checking all the
In a 2000 report on e-learning, Trace Urdan hyperlinks and addresses throughout the
and Cornelia Weggan divided the “corporate report and to Chris Downs for copy-editing
e-learning universe” into the sectors of the manuscript.
content, technology, and services. I use this
tri-part division of the e-learning field to None of this would have been possible if my
structure a series of three inter-related wife, Karen Anderson, had not encouraged
reports for Brandon Hall Research. me to get into the e-learning field way back
in 1992, and had not accompanied me on
The first report, entitled Emerging E- this journey with input, editing, and support
Learning: New Approaches to Delivering at all points of my career. Thanks, Karen.
Engaging Online Learning Content was
published as an e-book in December 2005.
In it I identified 50 new content formats for
e-learning that are now emerging to replace
the “page-turner” models of online
pedagogy so prevalent in the first few years
of online learning.
This report, the second in the series,
focuses on emerging innovative
technologies for e-learning. In it you will find
descriptions of 52 technologies that will
have a major impact on e-learning over the
next five years. I have provided links to
online learning examples, lists of online
resources, and a bibliography for each of
the technologies. A list of companies and
organizations that are developing and using
these technologies is provided at the end of
the report, along with an index.
A third report, which focuses on the
extensive variety of emerging services that
support e-learning, will be available in early
2007.
This series of three inter-related reports
started with Brandon Hall and Richard
Nantel perceiving that the field of e-learning
is currently undergoing significant change.
They asked me to research and report on
these trends and changes, and I thank them
for their support and encouragement.
My colleagues at Operitel Corporation,
where I served as Chief Learning Officer
until recently, have supported this research
from the beginning. A special thanks to
Michael Skinner, Operitel’s CEO, and the
rest of the Operitel management team –
David Fell, Carlos Oliveira, and Jason
Stimers – for making my work environment
such a positive place to produce this kind of
research. Pamela Fragomeli, Lise Bye, Grant
Hamilton, Amy Davey, Pierre Cahorn,
Jennifer McDowell, and Dan Medakovic

2 © Brandon Hall Research


Part I: E-Learning
Architectures and
Frameworks
A Brief History of Learning
Technologies
Just what are learning technologies? We
tend to think of them as the latest wave of
computer-based technologies that present
educational materials and online
assessments to learners sitting in front of a
computer. But learning technologies have a
much longer history. Humans developed
technologies for learning well before the
advent of writing over 5000 years ago.
Technologies are any technique, material, or
device that extends human abilities.
Examples from early humans include tools
for hunting and fishing, fire for warmth and
cooking, marks and other techniques for
signaling direction, and language for
communication.
Educational or learning technologies are
anything that extends our ability to teach
and learn. They are, to quote Donald
Norman (1993), “things that make us
smart.” Some of the earliest learning
technologies include marks on a path to
indicate directions or danger, oral
techniques that are passed on from
generation to generation in cultures where
speaking is the primary means of
transmitting knowledge, early cave drawings
that told stories of hunting and warfare, and
clay tablets onto which symbols were
pressed as the earliest forms of writing.
We tend to forget, for example, that
lecturing, still used in many institutions of
higher education, is a 2000 year old
“technology.” The word comes from the
Latin lectura, or “reader.” Starting in the
first century AD, various Christian orders
copied manuscripts by hand, making
multiple copies by having a reader dictate
from a manuscript while others copied it
word for word. Medieval universities
followed the same practice, as books were
scarce.
The invention of the printing press by
Johannes Gutenberg in 1440 allowed a
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much wider distribution of knowledge, from
a few literate clergy to a much wider group
of educated readers. The introduction of
textbooks as a technology for teaching was
the result of mass education movements in
the late 19th century, coupled with faster
printing and binding methods.
Classrooms themselves can be seen as a
form of technology. Schools did not always
have classrooms that were organized as we
know them today. The modern classroom,
with rows, the raising of hands, class
periods, detentions, and recess, was first
introduced in Prussia (Germany) in the
1770s. With these reforms, the classroom
became industrialized, similar to the
organization of the burgeoning factories of
that time. Learning became standardized
and linear, with a principal aim of controlling
the learner and the pace of his or her
learning.
A full history of learning technologies is
beyond the scope of this research report.
But I mention it in the context of arguing
that the first versions of e-learning
consisted of putting industrialized, linear
teaching techniques online. Industrial-ized
schooling is about the teacher presenting
materials to the learner who must take
them and prove that he or she has learned
through the successful passing of
examinations.
There are, in fact, many different ways to
learn. Perhaps the first way we learn is by
imitation. Learning by imitation doesn't
require teaching technologies - just the
ability to follow an example. The second way
we learn from an early age is by listening to
stories and repeating them to others.
Stories are ways of “depositing” our
thoughts and memories outside of our
physical bodies into the larger community. A
third way to learn is by seeing. Given that 50
percent of our brainpower is devoted to
vision, visualization with pictures and
graphics is a powerful tool.
The technologies of writing and reading
extend our abilities by allowing thoughts to
be expressed and received in words, even if
the originator of the words is not present.
Writing and reading were first developed in
Mesopotamia (now Iraq) about 6000 years
ago. This new technology was first used by
accountants to track crops and inventories.
Schools were started to teach accounting.
3
 Students in these schools learned by
reading, memorizing, and reciting.
Sadly, most of the early examples of online
teaching still follow this 6000-year-old
model. E-learning for many developers has
been to simply place materials to read and
look at on the screen, followed by
regurgitating this material through online
multiple choice tests. This “tell-test”
approach uses little of the possibilities of
computer-based learning.
E-learning is the latest technology in a long
line of extensions of our ability to teach and
learn. Like all new technologies, it has been
introduced with extravagant claims (“hype”)
of efficacy and efficiency. At the same time,
all new technologies have detractors who
worry that the new technologies will have a
significant negative impact on current
practices. Eventually, all new technologies
become integrated with previous teaching
and learning tools, changing the practice of
teaching.
When a new technology is introduced, there
is a tendency to understand it in terms of
what is already familiar. Examples include
the horseless carriage (cars), moving
pictures (films), and talking machines
(phonographs or record players). Today's
wireless networks will likely evolve into
something without reference to wires.
When a new technology first comes into
use, it is common for people misunderstand
its real impact. For example, in 1876
someone at Western Union, the main
telegraph company in the world at the time,
stated that “this telephone has too many
shortcomings to be seriously considered as
a means of communication.” Similarly,
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, stated in
1943 that he could envision “a world
market for maybe five computers.” In 1970,
the early days of computer networking,
AT&T was given what would become the
Internet. The company returned it to the US
Department of Defense after a six-month
trial saying that it could find “no commercial
use for computer networking.”
The new computer-based learning
technologies will have their greatest impact
when we start to realize their unique
advantages. Some of these advantages
include the following:
4 © Brandon Hall Research
> High speed computation
> Interactivity – especially for games and
simulations
> Networking with global reach, allowing
worldwide collaboration
> Digital representations/transformations
> Algorithms – repeatable procedures
> Storage and retrieval – extending our
memories
> Individualization/customization/
flexibility resulting in personalized
content
> Constant availability - 24/7
> Simulation of complex processes
To realize these advantages, we need to
break from the page metaphor that has
dominated the first decade of Web
development (Alexander, 2006). The Web is
about producing and distributing a variety of
content formats. Rather than pages, we are
beginning to speak about posts or streams
of content, sometimes gathered from
multiple sources, and then integrated into a
unique online mix of information,
sometimes referred to as a mashup (Woodill
and Oliveira, 2006).
This is different from reading a printed book
or presentations on a screen; mashups can
only be done using computer technology.
Computers can be programmed and
organized in many different ways. However,
for one application or data set to work with
other applications or data sets, it needs to
adhere to architectures, frameworks, and
standards. Architectures refer to the overall
technical design of a computer system.
Frameworks are overall design frameworks
for implementing e-learning within a specific
architecture. Standards or protocols refer to
the design of systems so that they can
communicate with each other.
It is beyond the scope of this research
report to explain the details of computer
architectures, as this is a non-technical
guide. But e-learning professionals need to
be aware that the architecture of a system
can limit or expand the possibilities of what
can be done. An emerging architecture that
is particularly relevant to emerging e-
learning technologies is Service Oriented
Architecture (SOA).
Service Oriented Architectures
Chatarji (2004) suggests that service
oriented architectures offer the following
advantages over traditional approaches to
distributed computing:
> They offer business services across
platforms.
> They provide location independence.
> Services need not be conducted at a
particular system or particular network.
> Links are based on loose couplings
rather than tight a integration of
programs.
> There is authentication and
authorization support at every level.
> The search and connectivity to other
services is dynamic.
Short-term benefits of implementing SOA
include the following:
> Enhanced reliability
> Reduced hardware acquisition costs
> Existing development skills leveraged
> Accelerated movement to standards
> Provides a data bridge between
incompatible technologies
Long-term benefits of implementing SOA
include the following:
> Provides the ability to build composite
applications
> Creates a self-healing infrastructure
that reduces management costs
> Provides truly real-time decision-making
applications
> Enables the compilation of a unified
taxonomy of information across an
enterprise and its customer and
partners
Benefits from a business value perspective
include the following:
> Provides the ability to build composite
applications
Do not reproduce
> Creates a self-healing infrastructure
that reduces management costs
> Provides truly real-time, decision-
making applications
> Enables the compilation of a unified
taxonomy of information across an
enterprise and its customer and
partners
> Ability to more quickly meet customer
demands
> Lower costs associated with acquiring
and maintaining technology
> Managing business functionality closer
to the business units
> Leverages existing investments in
technology
> Reduces reliance on expensive custom
development
The ultimate vision for service oriented
architecture is to construct e-learning
resources in a grid, with access to an
enormous variety of learning materials and
programs. Grid technologies define a new
computing paradigm by making an analogy
to the electric power grid. With applications
and content becoming both distributed and
interoperable, a learner should be able to
“plug in” to the grid and remotely start any
application and/or receive access to any
content on the grid. (For a longer description
of grid architecture in e-learning, see the
call for papers in Learning Grid, Number 3,
January, 2005. Find it at:
http://kaleidoscope.grid.free.fr/publication.
php).
For example, the Access Grid is an
ensemble of e-learning resources including
multimedia large-format displays,
presentation and interactive environments,
and interfaces to grid middleware and
visualization environments (See:
http://www.accessgrid.org).
E-Learning Frameworks and
Standards
Several efforts have been started to
establish a formal framework for producing
e-learning. In particular, the IMS Global
Consortium (http://www.imsglobal.org) has
a number of published documents that,
5
 taken together, could form the basis of a
formal e-learning framework. In Europe, the
E-Learning Framework (ELF)
(http://www.elframework.org) is an
international effort to establish a service-
orientated approach to developing and
integrating computer systems in the sphere
of learning, research, and education
administration.
Freisen and McGreal (2002) distinguish
between e-learning standards and
specifications. Standards are formally
accepted definitions while specifications are
less evolved and contain descriptions that
often change over time. Major specifications
for e-learning, according to both Freisen and
McGreal (2002) and Neuman and Geys
(2004), include the following:
Dublin Core – The most broadly based
metadata specification.
http://purl.oclc.org/dc/
IMS – Serves as a catalyst for developing
instructional software.
http://imsproject.com
ARIADNE – This group has created a
European repository for pedagogical
documents called the Knowledge Pool
System.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ariadnekps
ADL SCORM – Specifies the behavior and
aggregation of modular, interactive learning
components, and makes extensive use of
XML.
http://www.adlnet.org/Scorm/
IEEE LOM – For metadata describing
learning objects (LOs), enabling the search
for content.
http://ltsc.ieee.org/wg12/
AICC – An older specification from the
Aviation Industry CBT Committee (AICC) for
run-time communication between content
and learning environments.
http://www.aicc.org/
The above Web sites show how the e-
learning industry is moving to develop a set
of common viewpoints that will result in a
greater interoperability within the industry.
At the same time, relentless change and
new innovative technologies make this task
difficult.
6 © Brandon Hall Research
From Push to Pull in E-Learning
For those of us who have been in the
business of teaching for a long time (I
started in 1971), perhaps the hardest shift
is to think of teaching as providing
educational resources rather than just
instruction. The world is moving away from
the model of a teacher as a container of
valuable information to be disseminated to
learners. Instead, the new model of
teaching involves facilitation. Teachers
facilitate learners to find what they need to
construct their own answers to problems
and issues in life. This is especially true for
adult education.
This theme is found in two recent
publications on the shift in e-learning from
“push” to “pull.” In late 2005, John Hagel
and John Seely Brown placed a working
paper on the Web entitled From Push to Pull
-- Emerging Models for Mobilizing
Resources. They noted that “…in education,
we design standard curricula to expose
students to codified information in a pre-
determined sequence of experiences. In
business, we build highly automated plants
or service platforms supported by
standardized processes seeking to deliver
resources to the right place at pre-
determined times.” The problem with
standardized procedures in education and
training is that they do not work well in
times of rapid change and uncertainty.
Rather, what is needed to succeed is “the
ability to mobilize appropriate resources
when the need arises.”
David Bollier’s 2005 report for the Aspen
Institute, When Push Comes to Pull: The
New Economy and Culture of Networking
Technology, reinforces this theme. Bollier
says, “[a] pull economy - the kind of
economy that appears to be materializing in
online environments - is based on open,
flexible production platforms that use
networking technologies to orchestrate a
broad range of resources.”
The trend in e-learning is also to move from
push to pull in terms of instructional design
of content. Instead of just providing courses,
access to a wide range of documents and
other online resources needs to be
facilitated, along with teaching appropriate
search and evaluation strategies. While
packaged courses still have a place, the
ability to find both human and information
resources at a moment’s notice to resolve
an issue has now become a competitive
advantage.
Moreover, the content that arrives after
making a request is becoming more
personalized (Werkhoven, 2004). We are
now in the era of providing for “the long
tail,” the infrequent requests and desires of
many individuals. As Anderson (2004,
2006) has argued, servicing such a large
variety of requests is only possible in the
online environment.
The degree and experience of collaborating
and sharing information has also changed
with online learning. For example, I recently
was working on my computer in a hotel in
Berlin while simultaneously chatting online
with one colleague in Canada and another
in China. Computing is becoming pervasive
and ubiquitous as we move into a world of
wireless hotspots, ambient networks,
mobile devices, and wearable computers.
Thus, the world of learning can now revolve
around the individual learner and not the
instructor. User-created content, often
placed in repositories as open source
content or software, is becoming
commonplace. Instead of a central
administrative office keeping information
banks on many learners, those learners are
now keeping their own records, often in the
form of e-portfolios (Roberts et al., 2005).
All this is to say that e-learning is based on a
set of emerging technologies. Five years
ago, perhaps a dozen technologies could be
identified as producing and supporting e-
learning materials and experiences. This
report identifies 52 distinct technologies
that are being used today in online learning.
Each technology and its relevance to
learning is described. Strengths and
weaknesses of each technology are then
presented, along with selected examples,
online resources, and a bibliography.
Because this research report is meant as a
reference work, the reader can approach
any topic in any order.
In the last chapter, I discuss the meaning of
these emerging technologies in e-learning
based on both knowledge lifecycles and
technology innovation cycles. From this, I
have tried to project what we can expect
over the next five years. I hope you will find
it useful.
Do not reproduce
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Urdan, T. and Weggen, C. (2000). Corporate
http://ewic.bcs.org/conferences/2004/4thl
E-Learning: exploring a new frontier.
ege/session3/paper2.pdf
Research report, W.R. Hambrecht and Co.
Norman, Donald (1993). Things that Make http://www.astd.org/NR/rdonlyres/E2CF56
Us Smart: defending human attributes in 59-B67B-4D96-9D85-
the age of the machine. Cambridge, MA: BFAC308D0E28/0/hambrecht.pdf
Perseus.
Werkhoven, Peter (2004). Experience
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0201
machines: capturing and retrieving personal
626950/104-4406419-
content. ACTeN E-Content Report No. 9.
7257534?v=glance&n=283155
http://www.acten.net/uploads/images/431
Pankratius, V. and Vossen, G. (2003). /experience_machines.pdf
Towards e-learning grids: using grid
Woodill, G. and Oliveira, C. (2006).
computing in electronic learning.
Mashups, SOAP and Services: welcome to
Proceedings of the IEEE Workshop on
Web hybrid e-learning applications. Learning
Knowledge Grid and Grid Intelligence,
Solutions, May 15, 2006.
International Conference on Web
http://www.operitel.com/publications.aspx
Intelligence/Intelligent Agent Technology.
http://www.aifb.uni- Yang, C. and Ho, H. (2005). An e-Learning
karlsruhe.de/BIK/vpa/pankratius_vossen_e Platform Based on Grid Architecture. Journal
-learninggrids.pdf of Information Science and Engineering, 21,
911-928.
Pierre, Samuel (2006). E-Learning
http://www.iis.sinica.edu.tw/JISE/2005/20
Networked Environments and Architectures:
0509_06.pdf
A Knowledge Processing Perspective. Berlin:
Springer.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1846
283515/sr=8-
3/qid=1155437505/ref=sr_1_3/104-
1348092-4859103?ie=UTF8
Riachi, Rhonda (2006). Trends in e-learning:
education versus entertainment?
Presentation, Library+information Show,
Birmingham, UK, April 26-27, 2006.
http://www.alt.ac.uk/docs/trends_in_e-
learning_27april2006.pdf
Roberts, G., Aalderink, W., Cook, J., Feijen,
M., Harvey, J., Lee, S. and Wade, V. (2005).
Reflective learning, future thinking: digital
repositories, e-portfolios, informal learning
and ubiquitous computing. Paper presented
at the ALT/SURF/ILTA1 Spring Conference
Research Seminar, Trinity College, Dublin,
April 1, 2005.
http://www.alt.ac.uk/docs/ALT_SURF_ILTA_
white_paper_2005.pdf
Spaniol, M., Klamma, R. and Jarke, M.
(2003). ATLAS: A Web-Based Software
Architecture for Multimedia E-learning

Do not reproduce 9
 Part II: Emerging e-
Learning
Technologies
What follows are individual reviews of 52 e-
learning technologies. Included are related
terms, a brief description of the technology
and the issues surrounding it, selected e-
learning related examples, online resources
to learn more about each technology, and a
bibliography for each section.
There are over 2000 hyperlinks in this
section of the report, allowing the reader to
investigate each topic to a much greater
depth.

10 © Brandon Hall Research


Affective Computing
Related terms
Artificial intelligence, emotional design,
emotions, facial recognition, gestures,
keystroke patterns, posture, privacy,
security, speech patterns
Description
Affective computing allows computers to
interpret, understand, and react to human
emotions. Given that 80 percent to 90
percent of human-to-human commun-
ication is nonverbal, it is not surprising that
researchers are working on software that
can recognize the nonverbal cues that
indicate specific human emotional states.
Without the ability to understand emotions,
computers will never be-come human-like or
appear “natural.”
Affective computing employs cameras and
body sensors to discover clues about what a
user is feeling. Specific algorithms interpret
these clues and instruct the computer to
take appro-priate actions. Affective
computing can detect whether a learner is
having a problem with a subject and adjust
accordingly by offering tutoring or less
difficult learning materials.
For example, in Italy, the MYSELF project is
trying to “integrate affective computing into
virtual tutors to enhance distance learning
and training applications.
Affective computing is aimed at giving
computers skills of emotional intelligence,
including the ability to recognize and
express emotions, and to respond to them
effectively.” (Anolli, et al., 2005). In online
therapy, too, affective computing can give
the therapist more information on a client’s
emotional state.
Using emotionally realistic characters in an
online simulation can make e-learning more
effective (Maldonado et al., 2005). Making
computers more responsive to a learner’s
emotions should also enhance learning.
SRI Consulting (http://www.sric-
bi.com/Explorer/NGT-AC.shtml) contends
that “affective computing is an important
development in computing, because as
pervasive or ubiquitous computing becomes
Do not reproduce
mainstream, computers will be far more
invisible and natural in their interactions
with humans.” Projected benefits include
the following:
> Making people more comfortable with
their computers
> Detecting whether a person is under
stress, confused, or sad, then trying to
change the user's emotional state
> Improving the safety of public spaces by
detecting a person's malicious intent
before he or she commits a crime
> Learning about the state of employees’
emotions in order to increase
productivity
> Assessing the reaction of consumers to
product offerings
> Learning about the state of employees’
emotions in order to increase
productivity
> Assessing the reaction of consumers to
product offerings
Major difficulties with using computers for
the above “benefits” are concerns with
privacy, accuracy, and legality.
Selected Examples
Rosalind Picard, author of the 1997
groundbreaking book, Affective Computing,
heads the MIT lab on affective computing.
The lab’s Web site has many resources to
check out at:
http://affect.media.mit.edu
The MYSELF project coordinates a number
of researchers in several European
countries who are working on affective
computing.
http://www.myself-proj.it/
Ditto the Donkey software rates the
niceness or nastiness of messages and
responds “emotionally.”
http://www.convo.co.uk/x02/
Online Resources
The Cognition and Affect Project at the
University of Birmingham, UK, maintains a
list of papers and doctoral dissertations on
the topic of affective computing.
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/cogaff
/0-INDEX.html
11
 The Emotion Home Page is a listing of
various research studies on emotion,
including studies of emotions in computers.
http://emotion.nsma.arizona.edu/emotion.
html
The first international conference on
Affective Computing and Intelligent
Interaction was held in Beijing, China,
October 22-24, 2005. It is instructive to
read the list of papers presented and to see
the advances that have been made in this
field. Contents of the proceedings of ACII
2005 are at:
http://www.informatik.uni-
trier.de/~ley/db/conf/acii/acii2005.html
In Germany, Dr. Christoph Bartneck
maintains an Affective Computing Portal,
listing many links to interesting resources.
http://www.bartneck.de/link/affective_port
al.html
The Geneva Emotion Research Group at the
University of Geneva maintains a Web site
on this topic, with many resources.
http://www.unige.ch/fapse/emotion/
The Humaine Project has a portal with
reports, bibliographies, and demonstrations
on affective computing in Europe.
http://emotion-research.net/
The Proceedings of the Symposium on
Agents that Want and Like: Motivational and
Emotional Roots of Cognition and Action,
University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK,
April 12-15, 2005, are available online:
http://www.aisb.org.uk/publications/procee
dings/aisb05/2_Agents_Final.pdf
Bibliography
Anolli, L., Mantovani, F., Balestra, M., Agliati,
A., Realdon, O., Zurloni, V., Nortillaro, M.
Vescovo, A. and Confalonieri (2005). The
Potential of Affective Computing in E-
Learning: MYSELF project experience. Paper
presented to the Workshop on eLearning
and Human-Computer Interaction: Exploring
Design Synergies for more Effective
Learning Experiences, September 13, 2005
http://www.dis.uniroma1.it/~lhci/009.pdf
Cahour, B., Salembier, P., Brassac, C.,
Bouraoui, J., Pachoud, B., Vermersch, P.,
and Zouinar, M. (2005). Methodologies for
Evaluating the Affective Experience of a
Mediated Interaction. Paper presented at
the workshop on Evaluating Affective
12
Interfaces, CHI 2005 conference, Portland,
Oregon, April 2-7, 2005.
http://www.sics.se/~kia/evaluating_affectiv
e_interfaces/Cahour.doc
Chateau, N. and Merisol, M. (2005).
AMUSE: a tool for evaluating affective
interfaces. Paper presented at the
workshop on Evaluating Affective Interfaces,
CHI 2005 conference, Portland, Oregon,
April 2-7, 2005.
http://www.sics.se/~kia/evaluating_affectiv
e_interfaces/Chateau.pdf
Diamond, David (2003). The Love Machine:
building computers that care. Wired
Magazine, Issue 11/12, December.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.1
2/love.html
Fallman, D. and Waterworth, J. (2005).
Dealing with User Experience and Affective
Evaluation in HCI Design: A Repertory Grid
Approach. Paper presented at the workshop
on Evaluating Affective Interfaces, CHI 2005
conference, Portland, Oregon, April 2-7.
http://www.sics.se/~kia/evaluating_affectiv
e_interfaces/Fallman.pdf
Goren-Bar, D., Graziola, I., Pianesi, F.,
Rocchi, C., Stock, O. and Zancanaro, Z.
(2005). I Like It - Affective Control of
Information Flow in a Personalized Mobile
Museum Guide. Paper presented at the
workshop on Evaluating Affective Interfaces,
CHI 2005 conference, Portland, Oregon,
April 2-7, 2005.
http://www.sics.se/~kia/evaluating_affectiv
e_interfaces/Goren-Bar.doc
Hook, K., Isbister, K., and Laaksolahti, J.
(2005). Sensual Evaluation Instrument.
Paper for Evaluating Affective Interfaces,
CHI 2005, Portland, Oregon, April 2-7.
http://www.sics.se/~kia/evaluating_affectiv
e_interfaces/Hook.pdf
Kaye, Joseph (2005). Intimate Objects: a
site for affective evaluation. Paper for
Evaluating Affective Interfaces, CHI 2005,
Portland, Oregon, April 2-7.
http://www.sics.se/~kia/evaluating_affectiv
e_interfaces/Kaye.pdf
Maldonado, H., Lee, J., Brave, S., Nass, C.,
Nakajima, H., Yamada, R., Iwamura, K. and
Morishima, Y. (2005). We Learn Better
Together: Enhancing eLearning with
Emotional Characters. In Computer
Supported Collaborative Learning 2005:
© Brandon Hall Research
Next 10 Years! Mahwah, NJ. L. Erlbaum. Steele, M. and Steele, J. (2002). Applying
http://www.stanford.edu/~kiky/CSCL2005 affective computing techniques to the field
Maldonado.pdf of special education. Journal of Research on
Technology in Education, 35(2), Dec. 22,
Mandryk, Regan (2005). Evaluating
2002.
Affective Computing Environments Using
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMe
Physiological Measures. Paper presented at
nu/Publications/JRTE/Issues/Volume_351/
the workshop on Evaluating Affective
Number_2_Winter_2002_20031/Applying_
Interfaces, CHI 2005 conference, Portland,
Affective_Computing_Techniques_to_the_Fi
Oregon, April 2-7, 2005.
eld_of_Special_Education.htm
http://www.sics.se/~kia/evaluating_affectiv
e_interfaces/Mandryk.pdf Tao, J., Tan, T. and Picard, R. (2005).
Affective Computing and Intelligent
Masum, S. and Ishizuka, M. (2005). An
Interaction: Proceedings of the First
affective role model of software agent for
International Conference, ACII 2005,
effective agent-based e-learning by
Beijing, China, October 22-24. Berlin:
interplaying between emotions and learning.
Springer.
Paper for WEBIST 2005, Miami, May 26,
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2005.
296212/sr=8-
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2/qid=1155436264/ref=sr_1_2/104-
tokyo.ac.jp/papers/mostafa/WEBIST2005_
1348092-4859103?ie=UTF8
Mostafa_Japan_Final.pdf
Wiberg, Charlotte (2005). Affective
Mentis, Helena (2005). Insight into Strong
Computing vs. Usability?: insights of using
Emotional Experiences through Memory.
traditional usability evaluation methods.
Paper for Evaluating Affective Interfaces,
Paper presented at the workshop on
CHI 2005, Portland, Oregon, April 2-7,
Evaluating Affective Interfaces, CHI 2005
2005.
conference, Portland, Oregon, April 2-7,
http://www.sics.se/~kia/evaluating_affectiv
2005.
e_interfaces/Mentis.pdf
http://www.sics.se/~kia/evaluating_affectiv
Norman, Donald A. (2004). Emotional e_interfaces/Wiberg.doc
Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday
Wright, Ian (1997). Emotional Agents.
Things. New York: Basic.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of
http://www.elearning-
Birmingham.
reviews.org/topics/human-computer-
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/cogaff
interaction/usability/2004-norman-
/Wright.thesis.pdf
emotional-design/
Picard, Rosalind (1997). Affective
Computing. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
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661152/sr=8-
1/qid=1152930312/ref=sr_1_1/104-
9851151-1919955?ie=UTF8
Picard, R. and Daily, S. (2005). Evaluating
affective interactions: Alternatives to asking
what users feel. Paper for Evaluating
Affective Interfaces, CHI 2005, Portland,
OR.
http://www.sics.se/~kia/evaluating_affectiv
e_interfaces/Picard.pdf
Ruebenstrunk, Gerd (1998). Emotional
Computers: Computer models of emotions
and their meaning for emotion-psychological
research. E-book
http://www.ruebenstrunk.de/emeocomp/co
ntent.HTM

Do not reproduce 13
 Animation Software

14 © Brandon Hall Research


Agents
Related terms:
Artificial intelligence, autonomous agents,
avatars, intelligent agents
Description
Agents are intelligent software programs
that can act on behalf of an individual or a
group. Agent-generated content can be
utilized in several different ways. First,
software agents can retrieve content on the
Internet for an individual user. Second,
software agents can “watch” for new items
of interest to a learner and send an alert
when one appears. Third, personal agents
can negotiate with other agents to produce
a personalized learning environment.
Fourth, animated agents can be used to
speak and present learning materials in an
online application. These “pedagogical
agents” serve as the role of teacher by
presenting the materials to learners online.
Software agents act on behalf of users to
accomplish their goals. Being goal
orientated is a key character of agents (Yan,
2004). Agents are autonomous and can act
independently within the limits their
programming. An intelligent agent is a
computer system capable of flexible
autonomous action in some environment
(Wooldridge, 1999). In this context, flexible
means reactive (responds to its
environment), proactive (goal directed), and
social (able to communicate and interact
with other agents). Other possible qualities
of online agents include mobility, veracity,
benevolence, rationality, and,
learning/adaptation.
Wright (1997) has even suggested that
virtual agents can have emotions, and many
of them can actually learn. For example,
Ueno (2005) describes an agent that
learned from the log data of a Web site.
Learning by computers is sometimes called
machine learning, which is a sub-field of
artificial intelligence. Intelligent computer
aided instruction or tutoring programs often
use agent technology.
An agent can act as a personal assistant for
a teacher and as a personal assistant for a
student, and both may be found in the same
Do not reproduce
program (for example, see the paper by Far
et al., 1999). Sometimes multiple agents
can work together. Luengo (1999) describes
students interacting with three agents while
constructing a mathematical proof.
Dick Stenmark, of the University of Goteberg
in Sweden, has classified intelligent agents
as follows:
> Interface agents
> System agents
> Advisory agents
> Filtering agents
> Retrieval agents
> Navigation agents
> Monitoring agents
> Recommender agents
> Profiling agents
http://w3.informatik.gu.se/~dixi/agent/clas
s.htm)
Most online agents in e-learning play the
role of teacher or tutor. However, a
Learning-by-Teaching approach can also be
effective (Leelawong, 2005; Katzlberger,
2005). Viswanath, et al. (2004) report that
teaching a computer agent can be effective
in terms of learning. A software simulation
for Grade 5 students called Betty’s Brain
“learned” by students teaching her about
concept maps. She made mistakes, and the
students had to continue to teach her. A
second agent in the simulation, Mentor, told
the students when Betty was wrong and
how they could teach her properly. A
student agent and an environment agent
allowed interactivity and change within the
environment.
Agents can be used to model social systems
(Guessoum, 2004) and are, therefore,
useful in educational simulations. Multiple
adaptive agents act as a “complex adaptive
system” to reproduce social dynamics with
feedback loops and uncertain outcomes. In
such situations, agents need to cooperate
with each other to solve collective problems.
Sahin (2000) says that “self-organization of
…intelligent agents is accomplished
because each agent models other agents by
observing their behavior. Agents have
beliefs, not only about environments, but
15
 also about other agents. Therefore, an
agent takes its decisions according to the
model of the environment and the model of
the other agents. Even though each agent
acts independently, they take the other
agents' behaviors into account to make a
decision. This permits the agents to
organize themselves for a common task”
(Sahin, 2000). Stone (1998) reports on
another study where multiple agents were
organized in teams, acting against other
teams of agents.
One issue for further study involves how
close to a human being a software agent
needs to be to comfortably interact with
people. Massaro et al. (1998) developed a
conversational agent, Baldi, which could
show realistic facial expressions to convey
emotions on a computer screen. The agent
was successful in language tutoring with
children with hearing loss. Baylor and Kim
(2003) applied the same thinking to the
interaction effects between student
ethnicity and agent ethnicity. Their study
revealed that students working with agents
of the same ethnicity perceived the agents
to be significantly more engaging and
affable.
Baylor and Ebbers (2003) examined the
question of whether it is more effective to
have one pedagogical agent with combined
expertise and motiva-tional support or two
separate agents – one with expertise and
one with motivational support. They found
that having two separate pedagogical
agents representing the two roles had a
significantly more positive impact on both
learning and the perceived value of the
agents.
Selected Examples
Nel is an agent based tutoring system that
teaches introductory physics. See the article
by Williams et al. (2004):
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=11101
A research group in Italy has used XML and
the Java Agent Development Framework to
develop a prototype e-learning system using
multiple agents. MASEL (Multi-Agent System
for E-Learning), uses seven different types
of agents:
1. Chief Learning Officer (CLO)
Assistant Agent
16
2. Skills Manager Agent
3. Student Assistant Agent
4. Learning Paths Agent
5. Content Agent
6. Chief Content Officer (CCO)
Assistant Agent
7. User Profile Agent.
For details see:
www.old.netobjectdays.org/pdf/02/papers/
malceb/0623.pdf
Animated characters from Extempo Systems
can be used in online teaching and
coaching. They are available as adaptive
coaches, expert role-players, and expert
guides.
http://www.extempo.com/
The simulations from Redwood e-Learning
Systems make extensive use of pedagogical
agents.
http://www.redwoodelearning.com/
CodeBaby Corp. has a virtual studio for
programming actions and gestures of a
variety of online characters.
http://www.codebaby.com
Online Resources
For an online primer on pedagogical agents,
go to:
http://ldt.stanford.edu/~slater/pages/agen
ts/
Professor Michael Wooldridge of the
University of Liverpool has written over 200
articles and 13 books on the behaviors of
software agents and on multi-agent
systems.
http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~mjw/
Professor Wooldridge also maintains a large
bibliography on agents,
http://liinwww.ira.uka.de/bibliography/Ai/a
gents.html
For a set of papers on pedagogical agent
research by Dr. Amy Baylor and her
colleagues, go to:
http://ritl.fsu.edu/_Website/
Research on animated agents with
programmed “social skills” is being carried
out at the Center for Advanced Research for
Technology in Education (CARTE) at the
© Brandon Hall Research
University of Southern California.
http://www.isi.edu/isd/carte/
Bibliography
Baylor, A., & Ebbers, S. (2003). The
Pedagogical Agent Split-Persona Effect:
When Two Agents are Better than One. In
Proceedings of World Conference on
Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, and
Telecommunications 2003, 459-462.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=11122
Baylor, A., & Kim, Y. (2003). The Role of
Gender and Ethnicity in Pedagogical Agent
Perception. In Proceedings, E-Learning
2003, 1503-1506.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=12158
Cao, L., & Bengu, G. (2000). Developing
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75-80.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=6341
Choy, S., Ng, S. and Tsang, Y. (2005).
Software Agents to Assist in Distance
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28(2), 2005.
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m0523.pdf
Clarebout, G., Elan, J., Johnson, W. and
Shaw, E. (2002). Animated Pedagogical
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Journal of Educational Multimedia and
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n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=9270
Elen, J., Clarebout, G., & Johnson, W.
(2002). Animated pedagogical agents:
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Far, B., Koono, Z., & El-Khouly, M. (1999).
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n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=8843
Do not reproduce
Garro, A. and Palopoli, L. (2002). An XML
Multi-Agent System for e-Learning and Skill
Management. Paper presented,
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Systems, Large Complex Systems, and E-
Businesses (MALCEB'2002), Erfurt,
Germany.
http://www.old.netobjectdays.org/pdf/02/p
apers/malceb/0623.pdf
Guessoum, Zahia (2004). Adaptive agents
and multi-agent systems. IEEE Distributed
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004/07/o7004.pdf
Jafari, Ali (2002). Conceptualizing Intelligent
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action=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=213
82
Katzlberger, Thomas (2005). Learning by
Teaching Agents. Doctoral Dissertation,
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
www.teachableagents.org/papers/ThomasK
atzlbergerDissertation.pdf
Kim, Y. (2003). Things that Make Agent as
Learning Companion Effective. In
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n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=12193
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Leelawong, Krittaya (2005). Using the
Learning-by-Teaching Paradigm to design
intelligent learning environments. Doctoral
Dissertation, Vanderbilt University,
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thesis-sp.pdf
Lin, Fuhua Oscar (2005). Designing
Distributed Learning Environments with
Intelligent Software Agents. Hershey, PA:
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17
 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591
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Luengo, V. (1999). Cooperative Agents to
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Massaro, D., Cohen, M., Beskow, J., Daniel,
S., and Cole, R. (1998) Developing and
Evaluating Conversational Agents. Paper
presented at WECC'98 conference.
http://cslu.cse.ogi.edu/publications/ps/Ma
ssaroCole_WECC98.pdf
Menczer, Filippo (1998) Life-like agents:
Internalizing local cues for reinforcement
learning and evolution. Doctoral
dissertation, U. of California.
http://www.informatics.indiana.edu/fil/
Padgham, L. and Winikoff, M. (2004)
Developing Intelligent Agent Systems. New
York: John Wiley & Sons.
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1348092-4859103?ie=UTF8&s=books
Pankratius, V., Sandel, O. and Stucky, W.
(2004). Retrieving Content with Agents in
Web Service E-Learning. In The Symposium
on Professional Practice in AI, IFIP WG12.5 -
First IFIP Conference on Artificial
Intelligence Applications and Innovations
(AIAI). Toulouse, France, August.
www.aifb.uni-karlsruhe.de/BIK/vpa/109.pdf
Perez, R. and Solomon, H. (2005). Effect of
a Socratic Animated Agent on Student
Performance in a Computer-Simulated
Disassembly Process. Journal of
Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia,
14(1), 47-59.
http://dl.aace.org/16968
Sahin, Ferat (2000). A Bayesian Network
Approach to the Self-Organization and
Learning in Intelligent Agents. Doctoral
18
Dissertation, Virginia Poytechnic and State
University.
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/e
td-09202000-00230057/
Sheremetov, L., and Núñeza, G. (1999).
Multi-stage cooperation algorithm and tools
for agent-based planning and scheduling in
[a] virtual learning environment. Paper
presented at the 1st International Workshop
of Central and Eastern Europe on Multi-
Agent Systems (CEEMAS), June 1-4, 1999,
St. Petersburg, Russia.
http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/565321.html
Shim, S., Atreya, S., Wesley, L., & Booth, R.
(1999). ROADS: An Environment for
Developing Automated Intelligent Agents to
Support Distance Learning. Journal of
Interactive Learning Research. 10 (3), 321-
333.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=8833
Stone, Peter (1998). Layered Learning in
Multi-Agent Systems. Doctoral Dissertation,
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~pstone/thesis/
Sung, J. & Lim, D. (2005). Intelligent
Learning System Based on Tutoring Agent
and VR Training Agent (TAVTA). In P.
Kommers & G. Richards (Eds.), Proceedings,
ED-MEDIA 2005, 1415-1420.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=20277
Ueno, M. (2004). Animated agent to
maintain learner’s attention in e-learning. In
Proceedings of World Conference on E-
Learning in Corporate, Government,
Healthcare, and Higher Education 2004,
194-201.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=11288
Ueno, M. (2005). Intelligent LMS with an
agent that learns from log data. In Richards,
G. (Ed.), Proceedings, ED- Media 2005,
3169-3176.
http://www.aace.org/newdl/index.cfm?fuse
action=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=216
87
Viswanath, K., Adebiyi, B., Biswas, G. &
Leelawong, K. (2004). A Multi-Agent
Architecture Implementation of Learning by
Teaching Systems. Paper for Conference on
Advanced Learning Technologies, Finland,
61-65.
© Brandon Hall Research
http://www.teachableagents.org/papers/15
8bis.pdf
Williams, M., Gilbert, J., & Madsen, N.
(2004). Nel: An Interactive Physics Tutor. In
Proceedings, ED-MEDIA 2004, 3000-3002.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=11101
Wooldridge, Michael (2002). Introduction to
Multi-Agent Systems. New York: John Wiley
& Sons.
http://ca.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/pr
oductCd-047149691X.html
Yan, Chun. (2004). Agent Mediated Grid
Services in e-Learning. Paper at CLAG2004,
Collaborative Learning Applications of Grid
Technology, Chicago, April 18-21, 2004.
http://research.ac.upc.edu/clag/cy_lane-
goal_grid_service_conference.ppt

Do not reproduce 19

Animation Software
Related terms
Flash, motion graphics
Description
Animation has been a staple of e-learning
since the start of computer assisted
learning in the 1970s and 1980s.
Animations in e-learning range from simple
swapping of successive images to highly
complex 3-D motion graphics. Toth (2003)
identifies three major formats for online
graphics:
> Animated GIFs: A series of still images
shown in sequence, like pictures in a
flip book. This is an older animation
technique that is not used as much
today.
> Flash and Shockwave animations:
Macromedia’s Flash and Shockwave
have extensive abilities to produce
sophisticated animation sequences.
Flash animations are perhaps the most
common form of animation used in e-
learning.
> Dynamic 3-D Web graphics: Three-
dimensional motion graphics draw on
large datasets to visualize dynamic
processes. Software tools for 3-D Web
graphics are more expensive and
complex to learn.
In addition to adding “eye candy” to the
presentation of educational materials,
animation can add real educational value by
illustrating a dynamic procedure that is
relevant to understanding. However,
animation for its own sake can often be
distracting or misleading when implemented
poorly.
It is generally thought that adding
animations to online materials can help as a
learning aid. However, recently researchers
have questioned whether animations make
a difference. The results of many
experiments have been mixed.
Lowe (2004) argues that “despite the
plausibility of cognitively based arguments
for the benefits of animation, research to
date has failed to provide unequivocal
evidence that it is superior to static
20
depiction.” Lowe adds that “in some cases,
animations may even prejudice learning.”
This is echoed in research by Hegarty et al.
(2003), who suggest that stimulating a
learner’s “mental animation” capacity may
be more important for learning than
watching a moving picture. Hegarty and his
co-researchers found no advantage to using
external animations. Rather, a static
diagram, coupled with imagining how
something worked, produced the best
learning results.
Also, animations can be complex and move
quickly through showing a process without
real understanding being achieved by the
learner. Visual cues “such as arrows
pointing to relevant parts of an animation,
improved the understanding of animated
explan-ations.” (Huk, et. al., 2003)
Finally, producing animations can be very
costly, with long hours spent to produce
even a short sequence. Given that, and the
uncertainty of its effectiveness, animations
should be used sparingly in e-learning.
Selected Examples
Based on Toth’s (2003) types of animations
listed above, animation tools can be divided
into three groups:
> Software for Producing GIF Animations
> Software for Producing Flash and
Shockwave Animations
> Software and Hardware for Producing 3-
D Web Graphics
GIF animations can be constructed with
several different shareware or low cost
programs, including the following:
Gif Construction Set Professional -
http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/gi
fcon.html
Real GIF Optimizer 3.05 -
http://www.topshareware.com/Real-GIF-
Optimizer-download-2965.htm
Ulead GIF Animator 5.0 -
http://www.topshareware.com/Ulead-GIF-
Animator-download-11513.htm
For a selection of over 400,000 pre-built
animated GIFs, go to the Animation Factory:
http://www.animationfactory.com/animatio
ns/
© Brandon Hall Research
Software for Producing Flash
and Shockwave Animations
One of the most popular software packages
on the market is Macro-media Flash
(Macromedia is now owned by Adobe). It is
popular because it is easy to
use and is cross-browser compatible (Hess
and Hancock, 2004). Macromedia Flash
has based digital animation on traditional
animation techniques. More sophisticated
procedures in Flash may require the use of
Action-Script, the built-in programming
language. To use ActionScript, some
knowledge of computer programming is
necessary. For information on Flash, go to:
http://www.macromedia.com/software/flas
h/flashpro/
Shockwave is an older technique from
Macromedia, connected with its Director
and Authorware content creation packages.
Shockwave is a program that takes Director
“movies” or Authorware animations and
com-presses and readies them for play-back
on the Web. A downloadable “plug-in” is
required to play Shock-wave, whereas Flash
plays automat-ically within the latest
versions of the most popular Web browsers.
For more information on Shockwave, go to:
http://macromedia.com
A low cost alternative to authoring in the
Flash format is SWISH.
http://www.swishzone.com/
Eighty-five pre-built Flash animations for
Physics are available under a Creative
Commons license from the University of
Toronto.
http://faraday.physics.utoronto.ca/GeneralI
nterest/Harrison/Flash/
Software and Hardware for
Producing 3-D Web Graphics
Numerous 3-D authoring packages range
from relatively inexpensive to tens of
thousands of dollars. Following is a list of
leading packages with company Web sites:
AfterEffects – An industry standard from
Adobe.
http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffec
ts/main.html
CAT - Character Animation Technol-ogies
(CAT) has a set of advanced animation tools
Do not reproduce
that work in 3ds Max.
http://www.catoolkit.com/gallery/default.as
p?pageID=1
EI Technology Group’s Animation System
and Amorphium, their 3-D character
creation environment, have been used in a
number of Academy Award winning films.
http://www.eitechnologygroup.com
Enliven - ViewPoint’s Enliven provides a
simple visual interface for creating 3-D
interactive Web content quickly and easily
without programming.
http://www.viewpoint.com/pub/products/e
nliven.html
Falling Bodies - Falling Bodies is a special
purpose plug-in for Softimage|3D. It
animates fall stunts, using accurate
dynamic simulation techniques. For a free
demo, go to:
http://www.animats.com/dynamics/demov
ersion.html
Lightwave 3D is a modeling, animating, and
rendering tool. Version 9 is available:
http://www.newtek.com/lightwave/lw9_bet
afaq.php
Massive software is used to add animated
crowds to movies.
http://www.massivesoftware.com
Maya is a high-end modeling, animation,
effects, and rendering solution from
Autodesk (formerly Alias). See why it has
won Academy Awards at:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/inde
x?id=6871843&siteID=123112
Motion2 is professional level animation
software from Apple that runs on both
Macintosh and Intel platforms. It is part of
Final Cut Studio, a high-end editing and
visual effects suite.
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/motio
n/
SoftImage|XSI - Softimage Co., a subsidiary
of Avid Technology, Inc., has one of the
world’s most advanced 3-D content creation
tools.
http://www.softimage.com/
Novices at animation can try the HTML and
Flash templates from Animation Online.
Their VisionBlazer product is described as
“easy to use.”
http://www.animationonline.com/
21
 Ascension Technologies has a wide variety individual learner abilities, Proceed-ings of
of motion capture tools that will turn any the ED-Media 2003 Conference.
sequence of movements into an animated http://projekte.learninglab.uni-
3-D character with the same moves. hannover.de/pub/bscw.cgi/d17506/Huk_E
http://www.ascension-tech.com/ DMedia2003.pdf
Online Resources Lowe, R.K. (2004). Animation and learning:
value for money? In R. Atkinson, C.
The ACM SIGGRAPH Industry Directory lists
McBeath, D. Jonas-Dwyer & R. Phillips (Eds.)
hundreds of firms that develop animations
Beyond the comfort zone: Proceedings,
or have animation software.
ASCILITE Conference.
http://esub.siggraph.org/cgi-
http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/per
bin/cgi/idCatResults.html&CategoryID=8
th04/procs/lowe-r.html
For a comprehensive list of animation
Malheiro, T. (2003). Flash Interactive
software, go to AllWorldSoft.com. You will
Session. Paper presented at ED-Media
find a listing of over 60 software packages
2003, (1), 1046-1048.
that can be used to develop animations:
http://dl.aace.org/12937
http://www.allworldsoft.com/folders/page2
/graphic-apps/animation-tools/ Mayer, R. and Moreno, R. (2002). Animation
as an aid to multimedia learning,
Hundreds of tools exist for video production
Educational Psychology Review, March
and animation. FreeDownloads Center.com
2002, 14(1), 87-99.
lists almost 700 free tools:
http://www2.sjsu.edu/depts/it/edit235/ha
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Multi
ndouts/mayer_mmlearn.pdf
media_and_Graphics/Video_and_Animation
_Tools/ Toth, Thomas (2003). Animation – just
enough, never too much, Learning Circuits,
Bibliography July 18, 2003.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2003/aug2
Castillo, S., Hancock, S. and Hess, G. 003/toth.htm
(2004). Using Flash MX to Create e-
Learning. Lehi, Utah: Rapid Intake Press.
http://www.rapidintake.com/books_catalog
.htm
Hegarty, M., Kriz, S., and Cate, C. (2003).
The roles of mental animations and external
animations in understanding mechanical
systems. Cognition and Instruction, 21(4),
325–360.
http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/~hegarty/C&I%
20HKC.pdf
Hess, G. and Hancock, S. (2004). Using
Macromedia Flash MX 2004 as an E-
Learning Authoring Environment. Learning
Circuits, July 2004.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2004/jul20
04/hess.htm
Hess, G. and Hancock, S. (2004). Using
Macromedia Flash MX 2004 as an E-
Learning Authoring Environment. Learning
Circuits, July.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2004/jul20
04/hess.htm
Huk, T., Steinke, M., and Floto, C. (2003).
The educational value of cues in computer
animations and its dependence on

22 © Brandon Hall Research


Artificial Intelligence
Related terms
Adaptive systems, agents, AI, cognitive
informatics, data mining, expert systems,
intelligent tutoring, machine learning, multi-
agent systems, personalization
Description
Artificial intelligence uses computer
programming to simulate reasoning and
thought processes similar to those in
human beings. The success of artificial
intelligence is sometimes measured against
the Turing Test, whereby human beings
interact with a computer interface that may
have a human or computer hidden from
view. The test is considered successful if
the person is unable to tell whether there is
a computer or another human being on the
other end. So far, no computer program has
been able to pass the Turing Test.
Artificial intelligence initiatives encompass a
wide range of computer programming
techniques and systems. While it is beyond
the scope of this research report to get into
the technical details, here is a list of some
of the many applications to which artificial
intelligence is being put:
> Adaptive or Intelligent Tutoring
> Affective Computing
> Agents
> Bayesian Models
> Bioinformatics
> Business Intelligence Systems
> Case-based Reasoning
> Causal Models
> Chaos and Complexity Theories
> Cognitive Processes
> Connectionist Models
> Context-aware Computing
> Cooperative AI Systems
> Data Mining and Web Mining
> Distributed Artificial Intelligence
> DNA Computing
Do not reproduce
> E-business and E-commerce
> Evolutionary Engineering
> Expert Systems
> Fuzzy Logic and Systems
> Game Design
Genetic Algorithms and Programs
> Human-centered Computing
> Hybrid Systems
> Information Retrieval
> Intelligent Control Systems
> Intelligent Databases
> Intelligent User Interfaces
> Knowledge Representation
> Logic Programming
> Machine Learning
> Man-Machine Interfaces
> Mobile Computing and Systems
> Model-based Reasoning
> Multi-agent Systems
> Neural Networks
> Neuro-Computing
> Probabilistic Reasoning
> Simulations
> Software Tools
> Temporal Reasoning
> User-profiling for personalization
> Virtual Reality
> Visualization
Given the high expectations, artificial
intelligence has not lived up to its initial
promise or hype. Nevertheless, there are
important and useful applications of
artificial intelligence to online learning.
Many of the topics listed above are included
in this research report, making it clear that
artificial intelligence is having a major
impact on emerging e-learning techniques
and technologies.
A central topic of artificial intelligence is
learning. Having a computer learn is termed
machine learning as opposed to human
23
 learning, but many of those working in the
field of artificial intelligence see these two
types of learning as converging and
becoming the same thing. Others are
skeptical and believe that another kind of
intelligence will emerge from artificial
intelligence, one that is different from the
intelligence of human beings and other
intelligent life forms.
To achieve their goals, AI scientists try to
model how experts solve problems in a
given domain. Once the solutions to
problems are encoded in the computer
program, algorithms are written to have the
computer act as a tutor in that subject area.
Intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) that
provide direct feedback to learners are part
of an emerging and intense area of
research in the use of artificial intelligence
in educational environments. An ITS may
use a variety of technologies, including
collaborative filtering, recommender
systems, and data mining. ITS systems
create several different user models -
profiles of the learner, the subject matter
expert, and the teacher. To seem
humanlike, ITS systems often use some
version of natural language processing.
The vision of a computer taking the place of
a teacher has been around for quite some
time. The reality is that, in spite of progress
in artificial intelligence, intelligent tutoring
systems are not yet ready to replace human
instructors.
Some current issues with using artificial
intelligence and education include:
“Gaming the System” – Aleven et al. (2004)
found that “72% of all student actions
represented unproductive help- seeking
behavior…[W]e found a proliferation of hint
abuse (e.g., using hints to find answers
rather than trying to understand). We also
found that students frequently avoided
using help when it was likely to be of benefit
and often acted in a quick, possibly
undeliberate manner. ”
Hedging and Hostility – Bhatt et al. (2005)
say that “students hedge and apologize
often to human tutors but very rarely to
computer tutors. The type of expressions
also differed—overt hostility was not
encountered in human tutoring sessions but
was a major component in computer-
tutored sessions.” On the other hand, for
24
Johnson and Rizzo (2004), a major issue
was too much “politeness” between the
learner and the online tutor.
Emotional Effects – Chaffar and Frasson
(2004) note that “emotions play an
important role in cognitive processes and
especially in learning tasks. Moreover,
there is some evidence that the emotion-al
state of the learner is correlated with his
performance…it’s important that new
Intelligent Tutoring Systems involve this
emotional aspect; they may be able to
recognize the emotional state of the learner,
and to change it so as to be in the best
conditions for learning.” Ochs and Frasson
(2004) also discuss how emotions affect
learning with intelligent tutoring systems,
and Aist et al. (2002) contend that
“provision of human ‘emotional scaffolding’
made a positive difference (increased
persistence and learning) for students using
an intelligent tutoring system.”
Complexity – According to Thomsen-Gray et
al. (2003), intelligent tutoring in “non-
deterministic and dynamic domains” can be
very complex and can lead to unexpected
results. Whereas human tutors must teach
students how to respond to unexpected
results in a timely and appropriate manner,
computer based systems usually have
limited ability to do this.
Context – Kinshuk and Patel (1997) suggest
that one weakness of intelligent tutoring
systems is their lack of ability to understand
the “context” of the learner. “While an ITS
inherits powerful functionality at the points
of convergence between its objectives and
the capabilities of the methodology
employed, it also inherits a ‘context gap’ at
the points of divergence between the
purpose of the tasks performed within an
ITS and the purpose of the methodology.”
Degree of Personalization and Use of User
Profiles – Personalization using artificial
intelligence depends on the set of
assumptions made about the users and
how user models are constructed.
While many systems purport to be
personalized, they can be frustratingly
wrong about what a user wants and needs
at any given time. There is debate in the
literature over the use of user profiles vs. a
building a system that infers tutoring
suggestions from assessing the user’s
© Brandon Hall Research
interactions with the system (see Smid et al,
2002).
Talking Head Tutor vs. Voice Only Tutor –
Craig et al. (2004) show that “while a
talking head displaying facial expressions,
gestures, and gaze during dialog does not
produce a split attention effect and
concomitant decrements in performance, it
also does not enhance performance when
compared to a condition that includes only
spoken narration.” The talking head agent
metaphor may be more trouble (and
expense) than it is worth.
Difficulties in Representing Knowledge –
Hatzilygeroudis and Prentzas (2005)
provide a comprehensive review of different
schemes for representing knowledge. They
advocate for a hybrid approach to
knowledge representation, rather than using
a single type of knowledge. They divide
knowledge into the following types:
Structural knowledge is concerned with
types of entities (i.e. concepts, objects, etc)
and how they are interrelated.
Relational knowledge concerns relations
between entities of the domain.
Heuristic knowledge is knowledge in the
form of “rules of thumb,” practical
knowledge about how to solve problems
based on experience.
Schemes for knowledge representation
from Hatzilygeroudis and Prentzas (2005)
include the following:
Schemes for knowledge representation
from Hatzilygeroudis and Prentzas (2005)
include the following:
Single schemes:
> Semantic nets
> Conceptual Graphs
> Ontologies
> Symbolic rules
> Expert systems
> Case-based representations
> Neural networks
> Belief networks
Hybrid schemes:
> Fuzzy rules
Do not reproduce
> Connectionist expert systems
> Integration of rules and cases
> Description logics
> Terminological knowledge
> Assertional knowledge
> Neurules (integration of symbolic rules
with neurocomputing)
As the above list of issues shows, using
artificial intelligence in e-learning is not a
simple matter. A great deal of further
development needs to occur before this
technology becomes mature.
Selected Examples
Artificial intelligence in e-learning has
generated a wide range of approaches to
improving computer-based teaching.
Approaches include the following:
Dialogue-Based Intelligent Tutoring Systems
– Yang (2001) describes a system for taking
turns in a dialogue-based intelligent tutoring
system.
http://www.cs.iit.edu/~circsim/documents/
fydiss.pdf
Reasoning About Actions and Changes –
Baldoni et al. (2004) use an agent logic
language (DyLOG) to implement reasoning
capabilities of agents to “dynamically build
study plans and to verify the correctness of
user-given study plans with respect to the
compet-ence that the user wants to
acquire.”
http://www.di.unito.it/~argo/papers/2004_
JAIR.pdf
Natural Language Processing – Di Eugenio
et al. (2005a, 2005b) develop-ed two
natural language generators and “... found
that the generator which intuitively
produces the best language does engender
the most learning.”
http://www.cs.uic.edu/~bdieugen/PS-
papers/ACL05.pdf
Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) – LSA is a
technique used for automatic scoring of
essays. Steinhart (2001) used this e for
tutoring writing.
http://lsa.colorado.edu/papers/daveDissert
ation.pdf
25
 For a portal on the latent semantic analysis,
see:
http://lsa.colorado.edu/
Bayesian Networks – Butz et al. (2004)
describe Bayesian networks as a formal
framework that uses probability techniques
for uncertainty management. “Web
intelligence researchers have applied
Bayesian net-works to many tasks, including
student monitoring, e-commerce, and
multiagents.”
http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~butz/publication
s/wi04.pdf
Far (2006) describes the use of Bayesian
techniques in the development of a
multiagent learning and tutoring system.
http://www.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/far
Precision Teaching/Programmed Learning
– Precision teaching is a very systematic
approach to teaching based on
behaviorism. Infrature, describes this in a
white paper on “learning theories.”
http://www.infrature.com/Library/WhitePap
ers/LearningTheories.htm
Ontology Based Systems – Day et al. (2005)
propose an Intelligent Tutoring Agent (ITA)
that uses ontology, question answering (QA)
techniques, and INFOMAP, a knowledge
representation framework that can be used
to extract important concepts from a natural
language text.
http://www.iis.sinica.edu.tw/IASL/webpdf/p
aper-2005-Designing_an_Ontology-
based_Intelligent_Tutoring_Agent_with_Inst
ant_Messaging.pdf
Oguejiofor et al. (2004) also discuss an
ontology-based approach to the design of
intelligent tutoring systems.
http://www.kicinger.com/publications/pdf/
OguejioforIT-AEC2004.pdf
Hierarchical Graphs – Gutierrez et al.
(2004) note that courses tend to have a
high number of learning objects. As a result,
designing a personalized sequencing
strategy for each student quickly becomes
unmanageable. They propose using an
approach called hierarchical graphs.
http://bach.gast.it.uc3m.es/~sergut/public
ations/Gutier04b.pdf
Side-By-Side Example Tutoring - Davidovic
(2001) describes and evaluates the
Structural Example-based Adaptive Tutoring
System (SEATS) and a number of other
26
intelligent tutoring systems.
http://ariic.library.unsw.edu.au/unisa/adt-
SUSA20050922-010120/
Student Log Files – McLaren et al. (2004a)
argue that “a potentially powerful way to aid
in the authoring of intelligent tutoring
systems is to directly leverage student
interaction log data.” They propose an
approach called “bootstrapping novice
data” (BND) in which “a problem-solving tool
is integrated with tutor development
software through log files and that
integration is then used to create the
beginnings of a tutor for the tool.”
http://ctat.pact.cs.cmu.edu/pubs/ITS2004-
BND-Camera-Ready.pdf
Teaching Metacognitive Strategies by
Computer – Graesser et al. (2005) describe
some of recent computer systems that were
designed to facilitate explanation-centered
learning through strategies of inquiry and
metacognition while students learn science
and technology content.
http://www.leaonline.com/doi/pdf/10.120
7/s15326985ep4004_4
Quantum Intelligent Tutoring Engines
develop software for others to build
intelligent tutoring applications.
http://quantumsimulations.com/index.html
Founded in 1988, Stottler Henke Assoc-
iates, Inc. applies artificial intelligence and
other advanced software technologies to
solve problems that defy solution using
traditional approaches. Stottler Henke’s
products include the following:
> SimBionic - A visual authoring tool and
runtime engine for creating complex
behaviors in computer-based training
simulations and games more quickly
and easily, so that these systems
become more realistic, challenging, and
engaging.
> Task Tutor Toolkit - A set of Java
software libraries and applications for
creating intelligent tutoring system
scenarios quickly and easily, without
programming.
> Aurora - A sophisticated scheduling
system that combines a variety of
scheduling techniques, intelligent
conflict resolution, and decision support
to make scheduling faster and easier.
© Brandon Hall Research
For more information on Stottler Henke
Associates, see:
http://www.stottlerhenke.com/
Gemini Performance Systems used artificial
intelligence to build the SWIFT adaptive
learning environment as an intelligent
tutoring system comprised of an adaptive
learning environment, an adaptive testing
algorithm, and an interactive intelligent
tutor.
http://www.gemini.com
Virtuel Age International has an artificial
intelligence-based intelligent tutoring
system that “dynamically adapts the course
according to the learner's existing
knowledge base, skill gaps, preferred
cadence, and learning style, taking
personalized and adaptive learning to a new
level.”
http://www.virtuelage.com
The Reusable Artificial Intelligence Tutoring
System Shell (RAITSS) from Knowledge
Engineering allows users to build intelligent
tutoring systems.
http://www.ke-corp.com/s10.htm
Carnegie Mellon University is a leading
research institution that uses artificial
intelligence in education. Its Pittsburgh
Advanced Cognitive Tutor Center (PACT)
develops “cognitive tutors” that have been
used widely in constructing intelligent
tutoring systems in a variety of settings.
http://pact.cs.cmu.edu/
Carnegie Mellon researchers are also
developing a suite of authoring tools called
Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT) to
make tutor development easier and faster
for developers and to make it possible for
educators without technical expertise to
develop such systems.
http://ctat.pact.cs.cmu.edu/
Other universities with research groups in
intelligent tutoring and artificial intelligence
include the following:
University of Sydney - Intelligent Tutoring
Systems Research Group
http://www.it.usyd.edu.au/~netsys/researc
h/current_computer_science_education_re
search.htm
University of Memphis – Tutoring Research
Group – (developers of AutoTutor)
http://www.autotutor.org/
Do not reproduce
Worcester Polytechnic Institute – Tutor
Research Group
http://web.cs.wpi.edu/Research/trg/
The Intelligent Tutoring Systems Conference
is held every two years. The 2006
conference is in Taipei, Taiwan.
http://www.its2006.org/cfp.htm
The IEEE International Conference on
Cognitive Informatics is held every year. The
2006 ICCI conference was held in July in
Bejing, China. For more info:
http://www2.enel.ucalgary.ca/ICCI2006/
Online Resources
The International Artificial Intelligence in
Education Society (AIED) is an
interdisciplinary community that organizes
conferences and publishes a journal on AI in
learning. The AIED conferences are held
every two years, with the next one in 2007.
http://aied.inf.ed.ac.uk/aiedsoc.html
The International Journal of Artificial
Intelligence in Education (IJAIED) is the
official journal of the International Artificial
Intelligence in Education Society (AIED). It
publishes papers on applying artificial
intelligence techniques and concepts to the
design of systems to support learning.
http://aied.inf.ed.ac.uk/
The American Association for Artificial
Intelligence (AAAI) maintains a listing of
Intelligent Tutoring resources.
http://www.aaai.org/AITopics/html/tutor.ht
ml
The LICEF Research Centre in Montreal is
dedicated to cognitive informatics and
training.
http://www.licef.teluq.uquebec.ca/eng/inde
x.htm
For an introduction to intelligent tutoring,
see the article by Ong and Ramachandran
(2000) in Learning Circuits entitled
“Intelligent Tutoring Systems: The What and
the How.”
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2000/feb2
000/ong.htm
The Robin Good blog has a long list of links
and articles on artificial intelligence in
distance learning and education.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/2002/04
/25/artificial_intelligence_application_in_di
stance_learning_and_education.htm
27
 Marvin Minsky, a pioneer in artificial
intelligence, recently gave an interview to
Technology Review magazine on the
promise and limitations of AI.
http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_f
riendly_article.aspx?id=17164
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Koutsojannis, C. (2001). A Web-Based ITS
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Prentzas, P., Hatzilygeroudis, I. and
Garofalakis, J. (2002). A Web-Based
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(IADAT-e2004).
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Read, T., Bárcena, E. and Pancorbo, J.
(2004). Adaptive Tutoring Systems for
English Distance Learning. Paper presented
at the International Association for the
Development of Advances in Technology
(IADAT-e2004).
http://www.iadat.org/iadate2004/abstract_
web/IADAT-e2004_26.pdf
Riedl, M., Lane, H.C., Hill, R., and Swartout,
W. (2005). Automated Story Direction and
Intelligent Tutoring: Towards a Unifying
Architecture. Paper presented at the AI and
Education 2005 Workshop on Narrative
Learning Environments, Amsterdam.
http://www.ict.usc.edu/publications/riedl-
autostory-aiewrk.pdf
Rodrigues, M., Novais, P. and Santos, M.
(2005). Future challenges in intelligent
tutoring systems – a framework. In A.
Méndez-Vilas, B. González-Pereira, J. Mesa
González, J.A. Mesa González (Eds.) Recent
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Rosé, C.P., Torrey, C. and Aleven, V. (2004).
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Schultz, K., Owen Bratt, E., Clark, B., Peters,
S., Ponbarry, H., and Treeratpituk, P. (2003).
Scalable, Reusable Spoken Conversational
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© Brandon Hall Research

Assessment Tools
Related terms
Computer assisted assessment (CAA),
computer based assessment (CBA),
computer mediated assessment (CMA), e-
assessment, evaluation, online assess-
ment, quizzes, self-evaluation, testing
Description
Assessment and evaluation are staples of
almost all formal educational environ-
ments. While many learning situations do
not involve formal testing, informal
evaluations—especially in non-formal
settings—may take place at any time,
making it hard to escape assess-ment. In a
business situation, for example, it is not
uncommon for an individual’s perform-ance
to be informally assessed by both peers and
superiors. When combined into a “360°
evaluation,” these informal assessments
are intended to reveal a particular person’s
abilities, aptitudes, and output.
While assessment in the workplace is often
ubiquitous, online assessments are usually
part of a formal evaluation plan. Online
assessment data can be derived from
manual input by assessors or can be the
results of automatically marked tests,
quizzes, or performance samples.
Assessment software can generate
templates, samples, rubrics, and
documents for assessors to use. More
sophisticated forms of automated,
computer-based assessment tools, ones
that go well beyond the “tell then test”
model, are already available.
For example, the automated scoring of
essays, once only done by a human
assessor, is now possible with a tech-nique
called “latent semantic analysis” (see
Landauer, 1998 for an introduction to LSA).
We can expect that, in the near future,
latent semantic analysis will become part of
the repertoire of assess-ment tools readily
available to teachers and trainers. Other
types of assessment that go well beyond the
tell-test model include “assessment for
learning” or formative assessment that is
used as feedback to the learner, and
“assess-ment for credentialing” or
Do not reproduce
summative assessment that is used as
criteria for judging people in terms of
awarding a certification or diploma.
Online assessment can be used to assess
both cognitive and practical abilities.
Cognitive abilities can be assessed by the
right questions—questions that should
relate to the educational objectives of
teaching in formal settings; practical
abilities can be assessed using e-portfolios
or simulation software.
Educational objectives are the key to
assessing learning. Several different
taxonomies of educational objectives exist.
The oldest is the Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives by Benjamin Bloom and his
colleagues (Bloom, 1956), which was
developed for three different domains of
learning – cognitive, affective, and
psychomotor.
Alternative ways of categorizing educational
objectives include Säljö’s (1979) five
“conceptions of learning,” Bateson’s four
levels of learning, and Biggs and Collis’
(1982) five levels of learning described in
their SOLO taxonomy. These various
schemes of organizing educational
objectives are summarized and compared
by James Atherton (2005) at:
http://www.learningandteaching.info/learni
ng/solo.htm
Computer assessment has many
advantages over traditional (“paper-based”)
assessment. These advantages include: (1)
lower long-term costs when questions/tests
are reused, (2) instant feedback to students
when desired, (3) tests and exams that can
be taken at any place and time, and (4)
computer marking, which is usually much
more reliable than human marking.
However, the initial setting up of an online
assessment system can be expensive, and
not all types of performances can be
assessed by a computer.
Selected Examples
Questionmark is one of the leading
companies that produce online assessment
tools. This company has also been involved
in developing interoperability standards for
online assessments through the IMS
Consortium. The Web site contains a
35
 Glossary of Testing and Assessment Terms.
http://www.questionmark.com
The Evaluator, from Resources
Management Services in the U.K., offers a
one-month free trial of their assessment
product.
http://nt.rmsuk.com/evaluator
Testcraft, a Web-based assessment
authoring system from Ingenious Group, has
recently won awards for its performance.
Review it at:
http://www.testcraft.com
Hurix Systems has developed Red inQ, an
online assessment system with support for
high stakes testing, a completely
customizable report engine, multilingual
support, a customizable look and feel,
preview pages for all question types, and
adaptive question branching.
http://www.redinq.com/redinq/html/index.
html
Brainbench Employment Testing provides
assessments of knowledge, skills, abilities,
personality, and past work behaviors. Find
them at:
http://www.brainbench.com
Horizon Wimba has acquired Brownstone
Software and its assessment product,
Diploma. For details, see:
http://www.horizonwimba.com/products/br
ownstone/
XStream Software has produced
Performance Analyzer, a 100 percent
programming-free simulation-based
assessment authoring technology.
http://www.xstreamsoftware.com/news_per
formance_analyzer2.0.htm
Easyquizz allows for media-rich quizzes and
questionnaires without programming. You
can also build adaptive quizzes depending
on a user’s answers. See more at:
http://www.epistema.com/reaxia_files/Epis
tema_Easyquizz_productsheet_2006.pdf
LearnFlex Evaluator is a new assessment
engine with over a dozen question types
that integrates seamlessly with the
LearnFlex learning management system.
(Full disclosure: I helped develop this
software).
http://www.operitel.com
The National Institute for Science
Education's College Level One Team, based
36
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has
developed a Web site for FLAG – the Field-
tested Learning Assessment Guide.
Assessment tools are listed by discipline or
technique.
http://www.flaguide.org/
ETS, the Educational Testing Service is
dedicated to “serve higher education with
an array of tests, learning tools, surveys,
and services useful for outcomes
assessment, institutional evaluation, and
self-study.”
http://www.ets.org
Latent Semantic Analysis is a computer-
based technique used automatically mark
essays. For information on latent semantic
analysis, see:
http://lsa.colorado.edu/
Vantage Learning performs automatic
computer-based assessments using its
IntelliMetric and MY Access automatic
scoring software.
http://www.vantagelearning.com/
Pedagogue Solutions has developed
PedagogueTesting, an assessment
management system with extensive
authoring, reporting, and adminis-tration
features.
http://www.pedagogue.com
Respondus is a powerful tool for creating
and managing exams that can be printed to
paper or published directly to many learning
management systems.
http://www.respondus.com
For an online assessment of your foreign
language ability, check out the Dialang web
site.
http://www.dialang.org/english/index.htm
Online Resources on
Assessments
The University of Cincinnati lists many
“Exemplar Rubrics and Supplemental
Assessment Tools,” organized by academic
discipline, on its Web site.
http://www.uc.edu/gened/ExemplarRubrics
/Entry.htm
WWWTools for Education is a resource site
with articles on assessment and education.
Access the evaluation resources at:
http://m.fasfind.com/wwwtools/magazines.
cfm?x=0&currentMagazineItemCategory=1
© Brandon Hall Research
Kathy Schrock is a librarian with many
online resources for teachers, including a
useful listing of assessments and rubrics.
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/
assess.html
The Rubric Machine from Thinking Gear
allows users to build performance-based
rubrics for assessment use.
http://www.thinkinggear.com/tools/rubrics.
cfm
The University of Ulster maintains a listing of
tools and resources on Computer Assisted
Assessment.
http://www.ulster.ac.uk/cticomp/CAA.html
The Economics Network has placed a
Computer Assisted Assessment handbook
online.
http://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/handb
ook/caa/
A comprehensive study of computer-based
assessments in Canadian and American
schools (K-12) is found at:
http://www.tasainstitute.com/029.pdf
The University of Melbourne’s Centre for the
Study of Higher Education has a guide to
online assessments, with a list of 34
strategies.
http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/assessing
learning/03/online.html
Online Resources for Assessment is a Web
site developed by the Star Center in Texas.
Explore the links at:
http://www.rmcdenver.com/useguide/asse
ssme/online.htm
Nesta FutureLab in the UK has published a
detailed literature review of all aspects of e-
assessment. Obtain a copy at:
http://www.nestafuturelab.org/research/re
views/10_01.htm
A paper I wrote on the computer-based
assessments of speaking and writing is at:
http://www.learnflex.com/whitepapers
A major bibliography on computer-based
assessments, with over 1,200 references, is
available from:
http://liinwww.ira.uka.de/Bibliography/Misc
/cba.html
The Wolverhampton University “Computer-
Based Assessment Project” can generate
over 80,000 different tests from its
Do not reproduce
database.
http://cba.scit.wlv.ac.uk/home.htm
To improve your skills in question design
and test construction, go to the University of
Illinois’ Office of Instructional Resources.
The Web page is entitled “Improving Your
Test Questions.”
http://www.oir.uiuc.edu/dme/exams/ITQ.ht
ml
The 10th International Computer Assisted
Assessment Conference took place in
Scotland in July 2006.
http://www.health.heacademy.ac.uk/news-
events/eventsbox/10icaac/view
The University of Maryland University
College (UMUC) has a long list of
assessment tools for the post-secondary
level on its Web site.
http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/irahe
/arc/6too.html
The Texas Center for Educational
Technology lists five categories of
assessment resources on its Web site.
http://www.tcet.unt.edu/START/assess/
Quintessential Careers' Web site lists Career
assessment resources.
http://www.quintcareers.com/career_asses
sment.html
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lt.html
Khan, J., Hardas, M. and Ma, Y. (2005). A
study of problem difficulty evaluation for
semantic network ontology based intelli-
gent courseware sharing. Proceedings of
the International Conference on Web
Intelligence, Compiegne, France.
http://www.medianet.kent.edu/publications
/WI05DL-problemcmplexity-KHM.pdf
Landauer, T. K., Foltz, P. W., & Laham, D.
(1998). Introduction to Latent Semantic
Analysis. Discourse Processes, 25, 259-
284.
http://lsa.colorado.edu/papers/dp1.LSAintr
o.pdf
MacDonlad, J., Weller, M. & Mason, R
(2002). Meeting the assessment demands
of networked courses. International Journal
on E-Learning.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN
/B0008FG3V2/qid%3D1131404585/sr%3
D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/103-
2496940-8161425
Mills, C., Potenza, M., Fremer, J., and Ward,
W. (Eds.) (2002). Computer-Based Testing:
building the foundation for future
assessments. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805
837590/002-8867327-
3277647?v=glance&n=283155&n=50784
6&s=books&v=glance
Mogey, N. and Watt, H. (1999). The use of
computers in the assessment of Roberts,
Tim (2006). Self, Peer and Group
Assessment in e-Learning. Hershey, PA:
Information Science.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591
409667/sr=1-
40
2/qid=1155438114/ref=sr_1_2/104-
1348092-4859103?ie=UTF8&s=books
Säljö, R. (1979). Learning in the Learner's
Perspective: 1: some commonplace
misconceptions. Reports from the Institute
of Education, University of Gothenburg.
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.po
rtal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=RecordDetail
s&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED1733
69&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_ac
cno&objectId=0900000b8011c857
Scalise, K. and Gifford, B. (2006).
Computer-Based Assessment in E-Learning:
A Framework for Construct-ing
“Intermediate Constraint” Questions and
Tasks for Technology Platforms. Journal of
Technol. Learning, and Assessment, 4(6).
http://escholarship.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent
.cgi?article=1036&context=jtla
Shermis, M. D., Burstein, J., & Leacock, C.
(2006). Applications of computers in
assessment and analysis of writing. In C. A.
McArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald,
Handbook of writing research. New York,
NY: Guilford Press, pp. 403-416.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593
851901
United States Department of Education,
National Center for Education Statistics.
(2000). The NPEC Sourcebook on
Assessment, Volume 1: Definitions and
Assessment Methods for Critical Thinking,
Problem Solving, and Writing, Washington,
DC: U.S. Government.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2000/2000195.pd
f
Weiner, Howard. (Ed.) (2000). Computerized
Adaptive Testing: a primer. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805
835113/sr=1-
1/qid=1155440128/ref=sr_1_1/104-
1348092-4859103?ie=UTF8&s=books
Williams, D., Howell, S., and Hricko, M.
(Eds.) (2005). Online Assessment,
Measurement and Evaluations. Information
Science Publishing.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591
407486/002-8867327-
3277647?v=glance&n=283155&n=50784
6&s=books&v=glanc
Woodill, G. and Skinner, M. (2005). The
Design of LearnFlex Evaluator™:
© Brandon Hall Research
a Web-based adaptable assessment and
evaluation application. Operitel white paper.
http://www.operitel.com

Do not reproduce 41

Audio and Podcasting
Tools
Related terms
iPod, podcasting, radio
Description
Audio is an important component of many
learning experiences. Using sound to convey
understanding and knowledge has a long
history, being the main form of
communication in pre-literate societies.
Audio in e-learning must reach an
acceptable level of quality while maintaining
file sizes that allow audio files to be rapidly
sent via the Internet. With the advent of
“broadband” or “high-speed” networks, the
quality of online audio has been greatly
improved, compared with even a few years
ago.
Distributing audio on the Internet is done
either by downloading files (which can take
considerable time, depending on the file
size), or by “streaming,” whereby a portion
of the audio file is fed into the Internet
application as a “buffer” and, while it is
playing, the rest of the file has time to
arrive.
The quality of online audio depends on
many factors, including the following:
> Connection speed
> Sampling Rate
> Bit Depth
> Number of Channels
> Digital Audio Format
> Compression Techniques
> Amount of Available Disk Storage
For example, one minute of high quality
stereo audio sampled often and digitized
using 16 bits at a time can require as much
as 10 megabytes, while one minute of
recognizable but very low quality mono
audio can be stored in as little as .5
megabytes.
One audio application of interest to
educators, which is gaining in popularity, is
podcasting. Podcasting is the name for
42
sharing audio files designed for devices like
the iPod. It is another way of distributing
content online that is now being used in
many educational settings.
Audio that is designed for iPods can be
played on a variety of audio devices,
including desktop computers fitted with a
sound card and speakers. The file format for
podcasting is usually MP3, which can be
downloading from many sources on the
Internet.
According to Crofts et al. (2005), the growth
of podcasting is being shaped by a number
of social factors, including the following:
> Podcasting allows listeners to engage in
time-shifting while providing space
independence, (i.e., to listen to media
at a time and place that is convenient).
> Consumers view traditional radio as
having too much advertising.
> Listeners are frustrated with the
homogeneous nature of traditional
radio programming.
> We are seeing a fragmentation of
traditional media — from mass
broadcasting to media that is tailored to
individual needs, (i.e., to personalized
media). This frag-mentation is being
fueled, in part, by podcasting — a
technology that allows individuals to
share their expertise and interests with
others.
But there are also limitations to the
exclusive use of audio as an educa-tional
medium. It is almost impossible to “skim” or
“speed-hear” an audio file. You can’t add
your own notes, and you can’t put
hyperlinks in the middle of an audio stream
the way you can with text.
Kaplan-Leiserson (2005) suggests that
using audio files, such as those for iPods,
helps learning in the following ways:
> Assists auditory learners.
> Provides another channel for material
review.
> Assists non-native speakers.
> Provides feedback to learners.
> Enables instructors to review training or
lectures.
© Brandon Hall Research
> Replaces full classroom or online
sessions when content simply requires
delivery.
> Can provide supplementary content or
be part of a blended solution.
Meng (2005) adds that “the ability to time-
shift content versus traditional broadcast
distribution models expands student
teaching and learning opportunities
significantly.”
Selected Examples
Apple’s iTunes site is a major distributor of
downloadable music tracks and other audio
for playback on an iPod or a computer.
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
Audacity is free, open source software for
recording and editing sounds. It is available
to download for Mac OS X, Microsoft
Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating
systems.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/
A downloadable business textbook using
audio only has been developed by David
Sturges at the University of Texas.
http://www.rds.com/blogs/doug/index.php
/archives/2004/11/02/the-textbook-is-
audio/
A huge selection of educational and other
content in audio format is available at the
Podcast Network.
http://www.thepodcastnetwork.com/
Sound Sense is an article by Ray Girvan in
Scientific American on the sense of hearing.
http://www.scientific-
computing.com/scwmarapr05sonification.h
tml
The Envison Center at Purdue University
allows discovery learning through the use of
visualization and audio technologies.
http://www.envision.purdue.edu/
Online Resources on Audio and
Podcasting
Teresa A. D’Eca in Portugal maintains a
fantastic list of Web resources on all
aspects of learning online, including
podcasting.
http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/webheads/
online-learning-environments.htm#Teaching
Do not reproduce
Dozens of tips on how to use audio and
other media in an online classroom can be
found on Pink Flamingo’s resource lists.
http://www.ibritt.com/resources/dc_media.
htm
RECAP Ltd. in the UK provides an online
directory of educational podcasts and other
podcasting resources.
http://recap.ltd.uk/podcasting/index.php
Over 700 tools for digital audio are found at
the Audio Tools Direct Web site. Audio and
video software, shareware, freeware, tools,
and utilities for conversion, playback, DJ
mixing, CD audio extraction, sound editing,
enhancing, recording, and broadcasting are
all found on this site.
http://www.audiotoolsdirect.com/
SearchSync software allows you to search
for specific words, phrases, or sentences
from audio Web sites.
http://www.automaticsync.com/lipsync/ind
ex.html
AVS Audio Tools is a suite of software
utilities that can help with audio production
and distribution.
http://www.avsmedia.com/AudioTools/inde
x.aspx
Everything you wanted to know about
podcasting can be found at edupodder.com.
http://www.edupodder.com/
Robin Good has posted a list on his blog of
sites that accept educational podcast
materials.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/20
05/05/20/where_to_submit_your_podcast
s.htm
For a list of podcasting tools, including
software to record and play podcasts, go to:
http://www.podcasting-tools.com/
The Education Podcast Network (EPN) tries
to bring together educational podcasts in a
wide range of subjects that may be useful to
teachers in a classroom.
http://epnweb.org/
Check out the many helpful articles on using
sound in e-learning, listed on the Sound
Resources page at the E-Learning Centre in
the UK.
http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/so
und.htm
43
 A number of audio editors are available on
the Web. Following is a list of the Web
addresses of some well-known sound
editing software:
Adobe Audition
http://www.adobe.com/products/audition/
main.html
Bias Audio Peak Pro
http://www.bias-inc.com/
Bremmers Multitrack Studio
http://www.multitrackstudio.com/
Cakewalk SONAR
http://www.cakewalk.com/
Sonic Foundry Mediasite
http://www.sonicfoundry.com/
AudioLink employees are considered
“narrative sound specialists,” providing
narration for Web sites in a variety of
languages.
http://www.audiolink.com/home.html
Bibliography
Buhman, Dion Cory (1999). Exploring the
Use of Data Sonification to Convey Relative
Spatial Information. Doctoral Dissertation,
University of Nebraska.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertation
s/AAI9929186
Crofts, S., Dilley, J., Fox, M., Retsema, A. and
Williams, B. (2005). Podcasting: A new
technology in search of viable business
models. First Monday, 10(9), September.
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_9/c
rofts/index.html
Curtis, L. and Swenson, P. (2003).
Video/Audio Production for Internet-Based
Courses: An Overview of Technologies for
Use on both Desktop and Handheld
Devices. In G. Richards (Ed.) Proceedings of
World Conference on E-Learning in
Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and
Higher Education 2003 (pp. 417-419).
Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=14966
Gerth, Brenda (2001). Audio on the Web:
enhance on-line instruction with digital
audio. Society for Information Technology
and Teacher Education International
Conference 2001(1), 45-50.
http://dl.aace.org/3455
44
Girvan, Ray (2005). Sound Sense. Scientific
Computing World, April 2005.
http://www.scientific-
computing.com/scwmarapr05sonification.h
tml
Canali De Rossi, Luigi (2005). Where To
Submit Your Podcasts: Best Podcast Search
Engines And Directories. Robin Good’s Blog,
May 20, 2005.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/20
05/05/20/where_to_submit_your_podcast
s.htm
Jobbings, Dave (2005). Exploiting the
educational potential of podcasting. RECAP
(Russell Educational Consultancy and
Productions), July 2005.
http://recap.ltd.uk/articles/podguide.html
Kaplan-Leiserson, Eva (2005). Trend:
Podcasting in Academic and Corporate
Learning. Learning Circuits, June 2005.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2005/jun2
005/0506_trends
Meng, Peter (2005). Podcasting and
Vodcasting. White paper prepared for the
University of Missouri.
http://edmarketing.apple.com/adcinstitute/
wp-
content/Missouri_Podcasting_White_Paper.
pdf
Noakes, N. and Lomas, C. (2005)
Narrowcasting 101: Using Blogs, Podcasts,
and Videoblogs in Higher Education. Live
Educause online presentation (PowerPoint
slides).
http://www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPag
e/666?ID=LIVE0514
© Brandon Hall Research
 Selected Examples
Authoring Tools
Microsoft Corporation produces content
development tools that can be converted to
Related terms Web content, either directly or with third
Assessments, content development, rapid e- party tools. Further, many of their products
learning, simulations, form the basis for the infrastructure used by
e-learning applications. The Microsoft
products most commonly used for
Description developing e-learning (aside from
Great online learning content is created programming languages) include the
using sound educational principles coupled following:
with robust content authoring tools.
> FrontPage
Learning content is a bit like the food
served at an outstanding restaurant – > Live Communications Server
creating it depends on having a great chef
> PowerPoint
and a well-equipped kitchen. In this vein,
Reuban Tozman (2005) warns that simply > Project
having tools for creating e-learning content
(a well-equipped kitchen) does not > SharePoint
necessarily lead to great instructional > SQL Server
design (outstanding food). Tozman argues
for a Structured Content Development > Visio
Model (Tozman, 2004) a systematic team- > Windows Server
based approach to content development
based on Instructional Systems Design (ISD) > Word
and ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, For details on each Microsoft product, see:
Implementation, and Evaluation) processes. http://www.microsoft.com/
There are other formal approaches to Since its acquisition of Macromedia, Adobe
authoring great content, most of which I Corporation is probably the leading source
cover in my first book for Brandon Hall of software tools for creating online content.
Research (Woodill, 2005), entitled Emerging Current Adobe offerings that are useful in
E-Learning: new approaches to delivering creating online content include the
engaging online learning content. (For following:
details, please see http://www.brandon-
hall.com/publications/emerging/emerging.s > Acrobat
html). > After Effects
There are as many types of authoring tools > Audition
as there are types of media. No authoring
tool does everything, and, in the end, all > Authorware
content needs to be combined with other > Breeze
content to produce a rich learning
experience. > Captivate
The list of authoring tools below includes > ColdFusion
those tools that produce general Web-based > Dreamweaver
courses or learning objects. Please also see
the sections of this report on assessments > Director
and simulations for a list of authoring tools
> Fireworks
developed for those specific content
formats. As well, many learning > Flash
management systems (LMSs) and learning
> Flex
content management systems (LCMSs)
have built-in proprietary authoring systems > FrameMaker
that are not listed below.
> FreeHand

Do not reproduce 45
 > GoLive
> Illustrator
> InDesign
> PageMaker
> Photoshop
> Premiere
> RoboHelp
For details on each Adobe product, go to:
http://www.adobe.com/
There are hundreds of other content
creation and conversion tools used in e-
learning today. Following is a master list of
Web content authoring systems other than
Adobe or Microsoft products:
Accordent Technologies - Capture Station
2.0 – This device records and synchronizes
audio, video, and data output and instantly
turns it into an online rich media production.
http://www.accordent.com/
Acroservices - AcroTrain – Author e-learning
courses using PowerPoint.
http://www.acroservices.com/newAS/files/
products/acrotrain.htm
ActiveSlide.com – Active Slide – Obtain help
creating Flash movies.
http://www.activeslide.com
Agile - Thinkcap Studio - A team-oriented
authoring environment that uses a
Structured Content Development Model to
efficiently create consistent SCORM-
compliant courseware that may be exported
to any LMS.
http://www.thinkingcap.info/
Allen Communications - Designer’s Edge,
Quest – A visual authoring environment with
reusable templates.
http://www.allencomm.com
Anark - Media – Import 3-D Models, XML,
video, music, and images and turn them
into
3-D training, visualization, and marketing
applications.
http://www.anark.com/products/
Articulate - Presenter – Create Flash
presentations and e-learning content from
PowerPoint slides.
www.articulateglobal.com/presenter.html
46
Atlantic Link - Content Point - Allows non-
programmers to generate complex, Web-
based e-learning content quickly and easily,
as well as to integrate Flash and PowerPoint
content.
http://www.atlantic-
link.co.uk/contentpoint.htm
Bernard D&G - TurboDemo – Create demos
in a few minutes with screen capture and
assembly.
http://www.turbodemo.com/eng/index.htm
Brainshark Inc. - Brainshark
Communications Platform – Upload
PowerPoint slides and narrate them with
this software.
http://presentation.brainshark.com/powerp
oint-presentations-index.asp
Bridge People and Technology - CourseWare
– Guild linear HTML pages with FlowHow
and simulations using screen shots with
ShowHow.
http://www.bridge-pt.com/
Business Performance Technology - Intiva
Adds Flash animations and interactivity to e-
learning courses without programming.
http://www.elearningpowertools.com/index.
htm
Composica - Composica Enterprise - A Web-
based e-learning authoring system that
offers real-time collaboration among team
members and provides a powerful
programming-free WYSIWYG environment to
create high-quality interactive e-learning
content.
http://www.composica.com/
CopyCat – Studio One – Has a Simulation
wizard (MiMiC) to create realistic
simulations. Integrates various media,
including the following: Drag-and-drop
images, video, Flash, rich text, pop-up
messages, pointers, buttons, hotspots, and
PowerPoint slides. Builds quizzes.
http://www.copycatsoftware.com/
Counterpoint - iLessons – Capture and use
Web sites to build online courses within a
browser.
http://www.ilessons.co.uk/
DELFI Software – LERSUS – A rapid
development authoring tool that requires no
programming skills.
http://www.lersus.de/content/enu/product-
n-solutions/authoring-system/
© Brandon Hall Research
Digital Workshop - Opus Pro – Rapid
development tool. Finished Opus work can
be published in a number of different
formats, such as the following: Web, CD
Rom, stand alone .exe files, DVD-video, or
Macromedia Flash media presentations.
http://www.digitalworkshop.com/products/
Pro.shtml
Dynamic Media - Dynamic Power Trainer – A
rapid development authoring environ-ment
with WYSIWYG real-time preview .
http://www.dynamicpowertrainer.com/inde
x_eng.php
e2train - Kallidus Authoring System – A
WYSIWYG authoring tool with built-in
support for graphics, audio, video, and
animation.
http://www.e2train.com/
Eclipsys Corporation - EasyAuthor -
Publishes newly developed courseware in
one step through the One Button Publishing
feature, creating a CD of courseware
exercises that include all related files,
graphics, and installation files.
http://www.eclipsys.com/Solutions/Elearni
ng.asp
Eedo Knowledgeware - Eedo ForceTen –
Rapid content authoring with drag-and-drop
tools. Has templates for authoring
simulations without programming.
http://www.eedo.com/products/forceten.ht
ml
E-Learning Consulting - Development Kits –
Create Flash courses, HTML courses,
and/or tests and quizzes with these
authoring tools.
http://www.e-learningconsulting.com
Element K - KnowledgeHub Authoring
Services – Web-based tool using templates
that facilitates rapid e-learning content
development and deployment. Designed for
subject matter experts – not instructional
designers or programmers – with wizard-like
functionality and graphical templates.
http://www.elementk.com/index.asp?orgid
=22&storyTypeID=&sid=&menuID=127&
(e)pistema - Epistudio – Import PowerPoint
files and easily synch narration with slides.
Import rich media and customize graphics.
http://www.epistema.com/reaxia_files/Epis
tema_Epistudio_productsheet_2006.pdf
Do not reproduce
Experience Builders LLC – Experience
Builder – Build online role-playing
simulations with this tool, without
programming knowledge.
http://www.experiencebuilders.com/
Generation21 Learning Systems -
Knowledge Assembler – A colorful graphical
user interface and "drag-and-drop" design
makes assembling and modifying courses a
breeze. Powerful Object Sharing and
Versioning tools eliminate duplicitous work.
http://www.gen21.com/ka.htm
Harbinger Knowledge Products - Elicitus
Content Publisher – Part of a suite of
products for rapid online content
development.
http://www.elicitus.com/
Horizon Wimba – CourseGenie – Create
content using Microsoft Word, and then
convert it to a SCORM-compliant course
with this software.
http://www.horizonwimba.com/
Hunter Stone - Thesis – Thesis takes
Microsoft Office produced content and
converts it to SCORM-conformant packages.
http://www.hunterstone.com
Imaira Digital Media - Sculptoris Voices
Studio – Create 2-D and 3-D characters that
speak in lip synch with this tool set. Post the
characters on any Web site.
http://www.sculptoris.com
imc AG - LECTURNITY – A rapid
development tool that includes the ability to
record and quickly publish lectures online.
http://www.lecturnity.de/
Impatica - Impatica for PowerPoint – A
PowerPoint converter that enables content
to be projected using a Blackberry PDA.
http://www.impatica.com/
Information Transfer - Seminar Author – A
rapid development tool that produces
SCORM-conformant e-learning modules.
http://www.seminar.co.uk/
INTEC - WTDS-Web Training Development
System - Enables courseware developers to
create and publish interactive, multimedia
training content without any prior
programming knowledge.
http://www.intecllc.com/
Integrated Performance Systems - iPerform
Course Builder – A rapid and easy to use
47
 authoring tool based on Flash templates. MaxIT Corporation - DazzlerMax – A
http://www.ips- template based authoring tool for rapid
inc.com/downloads/IPS_CourseBuilder_Bro development that allows the user to embed
chure.pdf multiple media types. Ready-made button
and navigation aids.
Intuition - Intuition Publisher – A rapid
http://www.maxit.com
development tool that allows users to
import Flash, Word, and PowerPoint into a MaxIT Corporation – Visual Course Builder –
set of templates. A template based authoring tool for rapid
http://www.intuition.ie/software/publisher. development without the need for any
shtml programming skills.
Itaca - EasyProf - Used to create http://www.maxit.com
presentations without programming skills,
McKinnon-Mulherin Inc. - Banshee – Rapid
combining multimedia content like video,
development authoring tool with templates
audio, and animations with tests and
for multiple kinds of screens typically used
interactivity.
in e-learning.
http://www.easyprof.com/home/home.jsp
http://www.mckinnon-
Knowledge Planet - Firefly Publisher – mulherin.com/index.htm
Includes simulation authoring and drag-and-
MediaMaker - LEARNERLand – Text,
drop importing of rich media. Built-in testing
graphics, and assessment content is input
engine.
and uploaded into the course by the client
http://www.knowledgeplanet.com/flashhom
administrator via the easy-to-use browser-
e.asp
based admin system.
Knowledge Quest - ExpertAuthor – With the http://www.learnerland.co.uk/
built-in software simulation tool, create
MindIQ - Design-a-Course – A PowerPoint to
courses specifically on how to use computer
e-learning courses converter, with a built-in
software.
learning management system.
http://www.knowledgequest.com/
http://www.mindiq.com/tbt/dac/index.php
KnowledgeXtensions - E-Learning in a Box –
MindOnSite - Integral Coaching – MOS Solo
Use this system to author in MS Word or
– A multilingual rapid development tool that
PowerPoint. Has its own built-in learning
requires no programming. Works with SAP
management system.
Learning Solution.
http://www.elearninginabox.com/
http://www.mindonsite.ch/eLearning/EN/in
KnowledgeXtensions – Kbridge – A tool that dex.html
allows maximum reuse of content and
Mohive – Enterprise e-Learning Publishing
scalability from an XML-based, centralized
System – An authoring environment with
knowledge base.
advanced workflow support and the ability
http://www.knowledgextensions.com/prods
to be integrated with a variety of learning
erv.htm
management systems.
Kookaburra Studios - KnowledgePresenter http://www.mohive.com
– Tool to create fully interactive SCORM-
MyKnowledgeMap - Custom Learning Studio
compliant e-learning lessons, from software
– Rapid development tool set with a hotspot
simulations and multiple choice quizzes to
editor and storytelling templates.
fully synchronized multimedia
http://www.customcourse.com/
presentations, with no programming and no
plugins. NetPlay Software - NetPlay Instant Demo –
http://www.knowledgepresenter.com/ Screen recording software for developing
online presentations and demos.
Learn.com - CourseMaker Studio – Multi-
http://www.instant-demo.com/
featured authoring environment that
synchronizes text to audio and integrates OPTX International - ScreenWatch Producer
with many other learning technologies. – Records lectures, PowerPoint slides, and
http://www.learn.com/learncenter.asp?id= other online presentations for play back to
178410&page=4&mode=show

48 © Brandon Hall Research

students.
http://www.screenwatch.com/
Percepsys - SNAP! Studio – A course
builder, course publisher, and course player
all in one software package.
http://www.percepsys.com/coursegen.htm
podia - podiaOnDemand - Create and
publish multimedia presentations on the
Internet using Video, Audio, Microsoft
PowerPoint, JPEGs, GIFs, and Flash.
http://www.podia.net/
PointeCast - Publisher Professional - In
minutes, turn PowerPoint presentations into
high-quality, interactive Flash presentations
and online training.
http://www.pointecast.com/
Qarbon - ViewletBuilder – Screen
sequencing capture software that allows
users to easily add narration to produce
online demos.
http://www.qarbon.com
Rapid Intake - Flash Companion eLearning
Studio – Create interactive Flash based
courseware that is AICC- or SCORM-
compliant, without knowing code.
http://www.rapidintake.net
ReadyGo - ReadyGo! – A PowerPoint to
Flash converter.
http://www.readygo.com
Respondus - StudyMate – Author ten Flash-
based activities and games using three
simple templates.
http://www.respondus.com/products/study
mate.shtml
Reusable Objects - CONSTRUCT Author –A
tool that allows people without any HTML
programming skills to rapidly develop
SCORM-compliant e-learning courses and
assessments, either from scratch or by
converting existing MS Office documents.
http://www.reusableobjects.com/
Savvica - Nuvvo - A free rapid development
tool that is designed for authoring single
courses. Courses can be posted.
http://nuvvo.com/
Scribe Studio - Scribe Studio – A rapid
development tool for the Web. When
content is developed, a customizable,
password-protected Web site is
automatically created for this content at the
Web address of the user's choice.
Do not reproduce
http://www.scribestudio.com/common/affili
ateRefer.jsp?id=17558
Sensa – Sensa Presenter – Rich media
course development software using
comprehensive online development
templates and tools.
http://www.sensalearning.com/sensasoluti
on.cfm
Serco (technical) - E-Learning Objects - An
intuitive environment embedded within
Microsoft Word for easily creatiing
interactive learning materials.
http://www.teknical.com/Products/elearnin
g_objects.htm
Suddenly Smart - SmartBuilder – Authoring
tool that incorporates the capabilities of
Flash into a visual working environment.
http://www.suddenlysmart.com/smartbuild
er-web/sb_author.htm
SoftChalk – LessonBuilder – A Web-based
lesson editor with interactive learning
games, customizable flashcards, image
labeling, image hotspot activities, matching
games, popups, crosswords, and
assessments.
http://www.softchalk.com/
SumTotal - ToolBook Assistant – A rapid
development authoring tool that requires no
programming knowledge.
http://www.toolbook.com/learn_assistant.p
hp?from=menu
SumTotal - ToolBook Instructor – A full
featured authoring tool for creating
simulations, kiosks, and highly interactive e-
learning content.
http://www.toolbook.com/learn_assistant.p
hp?from=menu
SyberWorks - Web Author – A rapid
development environment that produces
learning objects. Develop AICC-compliant
WBT or CD-Rom courses in English, French,
or Spanish. Provides a course design
template using Microsoft Word.
http://www.syberworks.com/product_sa.ht
m
Techsmith - Camstasia Studio – Record
screens and inputs from Web cams.
http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp
TEDS - Learning Composer – A tool used to
easily author learning objects with a
repository for SCORM-compliant content.
http://www.teds.com/products/lc.htm
49
 time4you GmbH - IBT Content Solution – A
set of tools that allows for Web authoring,
content conversion, and rapid simulation.
http://www.time4you.de/ibt/main/en/site/t
ime4you/ibt/en/start.cxjsp?pos=ibtAuthorin
g
Trainersoft – Desktop Author - A rapid
development package that produces e-
learning content and assessments for Quick
Delivery on the Web, CD, or Network.
http://www.funeducation.com/products/tra
inersoft/trainersoft8.asp
TrainVision - AuthoLearn – An authoring tool
that produces SCORM 1.2-conformant
objects and assessments.
http://www.trainvision.com/Technology.htm
l Pahl, C. (2005). Adaptive E-Learning
Travantis – Lectora – A full featured
authoring system that includes drag-and-
drop authoring, templates, and wizards.
http://www.lectora.com/
US Government - Workforce Connections –
Free content development software that is
available to individuals.
http://workforceconnections.dol.gov/
Webex - Presentation Studio - Built-in
authoring tools allow you to instantly create
dynamic multimedia presentations by easily
integrating PowerPoint slides, video, audio,
images, and text.
http://www.webex.com/services/web-
presentation-svc.html
Westcliff – SCObuilder, SCORMxt – Take
content developed in other software
packages and convert them to SCORM
packages.
http://www.westcliffdata.co.uk/index.php?c
ontent=products/scobuilder
Xplana - XplanaWorkbook – A homework
management system that allows teachers to
create assignments and online courses
without any technical knowledge.
http://www.xplana.com/products/products
_xwb.php
XStream Software – RapidBuilder –
Completely (100 percent) programming-free
simulation authoring tool.
http://www.xstreamsoftware.com/download
_rb40eval.htm
Zapatec - Bloki – Bloki is a Web site where
users can create Web pages, publish blogs,
and host online discussions, right in their
50
browser with no additional software
required.
http://www.bloki.com/
Online Resources
Brandon Hall Research (publishers of this
report) has an Authoring Tool Knowledge
Base that compares 100 of the best e-
learning content development applications.
http://www.brandon-
hall.com/publications/atkb/atkb_firms.sht
ml
Bibliography
Holohan, E. Melia, M. McMullen, D. and
Content Generation based on Semantic
Web Technology. Proceedings of the SW-
EL/AIED 2005 Conference.
www.win.tue.nl/SW-EL/2005/swel05-
aied05/proceedings/5-Holohan-final-full.pdf
Murray, T., Blessing, S. and Ainsworth, S.
(2003). Authoring Tools for Advanced
Technology: towards cost-effective adaptive,
interactive and intelligent educational
software. Berlin: Springer.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1402
017723/sr=8-
7/qid=1155437833/ref=sr_1_7/104-
1348092-4859103?ie=UTF8
Qiu, Lin (2005). A Web-based Architecture
and Incremental Authoring Model for
Interactive Learning Environments for
Diagnostic Reasoning. Doctoral
Dissertation, Northwestern University,
Evanston, Illinois.
http://www.cs.oswego.edu/~lqiu/
Qiu, L. and Riesbeck, C. (2005). The Design
for Authoring and Deploying Web-based
Interactive Learning Environments.
Proceedings of World Conference on
Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia &
Telecommunications (ED-MEDIA), Montreal,
June 2005.
www.cs.oswego.edu/~lqiu/indie/publication
s/edmedia2005.pdf
Ramp, E., De Bra, P., and Brusilovsky, P.,
(2005). Authoring and Delivery of Adaptive
Electronic Textbooks made Easy.
Proceedings of the World Conference on E-
Learning in Corporate, Government,
Healthcare, and Higher Education (E-Learn
© Brandon Hall Research
2005), Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 24-
28, 2005, AACE.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=21157
Ramp, E. W. A. (2005). Authoring through
Concept Structure Level Translation of
Adaptive Hypermedia Systems. Masters
Thesis, Technical Univ., Eindhoven, NL.
http://www2.sis.pitt.edu/~paws/publication
s.htm
Tozman, Reuben (2005). The myth about
tools. Learning Circuits, June 2005.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2005/jun2
005/tozman.htm
Tozman, Reuben (2004). Another new
paradigm for instructional design. Learning
Circuits, Nov. 2004.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2004/nov2
004/tozman.htm
Woodill, Gary (2005). Emerging e-Learning:
new approaches to delivering engaging
online learning content. Sunnyvale, CA:
Brandon Hall Research.
http://www.brandon-
hall.com/publications/emerging/emerging.s
html

Do not reproduce 51

Avatars
Related terms
Agents, games, simulations
Description
The term “avatar” comes from a Sanskrit
word meaning an incarnation in human
form. An avatar is a virtual character that
represents (or stands in for) a person in an
online environment. In the context of e-
learning, avatars are most commonly used
as teachers and coaches but are also used
to represent learners, especially in game-
based learning activities.
Seth (2003) says that “an avatar, in the
broadest sense, is an image that represents
one party in an interactive exchange. In
some situations, the avatar may represent
an actual human being, but in e-learning,
the avatar almost always operates as an
agent of the e-learning application, and
generally simulates human activity.”
Deuchar and Nodder (2004) are more
precise in describing an avatar as “a
computer generated graphic representation
of a user within a 3Dimension (3-D) Virtual
Reality (VR) environment therefore enabling
the user to take on a visible persona.”
Technologies used to make avatars seem
believable and socially aware include the
following:
> • Human-like face and body-generation
and animation
> • Speech-recognition or at least textual
or multi-choice input
> • Speech-generation with text-to-
speech (TTS) systems with lip-synch
speech synthesis
> • Emotion-simulation where
appropriate and feasible
> • Chat and story telling capabilities
Using avatars in educational 3-D
environments allows individuals to immerse
themselves in role-playing for the purpose of
learning. Deuchar and Nodder (2004) give
these examples: “Educators in various
disciplines may offer their students the
ability to assume a different persona to
experience the world of another. In the area
52
of psychotherapy, for example, learners
could enter the world of a sufferer of anxiety
and panic. Similarly, a great deal could be
learnt by observing psychotherapy patients
as they project an image, expose their
weaknesses in this image and confront
unpleasant situations to build confidence. It
is a safe way to practice to reduce social
and physiological anxieties.”
Maldonado et al. (2005) experimented with
the use of avatars as “emotional
companions.” Results from their study of 76
Japanese college students showed that
“cooperative co-learners have a positive
impact on students’ performance and
experience, as well as increasing
perceptions of the character’s intelligence
and credibility.” This indicates that
emotionally realistic avatars may be
important in the near future as companions
who can support positive learning
outcomes.
Selected Examples
CodeBaby is software that creates online
talking avatars that can be used in
educational settings. See a case study and
a presentation on how to create an online
avatar at:
http://www.codebaby.com/solutions/elearn
ing/
With Sculptoris Voices Studio you can
create 2-D and 3-D characters that speak in
lip synch and post the characters on any
Web site.
http://www.sculptoris.com
Second Life is a virtual environment where
you can create avatars to represent
yourself. Pick a character at:
http://secondlife.com/
Some aspects of Second Life have been
used for education and training. Mark
Oelhert provides a list of the top 20
educational destinations within Second Life.
http://blogoehlert.typepad.com/eclippings/
2006/07/top_20_educatio.html
NOAH is a Flash-based system that enables
you to use a NOAH avatar for Web-based or
CD-based projects. NOAH can be used as a
coach in an e-learning applications or to add
life to your Web page.
http://www.telsim.com/
© Brandon Hall Research
Redwood e-Learning uses coaching avatars 2005 - Training Education & Education
for online teaching. International Conference, Nexus Media,
http://www.redwoodelearning.com/ 2005.
http://isnm.de/~aahad/Downloads/AVP_TE
Knowledge Avatars are intelligent tutors
SI.pdf
that emulate the knowledge of experts.
Ideally they contain content knowledge as Maldonado, H., Lee, J., Brave, S., Nass, C.,
well as teaching expertise. Nakajima, H., Yamada, R., Iwamura, K., and
http://www.knowledgeenvironments.com/ Morishima, Y. (2005). We Learn Better
Together: Enhancing eLearning with
Advance Chatbot Solutions allows you to try
Emotional Characters. In T. Koschmann, D.
talking to different avatars. Their Surveybots
Suthers, and T.W. Chan (Eds.) Computer
have been shown to be twice as effective in
Supported Collaborative Learning 2005: the
getting people to answer survey questions
next 10 years! Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
online. Try them at:
Erlbaum Associates.
http://www.daden.co.uk/chatbots/
www.stanford.edu/~kiky/CSCL2005Maldon
An avatar that signs in ASL has been ado.pdf
developed by Vcom3D, Inc. in cooper-ation
Seth, Raj (2003). Avatar Technology: giving
with a number of groups.
a face to the e-learning interface. eLearning
http://www.vcom3d.com/
Developers’ Journal, Aug. 25, 2003.
New York-based Oddcast Inc. has designed http://www.elearningguild.com/pdf/2/082
software that enables businesses to set up 503DES-H.pdf
marketing programs with avatars that talk
to customers.
http://www.oddcast.com/home/
The DA Group in the UK has a set of “e-
Learning Mentors,” which are avatars that
teach.
http://www.tmmy.co.uk/html/1-
2_solutions/1-2-1_ementor.html

Online Resources
In Europe, the AVATAR-Conference project
aims to develop a toolkit to set up and
administer virtual online confer-ences. In
the toolkit, users are represent-ed as
avatars. The system will be design-ed as a
scalable, modular application, offering a
large number of supportive functions.
http://www.exodus.gr/Avatar_Conference/

Bibliography
Deuchar, S. and Nodder, C. (2004). The
Impact of Avatars and 3D Virtual World
Creation on Learning. Paper presented to
the National Advisory Committee on
Computing Qualifications (NACCQ) 2004
Conference, New Zealand.
http://ww.naccq.ac.nz/conference04/proce
edings_03/pdf/255.pdf
Jung, B., Ahad, A., and Weber, M. (2005).
The Affective Virtual Patient: An E-Learning
Tool for Social Interaction Training within
the Medical Field. In Proceedings of TESI

Do not reproduce 53

Blogs
Related terms
Crunkies, screencasting, video blogging,
Weblogs
Description
Weblogs or blogs are online journals that
invite readers to add comments, thereby
participating in an ongoing online
conversation. Blogs are proliferating at a
great rate in educational environments
because they are so easy to use. A form of
online publishing, blogs can be used within
a classroom or a community, or they can be
open to the general public.
For teachers, one issue with Weblogs
involves how to evaluate their impact on
learners. However, there are many who
think the use of blogs is changing the very
fabric of formal education.
Similarly, blogs are changing corporate
training in profound ways. Some of the
benefits of “Enterprise Blogging” as
identified by Clyde (2005) include the
following:
> Blogs can be useful sources of
information.
> Blogs are used for communication.
> Blogs can be used as a project
management tool.
> Blogs can be used as a competitive
intelligence tool.
> Blogs are used for marketing.
> Blogs are a tool for knowledge
management and knowledge sharing.
> Customer service is an area in which
the potential of blogging is being
explored.
> A blog can be used as a newsletter or
can take the place of a newsletter as a
form of online publishing.
However, in a note of caution, Clyde adds,
“A potential problem is that blogging does
not fit with the corporate culture of many
organisations.” As well, hundreds of
thousands of people have started a blog but
have not added material to it beyond the
54
first few pages. Coursey (2005) quotes
reader Curt Gowan, who wrote, “Blogging is
this decade's citizens' band radio, a fad
which booms insanely then drops back to a
much, much lower level of activity that is
sustainable and actually useful.”
The Catalyst Group, in a 2005 study entitled
“Net Rage”: A Study of Blogs and Usability,
cite the following as problems with blogs:
> Visitors may not recognize they are on a
blog.
> Blogs do not always identify themselves
as blogs.
> The core purpose of submitting
comments to a blog is not universally
understood.
> Few, if any, blogs declare exactly what
will happen when a post is submitted.
> Mainstream consumer expectations for
assistance, education, and context far
outstrip implementing the blog interface
and feature elements.
Nevertheless, as the following examples
show, the use of blogs in education is here
to stay.
Selected Examples
A crunkie is a new type of blog posting that
is linked to a certain geographical location.
When someone the user knows arrives, if
they have subscribed to the blog, their PDA
will send them a message about the place
they are visiting. Crunkies are the brainchild
of Wavemarket, an applications company.
http://www.wavemarket.com/
Sony Ericsson has developed a 3.2-
megapixel blogging phone. These new
phones are integrated with Google's Blogger
application.
http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=c
a&lc=en&ver=4000&template=pc3_1_1&z
one=pc&lm=pc3&prid=4870
Most blogs are personal journals of
individuals, although occasionally there can
be multiple contributors to a blog. Most blog
writing is unstructured, with a wide range of
writing styles. This makes it difficult for
search engines to sort out the content of
blogs, other than simple word searching.
One attempt to change this is called
structured blogging. In this approach, the
© Brandon Hall Research
structure of blog entries depends on the
type of content – e.g; movie reviews look
different than recipes. For more
information, see:
> http://structuredblogging.org/
> http://carapace.weblogs.us/archives/0
26753.html
> http://radio.weblogs.com/0110772/st
ories/2003/03/13/towardsStructured
Blogging.html
James Farmer is a frequent and critical
contributor to the online debates on the
future of technology and education. His blog
is at:
http://blogsavvy.net/category/blogging-for-
education/
Jay Cross has at least two blogs about e-
learning – Internet Time and InformL, both
worth reading for the latest developments in
thinking about e-learning (Jay coined the
term “e-learning” back in 1997).
http://www.internettime.com/wordpress/
http://informl.com/
Jenna Sweeny, President of an instructional
design firm, has a blog on Corporate
Training and e-Learning.
http://www.cramersweeney.com/cs_id/trai
ningblog/
George Siemens of Winnipeg, Canada, is a
prolific source on many aspects of e-
learning. His blog, elearnspace, is a great
resource.
http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/
Scott Leslie is another prolific blogger in the
education space. His matrix of uses of blogs
in education is particularly interesting.
http://www.edtechpost.ca/gems/matrix2.gi
f content/themes/ai3/files/BlogGuide/BlogG
BlogBurst – market a blog to mainstream
media through the BlogBurst network.
http://www.blogburst.com/
Track the blogsphere with Blogpulse, which
analyzes trends in blog site topics.
http://blogpulse.com/
Listings of subject area specific blogs are
emerging in academic disciplines. These
include the following:
MetaxuCafe (literary blogs)
http://www.metaxucafe.com/
Do not reproduce
Postgenomic (life sciences blogs)
http://www.postgenomic.com/index.php
Online Resources
Teresa A. D’Eca in Portugal maintains a
fantastic list of Web resources on all
aspects of learning online, including
educational blogging. Find her work at:
http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/webheads/
online-learning-environments.htm#Teaching
There are hundreds of blogs on educational
computing. A comprehensive listing is
maintained by the e-Learning Centre in the
UK.
http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/elb
logs.htm
The Pew Internet and American Life Project
has published a report entitled Bloggers: a
portrait of the Internet’s new storytellers.
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP%20Bl
oggers%20Report%20July%2019%202006.
pdf
BlogCatalog is a listing of blogs of all types.
In March 2006, there were 891 educational
blogs listed.
http://www.blogcatalog.com/directory/educ
ation_and_training
Susan Herzog, a librarian, has compiled a
large bibliography on the topic of blogs. You
can scan the entries in BlogBib at:
http://blog-bib.blogspot.com/
Michael Bergman has written a very
comprehensive guide to setting up a blog,
based on his four-month diary of setting up
his own blog with WordPress. Get the guide
at:
http://www.mkbergman.com/wp-
uide050919.pdf
Shawn Callahan in Australia has written a
white paper on building a “technician’s
blog” to help technicians share information
with each other and with the company’s
sales force and customers.
http://www.anecdote.com.au/papers/Conn
ectingPeoplewithContent.pdf
Danny Maas has produced a set of online
videos on educational blogging that cover
all the basics. View them at:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-
54633740168105430&q=tilt
55
 According to eighth graders, “blogs are Coursey, David (2005). Blogs Really Aren’t
cool.” For a huge list of educational blogs So Unique. eWeek.com, July 14.
that relate to social studies, check out this http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,18
site: 37604,00.asp
http://www3.essdack.org/socialstudies/blo
Davis, Anne (2004). Ways to use Weblogs in
gs.htm
education. EduBlog Insights, Oct. 5.
WWWTools collects interesting links on a http://anne2.teachesme.com/2004/10/05
number of topics related to online /ways-to-use-weblogs-in-education/
education. To see their list of interesting
Downes, Stephen (2004). Educational
links on educational blogging, go to:
Blogging. EDUCAUSE Review, 39(5),
http://m.fasfind.com/wwwtools/m/10171.
September/October, 14-26.
cfm?x=0&rid=10171
http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/e
Stephen Downes, a senior researcher with rm0450.asp
the National Research Council of Canada,
Lenhart, A. and Fox, S. (2006). Bloggers: a
has written a guide on how to be noticed
portrait of the Internet’s new storytellers.
and attract readers to your blog.
Pew Internet and American Life Project, July
http://www.downes.ca/cgi-
19, 2006.
bin/page.cgi?db=post&q=crdate=1122588
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP%20Bl
384&format=full
oggers%20Report%20July%2019%202006.
Waypath is a Blog Discovery Engine that pdf
helps users find new blogs to read from the
Pierce, Dennis (2006). Panelists: blogs are
millions in the blogosphere.
changing education. eSchool News Online,
http://www.waypath.com
March 24, 2006.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showS
Bibliography toryts.cfm?ArticleID=6208
Bergman, Michael (2005). Comprehensive Torio, James (2005). Blogs: a global
Guide to a Professional Blog Site: A conversation. Master’s Thesis, Syracuse
WordPress Example. AI3 White Paper, University, Syracuse, New York.
September 2005. www.everyhuman.com/work/theses8.12.lo
http://www.mkbergman.com/wp- w.pdf
content/themes/ai3/files/BlogGuide/BlogG
uide050919.pdf
Canali De Rossi, Luigi (2004). Blogging
Communities and the Knowledge
Enterprise. Robin Good Blog, Sept. 29.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/20
04/09/29/blogging_communities_and_the
_knowledge.htm
Canali De Rossi, Luigi (2005). Group And
Multi-User Blog Platforms Compared. Robin
Good Blog, May 16, 2005.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/20
05/05/16/group_and_multiuser_blog_platf
orms.htm
Catalyst Group (2005). “Net Rage”: A Study
of Blogs and Usability. July 11.
http://www.catalystgroupdesign.com/cofact
ors/upload/Blog_usability_report.pdf
Clyde, Laurel (2005). Enterprise blogging.
FreePint Newsletter, January 13, No.174.
http://www.freepint.com/issues/130105.ht
m#feature

56 © Brandon Hall Research


Browsers
Related terms
FireFox, Internet Explorer, Netscape, thin
clients, Webtops
Description
For many, using a browser is synonymous
with the World Wide Web. Like all
technology innovation curves, the history of
browsers shows a “winner” and a number of
“losers.” The browser wars of the late
1990s resulted in the demise of the Mos-aic
browser, the defeat of the Netscape
browser, and the rise to supremacy of
Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. Once
it was clear that the Netscape browser was
on the way out, America Online, which
owned the rights to Netscape, turned it into
an open source project – the Mozilla Firefox
browser. (http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/).
What most people don't realize is that there
are hundreds of smaller browsers out there
with very small market share. For example,
while Opera, a browser that has been
around for a long time, has a small
following, it has never been much of a
threat to Internet Explorer.
(http://www.opera.com)
The truth is that browsers themselves may
be disappearing, or at least their influence
is decreasing. Based on the metaphor of the
World Wide Web as a book, they may not be
necessary as navigational devices, as more
and more applications become directly
available through the Internet. This is
especially true for business-to-business
commerce, where many applications
interact with each other automatically.
Already there is talk of a "browserless Web”
(Cox, 2001).
Selected Examples
OmniWeb is a powerful browser with
advanced features that is specifically
designed to work with Macintosh
computers.
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/o
mniweb/
Active Worlds is an example of how to
navigate the Web without a traditional
Do not reproduce
browser. The Internet is treated as a virtual
space, allowing users to move through it
using 3-D tools.
http://www.activeworlds.com/
The Mozilla Project set out to develop open
source standards for Web browsers and
mail clients. Their efforts have resulted in
the FireFox Web browser and the
Thunderbirds mail client.
http://www.mozilla.com/
FireFox allows many “add-ons.” These
include extensions (programs that add
functionality to FireFox), plugins (programs
that convert or play content within a
browser), search engines, and “themes.”
Themes allow the user to change the look
and feel of the browser. For a complete
listing of FireFox “add-ons” see:
https://addons.mozilla.org/?application=fir
efox
Flock is an open source browser built on the
FireFox code base. It integrates next-
generation Web technologies such as RSS
content feeds, blogs, bookmarking, and
photo sharing. Flock was launched in
October 2005.
http://www.flock.com/
Mark Oelhert has been floating an idea on
his blog for an alternative to browsers,
called “Webtops.” Read two entries on this
topic at:
> http://blogoehlert.typepad.com/eclippi
ngs/2006/05/an_evaluation_o.html
> http://blogoehlert.typepad.com/eclippi
ngs/2006/07/continuing_to_p.html
Online Resources
Wikipedia has the most coverage of
browsers, across several articles. These
articles include the following:
> List of Web Browsers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_we
b_browsers
> Comparison of Web Browsers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compariso
n_of_web_browsers
> Web Browser:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_brow
ser
57
 Well over 100 browsers for the World Wide
Web have been developed. Most of these
are archived at:
http://browsers.evolt.org/
Another comprehensive list of browsers is
found at the Web Developers Notes site.
http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/desig
n/browsers_list.php3

Bibliography
Cox, John (2001). Make way for the
‘browserless Web’. Network World, Jan. 29,
2001.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2001/
0129browserless.html
Engst, Adam (2004). OmniWeb 5.0: The
Powerful Web Browser. TidBits, No. 742,
Aug. 16, 2004.
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07
775
Horton, W. and Horton, K. (2002). Picking
the Right Browser: issues in specifying a
browser for e-learning and knowledge
management. William Horton Consulting,
Boulder, CO, May 16, 2002.
http://www.bestdegree.com/courses/mast
ers/pdf/edu722_PickingBrowser.pdf
LeMay, Renai (2005). Advanced browser
gives taste of Web 2.0, ZDNet Australia, Oct.
21, 2005.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/s
oa/Advanced_browser_gives_taste_of_Web
_2_0/0,2000061733,39218173,00.htm
Schonfeld, E., Malik, O. and Copeland, M.
(2006) The Webtop. CNN Money.com.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/24/smbu
siness/business2_nextnet_webtop/index.ht
m
Tedeschi, Michael (2006). Opera Browser,
Still Perfecting its Pitch.
WashingtonPost.com, July 30, 2006.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2006/07/29/AR2006
072900038.html?referrer=email

58 © Brandon Hall Research


Classroom Response
Systems
Related terms
Audience response systems, classroom
communication systems, clickers, voting
systems
Description
The advent of e-learning has clearly put
traditional classroom teaching on the
defensive. This is especially true for
postsecondary education where a lecture
delivered to hundreds of students in a large
classroom often results in alienation
between the lecturer and the students. One
response is to try to make the traditional
classroom and the large lecture hall more
responsive and interactive, as is the case
with a technology called classroom
response systems, or clickers.
Resembling remote controls used for home
entertainment equipment, classroom
response systems with clickers use either
infrared rays or radio signals to
communicate with a hub that is connected
to an instructor's computer. Students can
“click in” at the beginning of a class to
register their attendance and can click
again to answer questions the instructor
poses during the lecture.
The use of clickers has several advantages,
including the following (summarized from
Cassidy, 2006; Beatty, 2004):
> Students answer multiple-choice
questions anonymously without fear of
failure.
> Student answers are available
immediately to the instructor, giving
almost instant feedback.
> The devices keep students alert and
involved.
> The devices can instantly construct
histograms of class-wide answers for
the instructor and display the histogram
to students using an overhead
projector.
> Clickers permit question types other
than multiple-choice.
Do not reproduce
> The devices give students feedback
about the limitations of their
knowledge, increasing their motivation
to learn.
With this technology it is possible to do the
following:
> Associate an individual with his/her
answer
> Map the classroom and display student
answers seat by seat
> Allow or require students to answer in
small groups
> Support the creation, management,
display, and archiving of questions
The use of clickers can become an in-class
Web application, integrated with other types
of learning technologies.
However, costs can be an issue, as Stone
(2004) points out:
“…these systems come with many hidden
costs, both for students and for those
supporting their use in the classroom. There
are time-consuming issues (and therefore
costs) in terms of installing the receivers
and software in a classroom, training the
faculty member to use the software, and
supporting students who have trouble
‘activating’ or ‘reactivating’ their clicker. As
multiple brands (typically not interoperable)
yoked to different textbooks are adopted on
a single campus, the costs and headaches
multiply.”
In spite of the costs, many faculty members
who use this technology are enthusiastic
about it, suggesting that it transforms the
traditional lecture in many positive ways.
This includes the fact that faculty are also
more involved and may enjoy the higher
level of challenge an interactive class can
produce.
Selected Examples
The following are vendors of Classroom
Response Systems:
eInstruction’s Classroom Performance
System is used in K-12, higher education,
corporate, and military settings.
http://www.einstruction.com/
H-ITT Classroom Response System is a low
cost system that is integrated with Pearson
59
 Publishing textbook.
http://www.h-itt.com/index.html
InterWrite Personal Response System
(formerly EduCue PRS) is used in over 300
universities.
http://www.gtcocalcomp.com/products_int
erwrite.htm
LearnStar is an interactive system where
each student gets a QWERTY keyboard,
allowing questions beyond the simple
multiple-choice type.
http://www.learnstar.com/Default.htm
Option Technologies Interactive has a
classroom response system.
http://www.optiontechnologies.com/audien
ce-response-systems/index.asp
Pearson Education Australia has its own
unique KEEPAD.
http://www.pearsoned.com.au/ELearning/A
udienceResponseSystems/Home.aspx
Pearson USA adds a “challenge board” to
its interactive clicker software.
http://www.pearsonncs.com/cps/index.htm
Qwizdom provides a well-designed set of
keypads that younger students will likely
find to be “cool.”
http://www.qwizdom.com/index.htm
SmartRoom Learning Solutions provides
classroom response technology that is
integrated with Microsoft PowerPoint
software.
http://www.smartroom.com/
Online Resources
University of Massachusetts’ Physics
Education Research Group’s Assessing
Student Knowledge with Instructional
Technology (ASK-IT) project has a list of
resources on classroom response systems.
http://umperg.physics.umass.edu/projects/
ASKIT
The Active Learning Web site lists many
resources for active learning, including
material on the use of classroom response
systems.
http://www.active-learning-site.com
The University of British Columbia maintains
a Wiki with a section on clickers. See
“Clicker Links” at:
http://wiki.elearning.ubc.ca/Clickers
60
The University of Texas has a useful Web
site of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
on the use of clickers in the classroom.
http://www.utexas.edu/academic/cit/howt
o/labinstructions/cpsfaqs.html
The Community Learning Resource Web site
supports adult and community learning. The
site contains reviews of classroom and
online voting systems.
http://www.aclearn.net/display.cfm?page=
966
Bibliography
Beatty, Ian (2004). Transforming Student
Learning with Classroom Communications
Systems. EDUCAUSE Center for Applied
Research, Research Bulletin, Volume 2004,
No. 3, Feb. 3.
http://www.utexas.edu/academic/cit/servic
es/cps/ECARCRS.pdf
Burnstein, R. and Lederman, (2003).
Comparison of different commercial
wireless keypad systems. The Physics
Teacher, 41(5), 272-275.
https://sharepoint.cisat.jmu.edu/tsec/jim/
CRS/pdf%20files/keypad%20comparisons.
pdf
Cassidy, Anne (2006). This class clicks!
Wireless devices promote interactive
learning. Inside CUA, March 3, 2006.
http://inside.cua.edu/articleprinter1.cfm?fil
e=/051103/story2.cfm
EDUCAUSE (2005). 7 things you should
know about…Clickers. Educause Learning
Initiative.
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI
7002.pdf
Mazur, Eric (1997). Peer Instruction: a
user’s manual. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0135
654416/102-1432436-
8908931?v=glance&n=283155
Stone, Tom (2004). Beware publishing reps
bearing “free” gifts that click. E-Learning
Dialogue, July 7, 2004.
http://www.campus-
technology.com/news_issue.asp?id=154&I
ssueDate=7/7/2004#view
Su, Q. (2002) Teaching innovation using a
computerized audience response system.
Paper presesented at the AUPEC 2002
© Brandon Hall Research
Conference, Melbourne, Australia.
http://www.itee.uq.edu.au/~aupec/aupec0
2/Final-Papers/Q-SU1.pdf

Do not reproduce 61

Collaboration Tools
Related terms
Cooperation, social bookmarking, social
networking
Description
The big news for emerging e-learning is the
shift to collaboration tools and social
software. This represents a fundamental
shift in how learning takes place, as we
move from a model of instructor-led
teaching of individuals to one of learner-led
finding, doing, and collaborating.
The Institute for the Future, in its 2005
report Technologies of Cooperation,
identifies “eight key clusters” of
collaboration tools:
> Self-Organizing Mesh Networks
> Community Computing Grids
> Peer Production Networks
> Social Mobile Computing
> Group-Forming Networks
> Social Software
> Social Accounting Tools
> Knowledge Collectives
There are many different ways to
collaborate. Timothy Butler and David
Coleman (2003) suggest five fundamental
models of working together:
> Library (a few people place material in a
repository, many draw on it)
> Solicitation (a few people place
requests, many respond, e.g., a
Request for Proposal system)
> Team (a small group working together
on a project)
> Community (e.g., a Community of
Practice)
> Process Support (systems that support
repetitive workflows)
Processes supporting collaboration can
include generation (e.g., through
brainstorming), reduction, clarification,
organization, evaluation, and consensus
62
building. Facilitating collaboration is not an
easy task; it requires skill and experience.
Selected Examples
Hundreds of vendors are producing and
selling collaboration software products.
These products can be divided into the
following categories:
> Collaborative Working Spaces and
Resources Sharing Software
> Communities of Practice Management
Software
> Project and Team Management
Software
> Virtual Classrooms with Collaboration
Features
> Web Conferencing Software with
Collaboration Features
Following is a list of the best known in each
of the above categories:
Collaborative Working Spaces and
Resources Sharing Software
5 Point – Teamspace - Teamspace is a
groupware system for international Web-
based collaboration and virtual teamwork.
Create your own team and work together
with colleagues all over the world.
http://www.teamspace.com/
Advanced Reality – Jybe - Advanced Reality
has a set of P2P collaboration products that
allow users to work directly together on
various applications.
http://www.advancedreality.com/products/i
ndex.html
AdventNet – Zoho Virtual Office is
groupware that provides a virtual
collaboration platform where individuals
and groups can communicate, collaborate,
organize, and share information seamlessly
using a number of useful applications.
http://www.zoho.com/virtual-
office/index.html?ad-main
Annotea - Annotea is a World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C) LEAD (Live Early Adoption
and Demonstration) project under Semantic
Web Advanced Development (SWAD).
Annotea enhances collaboration via shared
metadata-based Web annotations, and
© Brandon Hall Research
bookmarks. Cisco - Unified MeetingPlace - An integral
http://www.w3.org/2001/Annotea/ component of the Cisco IP Communic-ations
system, Cisco MeetingPlace is a complete
Atinav – aveComm - This technology adds to
rich-media conferencing solution.
a software/hardware application or product
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/
with Web-based video, voice and data
ps5664/ps5669/index.html
collaboration, and communication.
http://www.avecomm.com Citrix Systems – GoToMeeting - Online
meeting solution for sharing desktop
BackPack – An organizational tool that
resources, Web conferencing, and
allows collaboration with others. A Web-
collaboration.
based service lets users make to-do lists, jot
http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/product
down notes, share files, and upload photos.
s/product.asp?contentID=13976
Users can share Backpack pages with
others by e-mailing the page address to the https://www.gotomeeting.com/
other person. It also provides Short
Comotiv Systems – Comotiv Collaboration –
Message Service (SMS) alerts.
Allows the sharing of files, markup of data,
http://www.backpackit.com/
recordable conferencing, and instant access
Bantu – Bantu Messenger - Bantu is a to the group workspace.
powerful communication and collaboration http://www.comotivsystems.com/ourProduc
platform. Bantu's secure Instant Messaging t/index.htm
(real-time text communication), Presence
courseforum technologies – Projectforum -
(see who’s online), and Alerts (time-
Web-based collaboration software that is
sensitive notifications) offer rich
easy to set up and use.
communications.
http://www.courseforum.com/
http://www.bantu.com/services/faq_basics
.php Croquet – Croquet – A combination of open
source computer software and network
BlueTie – Business Class Collaboration –
architecture that supports deep
Integrates e-mail, contacts, calendar,
collaboration and resource sharing among
collaborative file management, and instant
large numbers of users.
messaging.
http://www.opencroquet.org
http://www.bluetie.com/
Digi-Net Technologies – DigiChat - Web
Blenks – In-team - Offers tools and modules
conferencing software to address the needs
to support teams in a variety of
of business, education, non-profit, and
environments. Their virtual “meeting room”
individual users.
can be embedded in existing infrastructures
http://www.globalchat.com/
and customized in terms of look and feel.
http://www.inteam.com/info/ Digite – Digite Enterprise - Offers real-time
collaboration through Web access, instant
Bright Idea – On-Demand Innovation
messaging, discussion forum, alerts, flexible
Management Suite – Software that assists
workflow, robust document management,
managers in all areas of innovation, with
and meeting manager.
templates and workflows for product
http://www.digite.com/
development, intellectual property
management, expert location, and EMC² - Documentum eRoom - Web-based
information technology adoption. collaborative workspace that enables
http://www.brightidea.com distributed teams to work together more
efficiently. Features include IM; project
Central Desktop – Central Desktop - Web-
planning and reporting; search; version
based collaboration tool for business teams
control; office, desktop and e-mail integ-
to manage projects, share information, and
ration (Microsoft Office and Outlook);
communicate with others. Includes
integrates with SharePoint and WebLogic.
document organization and sharing,
http://software.emc.com/microsites/eRoo
document versioning, and searchable
m/index.jsp
discussion threads.
http://www.centraldesktop.com/ Engineering.com – Collaboration Suite – A
collaboration suite for engineers that

Do not reproduce 63
 features a project navigator; resource
information sharing; mechanical CAD Viewer
to compress and send CAD files over
Internet; desktop sharing and remote
desktop control, recording and playback;
and document management.
http://collaboration.engineering.com/
EPAM Systems – EPAM Project
Management Center (EPAM PMC ) - A Web-
based collaboration environment for
software development. The system
streamlines project planning, require-ment
and risk management, software
construction, product quality assurance,
quantitative project management, and
organizational process performance.
http://www.epam-pmc.com/
Exact Software – e-Synergy - The e-Synergy
platform integrates and consolidates
corporate data into a single database.
Features include the following: Accessing
documents, scheduling and using
calendars, tracking the status of
assignments, and sending workflow tasks.
http://www.exactamerica.com/esynergy/
eZmeeting - Live meetings and Web
conferencing. Features include interactive
data collaboration; universal file viewer for
MS office documents; drawing tools;
presentation tools, including whiteboards,
snapshots, and images; interactive
whiteboard; desktop sharing; and corporate
instant messaging.
http://www.ezmeeting.com/
Facilitate – FacilitatePro – Supports online
meetings and collaboration with a set of
tools for brainstorming, categorizing, voting,
conducting surveys, and creating action
plans.
http://www.facilitate.com/
Flypaper – Teamspace – Simple, easy to
use online collaboration system. The
company also has the Flypaper Enterprise
Collaboration Platform.
http://www.flypaper.com/
Forum One – ProjectSpaces - ProjectSpaces
is a password-protected, Web-based
extranet tool. It provides working groups
with simple, powerful, secure, and reliable
tools for collaborating more effectively
across organizational and geographic
boundaries. It has tools for managing
multiple teams.
64
http://www.forumone.com/section/services
/projectspaces/
Gliffy – Gliffy – Provides the ability to
diagramming in a Web browser, with
collaborators able to add to and change the
diagrams.
http://www.gliffy.com/
Google – Google Groups – Create, search,
and browse groups to discuss and share
ideas.
http://groups.google.com/
Gordano – Gordano Messaging Suite
Collaboration - GMS Collaboration Server
provides a fully functional cross-platform
alternative to Microsoft Exchange.
http://www.gordano.com/products/Collabor
ation.htm
Grapevine Software – On Demand –
Document management and collaboration
software – share files, invite workspace
members, assign file editing rights and
completion dates, attach threaded
discussions to files, allow members to
update and edit files.
http://www.grapevinesoftware.net/
Groove Networks – Groove Virtual Office -
File sharing, meeting, project management,
data and process tracking, and team
management. Soon to be integrated with
Microsoft Office.
http://www.groove.net/home/index.cfm
GroupSystems – GroupSystems II -
GroupSystems II includes several tools for
group interactions – from brainstorming to
voting. The interactions can happen both in
face-to-face meetings and in remote
meetings run over the Internet.
http://www.groupsupport.com/EN/products
/GSII.shtml
Hewlett Packard - Halo Collaboration Studio
- A system of carefully placed plasma
televisions, cameras, and microphones that
allows two groups of up to six people to hold
a live meeting in two separate locations.
Conceived by Dreamworks as a response to
travel concerns after the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001, Halo allows meeting
participants to make eye contact, share files
and documents, and shout over each other
in an attempt to be heard – just like a real
meeting.
http://www.hp.com/halo/index.html
© Brandon Hall Research
hotComm - A peer-to-peer collaboration
platform that is designed to leverage the
1stWorks Network, a powerful, scalable,
and secure peer networking architecture.
hotComm is the desktop client that provides
fast, efficient, private interactive access or
exchange of text, voice, video, data, and
applications between participating
hotComm users on the Web.
http://www.hotcomm.com/hotComm.asp
HyperOffice – HyperOffice Collaboration
Suite – A hosted collaboration solution.
Features include the following: Business e-
mail, online document management, online
calendar, online contact management, task
manager, and shared documents.
http://www.hyperoffice.com/
IBM - Lotus QuickPlace - A Web-based
solution for creating team workspaces for
collaboration.
http://www-
03.ibm.com/servers/eserver/iseries/quickp
lace/
IceWEB – IceMAIL – An enterprise class e-
mail and collaboration system for small
businesses. Features include the following:
Shared calendars, contacts, folders, and
Microsoft Outlook integration.
http://www.iceweb.com/
iLinc Communications - iLincSuite -
Provides hosted Web conferencing and
audio conferencing software. Learnlinc is an
electronic classroom from iLinc.
http://www.ilinc.com/
Interwoven - WorkSite and WorkSite MP
Collaborative Document Management -
Document management and team
collaboration software that stores all
project-related documents; integrates with
MS Office, Outlook, and Lotus Notes; and
provides search, versioning control, and
extensibility.
http://www.interwoven.com/products/docu
ment_management/index.html
InQuest Technologies – InQuest IQ9 -
Document management and collaboration
software. Features include the following:
Document management, including
versioning, security levels, search archiving,
and file commenting.
http://www.inquesttechnologies.com/Smart
Apps.aspx
Do not reproduce
JDH Technologies – Web-4M - A
collaboration suite for business or
training/education. Integrated suite of multi-
user, peer-to-peer, and groupware tools for
synchronous course delivery and
instructor/student interaction.
http://www.jdhtech.com/
JotSpot - Jotspot Live- A live group note-
taking application for people collaborating
on the Web.
http://www.jotlive.com
kGroups – UWC kGroups Collaborative
Workspace - kGroups provides a number of
tools, including file sharing, discussion
forums, blogs (Weblogs), podcasting, a
Wiki, realtime chat, instant messaging and
presence indication, an interface to a
mailing list server, image libraries,
bookmarks and bookmark sharing
(kBookmarks, link sharing), and more.
http://kgroups.uwc.ac.za/index.php?modul
e=splashscreen
L&W Interlab – Web Office Point - An online
groupware with integrated collaborative
environment for Web-based business. A
suite of integrated Web-based software for
managing commercial resources.
Customizable Web directory, online editor,
and role-based access control provide the
capability to share information with
employees, partners, and customers on the
Web.
http://www.webofficepoint.com/html/produ
cts.jsp
Mayetic – Collaborative Workspaces –
Teamwork collaboration tool. Functions
include the following: Share documents,
calendars, Web resources, and photos.
Using Mayetic collaborative workspaces,
any workgroup belonging to an internal or
external organization can publish and share
information and documents in a
collaborative, structured, and secured
fashion – up to 399 users.
http://www.mayeticvillage.com/
Microsoft – Live Meeting - Live Meeting
enables users to collaborate online with
colleagues, customers, and partners in real
time between either individuals or large
groups—with just a PC and an Internet
connection.
http://www.microsoft.com/office/uc/liveme
eting/default.mspx
65
 Microsoft – SharePoint - Microsoft Windows combines collaboration and performance
SharePoint Services technology in Windows management.
Server 2003 is an integrated portfolio of http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/
collaboration and communication services
Raissa Publishing – MyWorldChat,
designed to connect people, information,
MyWorldChat Communicator - Corporate
processes, and systems both within and
quality communications center. Features
beyond the organizational firewall.
include the following: Interactive
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2
whiteboard, real-time application sharing,
003/technologies/sharepoint/default.mspx
text chat, audio and Webcam, file transfer,
Near-Time – Flow - Near-Time integrates a moderator functions, and MP3 audio
group Weblog with wiki pages, team events, recording.
and shared files in a hosted and secure http://myworldchat.com/terms.html
collaborative environment. Create a Near-
Rallypoint - Rallypoint - Combines the
Time space to share ideas, resources, and
powerful features of a desktop word
files; author and review pages individually
processor with the collaborative abilities of
and across the group; schedule and track
a secure hosted wiki, providing the best of
events and activities; organize and discover
both worlds.
content through categories and tags; and
http://www.rallypointhq.com/
publish and broadcast your content to the
Web. Ramius - Community Zero - CommunityZero
http://www.near-time.com/ is an interactive Web site that allows a
group of people to communicate and
Novell – Groupwise - Novell GroupWise is a
exchange information over the Internet in
collaboration software solution that
their own private and secure area. Within
provides information workers with e-mail,
each area, called an online community,
calendaring, instant messaging, task
participants are provided access to a suite
management, and contact and document
of powerful tools that enable a group to
management functions.
effectively get organized, share knowledge,
http://www.novell.com/products/groupwise
and communicate.
/
http://www.communityzero.com/
Open Text – Livelink EMC Collaboration -
Same-Page.com – eStudio - eStudio is a
Open Text provides Enterprise Content
hybrid solution that offers over 30 software
Management (ECM) that allow managers to
features needed for effective collaboration.
tightly control the project lifecycle by
eStudio does not require an IT department
monitoring due dates, milestones, tasks,
to maintain it. The administration of an
and priorities and by receiving on-the-spot
eStudio tightly controls user access. Staff
status reports.
members can access the components they
http://www.opentext.com/
require to work effectively while customers
Oracle - Oracle Collaboration Suite – Oracle view only the data that is relevant to their
Collaboration Suite 10g provides the tools company interaction.
an enterprise needs to seamlessly http://www.same-page.com/
collaborate from within any application or
Santa Cruz Networks - Solutions to help
device. Enables individuals, teams, and
people communicate in new ways on the
entire organizations to detect presence and
Internet. Allows people to talk to each other,
collaborate instantly.
see each other in real time using cameras,
http://www.oracle.com/collabsuite/index.ht
and share data or applications while they
ml
are online.
Parlano – MindAlign - A suite of persistent http://www.santacruznetworks.com/
group messaging, instant messaging, and
Selden Integrated Systems – iKE - iKE is a
presence management solutions. Integrates
ready-to-use application of personalized
with Microsoft SharePoint.
online workspaces and interactive solutions.
http://www.parlano.com/
The iKE Office software includes Secure
Performance Solutions Technology – Portals, Workflow Automation, Document
MproWeb – A browser-based tool that Management, and Remote Access

66 © Brandon Hall Research

solutions.
http://www.seldensystems.com/
ShareMethods – ShareMethods - On-
demand (ASP) product that combines
document management, collaboration, and
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
integration in a single solution.
http://www.sharemethods.com/
SiteScape - Forum ZX - Collaboration
software that includes document
management, threaded discussions,
calendar sharing, search, workflow and task
management, and real-time com-
munications such as presence confirm-
ation, voice and Web conferencing, Web-
based whiteboarding, and instant
messaging.
http://www.sitescape.com
SpiderWeb Communications - Web-based
solutions to enable face-to-face interaction
with remote employees, partners, and
prospects – without leaving their
desks. Includes VoIP, live video, application
sharing, and breakout groups.
http://www.cyber-grad.com/index.asp
Stalker Software – CommuniGate Pro – This
is claimed to be the most scalable and
modern Internet communications
application server on the market today. Web
conferencing server (in-house).
http://www.stalker.com/content/default.ht
ml
SumTotal Systems – SumTotal Enterprise
Suite, with Total VCS and Total
Collaboration - TotalVCS delivers online
training and enables live and "on-demand"
communication, collaboration, and learning
over the Web for the delivery of real-time
online training. Total Collaboration provides
an easy way for employees to get
information from company experts and an
easy way for organizations to capture the
knowledge transfer for future reference.
http://www.sumtotalsystems.com/products
/stcollab.html
Trichys – WorkZone - WorkZone is the easy-
to-use extranet for organizing and sharing
work with clients, project teams, and
business partners. Designed specifically for
the non-technical user, WorkZone can be
accessed from any Web-enabled computer
(Mac or PC) and requires no additional
Do not reproduce
hardware or software.
http://www.trichys.com/
VIACK – VIA3 – Provides secure
collaboration meetings over the Internet –
see and hear all participants; view and edit
documents or images together; store files;
and use live audio, video, instant
messaging, and information sharing.
http://www.viack.com/product/
Vignette - Vignette Collaboration – Web-
based, shared workspaces that blend
seamlessly with your current and familiar
productivity tools such as e-mail, desktop
document folders, productivity applications,
and calendaring tools.
http://www.vignette.com/contentmanagem
ent/0,2097,1-1-1928-4149-1968-
4491,00.html
Web Crossing – WebCrossing Core -
WebCrossing Core includes a Multi-domain
Web server, newsgroup server, e-mail
server, chat server, XML-RPC server, FTP
server, and more. Use it out of the box, or
use it to build a Web application.
http://www.webcrossing.com/Home/
WebAsyst – WebAsyst Suite - WebAsyst
enables users to implement customer,
project, and document management in a
Web browser without downloading
additional software.
http://www.webasyst.net/
Writely is an online word processor that
allows real time collaboration with others.
http://www.writely.com/
Yahoo Groups – Yahoo groups give Yahoo!
users a place to meet, interact, and share.
http://groups.yahoo.com/
Communities of Practice Management
Software
Tacit Networks – ActiveNet3 - Processes e-
mail, documents, and other business
communications, and auto-matically
discovers each employee's work focus,
expertise, and business relationships.
http://www.tacit.com/company/news/press
/2005.04.25.html
Tomoye – Tomoye Ecco - Communities of
practice software that have received great
reviews. Tomoye Ecco rapidly creates an
environment that supports context creation
around new knowledge, stimulates idea
67
 generation, connects peers, and promotes a
culture of sharing across functional units.
http://www.tomoye.com/
Project and Team Management
Software
Axista – Xcolla - Intuitive project
management software for work teams.
Works with Microsoft Project.
http://www.axista.com/
Brevient – Brevient Project – Flexible online
project management software with a
dashboard management system.
http://www.brevient.com/project.htm
Informative Graphics – ProjectDox - Easy-to-
use database that neatly stores and
organizes project files, giving all team
members constant online access to needed
information.
http://www.projectdox.com/
NexPrise – NexPrise Collaboration -
Centralizes all project-related documents,
files, and data into a single storage area.
Users can store information and control
where it goes and who can access it.
http://www.nexprise.com/
onProject – myonProject - myonProject is
an online team collaboration and project
management solution that offers practical,
affordable, online management for projects
of any size and scope.
http://www.onproject.com/
OPM Creator – OPMCreator - Instant set-up,
simple, scaleable, pay-as-you-go Web-based
project management software. Share
multiple projects with multiple users, set
user permissions, assign tasks, and share
documents, calendars, discussions,
feedback, and e-mails.
http://www.opmcreator.com/
Project/Open – Project/Consulting - An
integrated Web-based project management
and PSA (Professional Services Automation)
that helps a company to run its business by
taking care of everything from CRM, project
planning, project tracking, and collaboration
to timesheet management, invoicing, and
payments.
http://www.project-open.com/
PeopleCube – WebEvent Team - Web event
calendaring, scheduling solutions, and
human performance management
68
applications.
http://www.peoplecube.com
Nagarro - Projistics - In-house tool
developed to assist in project management.
Access to the tool is also given to clients,
fostering the spirit of a team working
towards a single goal.
http://www.nagarro.com/english/offshore_
software_development_project_manageme
nt.htm
TeamDynamix – TDNEXT V4.0Project Suite
– TDNext is focused on helping managers
and project team members work more
effectively. Project managers have all of the
tools necessary to monitor team progress,
identify and resolve potential problems, and
communicate with their project teams.
Project team members have instant access
to all project information that is relevant to
their work, and the system tells them
exactly where their time should be focused.
http://www.teamdynamix.com/Collaboratio
nProducts/Products.aspx
Virtual Classrooms with Collaboration
Features
CaucusCare – Team - Industrial-strength
software package for hosting Web-based
"online conferencing," virtual collabor-ation,
and asynchronous group meetings
http://care.caucus.com/index.shtml
Centra – Centra 7 – Centra Live for Virtual
Classes replicates typical classroom
interaction with voice, video, data, and
graphics in a structured online learning
environment.
http://www.saba.com/centra-saba/
Elluminate – Elluminate Live! Academic
Edition 7.0 - A real-time virtual classroom
environment designed for distance
education and collaboration in academic
institutions.
http://www.elluminate.com/
HP - HP Virtual Classroom - Features include
Hands up, applaud and meter, attendee list,
private/group chat, content button, review
button, exit and help, print icon, and save to
disk icon. Tools include PowerPoint drag-
and-drop, content, navigation, annotation
tools, custom stamps, form to submit
questions, whiteboard pages, and Web
pages.
http://education.hp.com/hpvc
© Brandon Hall Research
Photon Infotech – SPARK - Synchronous
virtual classroom – Audio, visual, and text
chat; shared whiteboard and present-ation;
shared desktop; integrated content
management system; breakout rooms;
private whiteboards for each participant;
URL sharing.
http://www.photoninfotech.com/content/vi
ew/16/108/
Web Conferencing Software with
Collaboration Features
Adobe – Macromedia Breeze - Breeze
delivers rich Web experiences for online
teaching, learning, and collaboration that
everyone can access instantly. For example,
Purdue University has extended learning
with Breeze through blended learning
activities, synchronous online lectures,
virtual office hours, and collaborative
content-building sessions.
http://www.adobe.com/products/breeze/
Batipi – Batipi - Synchronous Web-
conferencing software.
http://www.batipi.com/
Brevient – Mix Meeting – Web conferencing
software with scheduling, meeting
management, and collaboration features.
http://www.mixmeeting.com/
Communique – Audioconferencing with
PowerSlides, and Web conferencing with
WebEx.
http://www.communiqueconferencing.com/
internet_conferencing.asp
Convenos – Virtual meeting spaces and
collaborative tools.
http://www.convenos.com/
Elluminate – Elluminate Live! Enterprise
Edition 7.0 - A real-time virtual classroom
environment designed for distance
education and collaboration in academic
institutions.
http://www.elluminate.com/
Genesys Conferencing – Genesys Meeting
Center – Audio, video, and Web-
conferencing specialists.
http://www.genesys.com/
Glance Networks – Glance Corporate -
Glance is a simple, quick desktop sharing
tool for hosting live Web demos, sales
presentations, and more. Features include
shared documents, e-mail invites, instant
Do not reproduce
messaging, session reports, and phone use.
http://www.glance.net/site/getglance/exa
mples.asp
Horizon Wimba – Live Classroom – A fully
featured live virtual classroom supporting
audio, video, application sharing, and
content display. Allows holding live, online
classes, office hours, guest lectures,
Webcasts, and meetings.
http://www.horizonwimba.com/products/liv
eclassroom/
Interwise – Interwise Connect - Delivers
unlimited voice, Web, and videoconfer-
encing. Share and collaborate on any
application or document in real time. Lead
or attend virtual classes with full moderator
control and participant interaction. Record
classes or Webcasts.
http://www.interwise.com/
Intralinks - IntraLinks On-Demand
Workspaces - A secure, virtual environment
where business communities can exchange
high-value information across enterprise
boundaries. Real-time reporting shows
which information has been accessed, how
often, and by whom.
http://www.intralinks.com/
iVocalize - iVocalize Web Conference -
Enables interactive Web conference
meetings, online seminars, e-learning
classrooms, and presentations to audiences
spanning the globe. Multilingual.
http://www.ivocalize.com/
Linktivity Division, Inter-Tel – WebDemo -
Features include multipoint videoconfer-
encing, desktop sharing, pre-recorded
broadcasts, polling and quizzes, record and
playback, live demos, annotations, notes,
broadcasts files, keyboard and voice chat,
transparency tools, attendee lists, hand
raising, remote control, and a change
presenter ability.
http://www.linktivity.com/
LiveOffice – IMConferencing - LiveOffice
provides Web-based, compliance manage-
ment solutions and conferencing collab-
oration technologies, including Web
conferencing, teleconferencing, toll-free
conference calling, instant messaging, and
real-time videoconferencing.
http://www.liveoffice.com/website2/events
_imc.asp
69
 Meeting One – Click&Share; Click&Meet -
Click&Share is a powerful, easy-to-use Web
conferencing solution that allows users to
share and present any printable document,
any application, or an entire desktop.
Click&Meet is an interface that allows users
to visually manage a personal audio
conference room.
http://www.meetingone.com/action.cfm/na
_en/page=homepage
NetSpoke - Web and audio conferencing
services.
http://www.netspoke.com/
Radvision – Click to Meet - To support large
deployments, Click to Meet creates
conferences across multiple servers and
routes and connects conference
participants to the server most applicable to
their application and network configuration.
http://www.radvision.com/
Raindance Communications – Switch Tower
- Raindance's SwitchTower multimedia
network is the foundation of the company's
collaborative Web, audio, and desktop
videoconferencing services. SwitchTower is
a distributed network design allowing
Raindance to deliver interactive online
meetings and events throughout their
network, the Internet, and into the
enterprise.
http://www.raindance.com/rndc/services/s
ervices.jsp
TelNetZ – BridgePoint - Combining audio
and Web conferencing components,
BridgePoint allows companies to meet
virtually anywhere to accomplish their goals.
With the convenience of online access
through an individual account, BridgePoint
users can establish conferences at a
second’s notice from an Internet
connection.
http://www.telnetz.com/bridgepoint.asp
Terra Dotta – Edufolio – An online teaching
environment with conferences, discussion
forums, surveys, and instant messaging
capabilities.
http://www.edufolio.com/
Vodium – Media Publishing Suite - VMPS is
a robust software suite used to manage the
workflow of a live or on-demand Webcast.
The suite manages the creation, editing,
publishing, and moderation of Webcasts.
70
http://www.vodium.com/home/s_vmps.htm
l
Voxwire – Meeting Room - An unlimited
computer-to-computer Web conferencing
application that allows people to talk to
each other, send text messages, and see
the same Web site or other presentation on
their screens – from anywhere in the world.
It can be used for private communication or
with large groups of participants.
http://www.voxwire.com/
WaveThree – Sessions IP Communications
– A conferencing service that allows users
to conduct business meetings right on their
computers. Users can have face-to-face
meetings with quality audio and video, text
messaging, and document collaboration.
http://www.wave3software.com/
WebEx – WebEx Meeting Center - Powers
online meetings, Web conferencing,
teleconferencing, conference calling, and
videoconferencing services created for
today's enterprise. Solutions include Web
meetings, Webinars, e-learning, remote
support, and system management. Requires
only a browser and a phone.
http://www.webex.com/
WebTrain – Communicator 4 - Web
conferencing and collaboration solutions
and a virtual classroom. Present courseware
in a synchronous online environment, set up
labs and conduct quizzes, present
PowerPoint slideshows, share other
applications; tour Web sites, show rich
multimedia content and documents, and
provide effective distance education at a
fraction of the cost of traditional classroom
courses. Training can be conducted in
multiple simultaneous languages in the
same training session, course, or meeting.
http://www.webtrain.com/
Online Resources
One of the oldest environments for
networked collaboration was the CSILE
project at the Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education (OISE), a graduate school of the
University of Toronto. It was started by
Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter in
the early 1980s. A 1994 article by
Scardamalia and Bereiter explains the
philosophy behind this project.
http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~bwilson/build
ing.html
© Brandon Hall Research
The 2006 Collaborative Technologies
Conference was held in June in Boston.
http://www.ctcevents.com/
The second international conference on
Collaboration Technologies (CollabTech
2006) was held in Tsukuba, Japan on July
13-14, 2006.
http://www.collabtech.org
Global SchoolNet Foundation (GSN)
partners with schools, communities, and
businesses to provide collaborative
educational, scientific, and cultural learning
activities that prepare students for the
workforce and help them become literate
and responsible global citizens.
http://www.globalschoolnet.org/index.html
Athabasca University provides a list of
“Collaborative Learning Activities Using
Social Software Tools” authored by Donna
Cameron and Terry Anderson.
http://www.writely.com/View.aspx?docid=a
g9j97p7pg73_ahh5gqp63qx4
The Collaboration Loop is a Web site
containing newsletters and articles on all
aspects of collaboration in corporate
environments. Sign up for free at:
http://www.collaborationloop.com
Kolabora is a news site for the rapidly
growing corporate collaboration community.
Its reviews of collaboration tools are also
useful.
http://www.kolabora.com/
The Collaborative Learning Environments
Sourcebook is a free e-book describing the
entire domain of collaboration in e-learning.
http://www.criticalmethods.org/collab/inde
x.htm
Athabasca University maintains a Web site
of reviews of online collaborative tools.
http://cde.athabascau.ca/softeval/
David Wooley maintains a very
comprehensive list of Web-based
collaborative work environments.
http://www.thinkofit.com/webconf/workspa
ces.htm
Mitre Corporation, a not-for-profit
organization chartered to work in the public
interest, also has a great list of
collaboration tools.
http://collaboration.mitre.org/tools.htm
Do not reproduce
The Usability First Web site has built a
comprehensive list on Computer Supported
Collaborative Work (CSCW), also known as
“groupware.”
http://www.usabilityfirst.com/groupware/in
dex.txl
Computer Supported Cooperative Work is a
journal on collaboration in the workplace
published by Springer.
http://www.springerlink.com/(1y2d1on52jk
gieqpokgy3tzh)/app/home/journal.asp?refe
rrer=parent&backto=linkingpublicationresul
ts,1:100250,1
Bibliography
Alexander, Bryan (2006). Web 2.0: a new
wave of innovation for teaching and
learning? EDUCAUSE Review, 41(2),
March/April 2006.
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erm0621.asp?bhcp=1
Bachler, M., Buckingham Shum, S., Chen-
Burger, J., Dalton, J., De Roure, D.,
Eisenstadt, M., Komzak, J., Michaelides, D.,
Page, K., Potter, S., Shadbolt, N. and Tate,
A. (2004). Collaboration in the Semantic
Grid: a Basis for e-Learning. In Proceedings
of Grid Learning Services Workshop (GLS
2004), Maceió, Brazil.
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Beshears, Fred (2002). E-Learning and the
Digital Library: Opportunities for
Collaboration. Presentation to the DLF Fall
Forum, Nov. 4, 2002.
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nov2002.pdf
Bonk, Curtis (2002). Collaborative Tools for
e-Learning. Chief Learning Officer, Nov.
2002.
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es/clo_feature.asp?articleid=41&zoneid=3
0
Bruck, Bill (2004). Creating an eCommunity.
Q2Learning White Paper.
http://www.bruck.com/writings.htm
Butler, T. and Coleman, D. (2003). Models
of collaboration. Collaborative Strategies,
September, 2003.
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wsletter/publications_newsletter_septembe
r03.html
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Resources For Web Conferencing, Live E- (pp. 827-829). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
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Presentation Tools: a mini-guide. Robin n=Reader.PrintAbstract&paper_id=10622
Good Blog, May 2, 2003.
Ewing, J. and Miller, D. (2002). A framework
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for evaluating computer supported
/02/best_online_resources_for_web_confer
collaborative learning. Educational
encing_live_elearning_realtime_collaboratio
Technology & Society, 5(1).
n_and_live_presentation_tools.htm
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Canali De Rossi, Luigi (2003b). Best New /ewing.html
Tools For Web Conferencing and Live
Hurst, D. and Thomas, J. (2004). Developing
Collaboration. Robin Good Blog, Sept. 3.
team skills and accomplishing team
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projects online. In Terry Anderson and Fathi
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Elloumi (Eds.) Theory and Practice of Online
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Learning. e-Book, University of Athabasca.
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Collaboration Technologies. Robin Good .html
Blog, January 21.
Institute for the Future (2005).
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Technologies of Cooperation. Institute for
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January 2005.
Canali De Rossi, Luigi (2004b). http://www.rheingold.com/cooperation/Tec
Collaboration Technologies Empower the hnology_of_cooperation.pdf
Enterprise. Robin Good Blog, June 5.
Kaplan, Soren (2002). Building
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Communities--Strategies for Collaborative
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Learning. Learning Circuits, August 2002.
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Robin Good Blog, June 22.
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Environments. Educational Technology &
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Society, 5(1).
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Clapp, Matthew (2004). Collaboration First, /kreijns.html
Then Knowledge Management. CMS Watch,
Munkvold, Bjorn (Ed.) (2003). Implementing
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collaboration technologies in industry: case
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examples and lessons learned. London:
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(2005). CyberSession: A New Proposition
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?id=84&article=40&mode=pdf

Do not reproduce 73

Communications Tools
Related terms
Computer mediated communication,
messaging, telephony, telepresence, VoIP
Description
The use of various online communications
technologies such as instant messaging,
discussion forums, chat, VoIP, whiteboards,
and e-mail has become part of the “new
learning landscape.”
Laurillard argues that learning can be seen
as a series of teacher-learner conversations
at multiple levels of abstraction. Her
influential Conversational Framework theory
(Laurillard, 1993) has been used as the
basis of course design in a number of
educational settings. The theory
distinguishes between the level of
description where the teacher describes a
concept then hears it back from the
student, and the level of action where the
teacher sets out a task and the student
responds with a specific performance of
that task. For Laurillard, teaching involves
both levels and the interaction between
them. For example, Hegarty et al. (2000)
use Laurillard’s work to design a course
using seven different teaching-learning
activities that involve a combination of
discussion and tasks:
> Delivery – student reception of
conceptual materials
> Discussion of concepts – all interaction
with the teacher and feedback on
assessments
> Task goals – performance to achieve,
including criteria for assessments
> Interaction with the world – practice in
the real world, labs, and computer
simulations
> Reflection – on performance to enrich
concepts
> Adaptation – of concepts to improve
performance
> Collaboration – among students
Many forms of communication are made
possible by the computer, ranging from
74
simple text-based instant messages to live
videoconferencing. These tools can add to
the conversational aspects of teaching.
Selected Examples
In Buckinghamshire, UK, students send text
messages to their teachers using cell
phones and receive helpful messages in
return, a process referred to as “text
mentoring.”
http://goldenswamp.com/2006/06/13/tex
t-mentoring-is-here-or-at-least-at-
buckinghamshire/
AcademicTalk is a tool used for synchronous
collaborative argumentation. It is being
developed into a transportable, re-usable,
and adaptable tool that can be used in a
range of educational contexts to realize
structured, and yet tailored and flexible,
pedagogical approaches to dialogical
learning.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/deletacademictalk.ht
ml
The Learning Place in Queensland, Australia
is a Web site for creating e-mail, instant
messaging, discussion groups, blogs, and
videoconferencing in an educational
context:
http://eq.janison.com.au/eq/default.asp
AMANDA is an intelligent system for
threaded discussion, developed in Brazil.
See research on how well AMANDA works:
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=4312
If a cell phone has a Web browser, the user
can send a query to the Google Short
Message Service (SMS) and receive an
answer on via phone.
http://www.google.com/sms/
Create instant online discussion spaces with
Conversate. The discussions are also RSS
enabled to syndicate the content.
http://www.conversate.org/
Online Resources
Teresa A. D’Eca in Portugal maintains a
fantastic list of Web resources on all
aspects of learning online, including
communications tools. Find her work at:
http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/webheads/
online-learning-environments.htm#Teaching
© Brandon Hall Research
The eLearning Centre in the UK maintains
an extensive list of instant messaging, chat,
and telephony tools.
http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/vendors/chat.
htm
The eLearning Centre also maintains a list
resources on using instant messaging and
chat in education and another Web page on
the educational use of e-mail.
> http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resource
s/im.htm
> http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resource
s/usingoutlook.htm
A huge list of software for setting up and
maintaining discussion forums has been
compiled by David Wooley. He also has an
extensive list on hosting services:
http://www.thinkofit.com/webconf/hostsite
s.htm
WWWTools for Education has gathered
dozens of resources for online
communications in education.
http://m.fasfind.com/wwwtools/m/2645.cf
m?x=0&rid=2645
The Department of Education and Skills in
the UK has an article online on the safe use
of e-mail within schools.
http://safety.ngfl.gov.uk/schools/document
.php3?D=d54
Bibliography
Childs, Mark (2004). Computer Mediated
Communication. CAP e-Guide, University of
Warwick.
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/cap/r
esources/pubs/eguides/cmc/
Eisenstadt, M., Komzak, J. and Cerri, S.
(2005). Peer Conversations for e-Learning
in the Grid. Paper presented at the ELeGI
Conference.
http://ewic.bcs.org/conferences/2005/1st
elegi/session1/paper6.pdf
Eleuterio, M. and Bortolozzi, F. (2004).
AMANDA: an intelligent system for
mediating threaded discussions.
International Journal on E-Learning, July-
Sept. 2004, 13-20.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=4312
Do not reproduce
Garner, I., Francis, J. and Wales, J. (2002).
An Evaluation of the Implementation of a
Short Message System (SMS) to Support
Undergraduate Student Learning.
Proceedings of the European Workshop on
Mobile and Contextual Learning, (Mlearn
2002), University of Birmingham, UK, June,
20-21.
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(2000). Staff development in information
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Kadirire, James (2005). The short message
service (SMS) for schools/conferences.
Recent Research Developments in Learning
Technologies (2005)
http://www.formatex.org/micte2005/4.pdf
LaCroix, Pattie (2005). Developing a
successful e-mail campaign.
CharityVillage.com Library, Jan. 31, 2005
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rmed35.html
Laurik, Sven (2002). E-Learning 1.0: Using
HTML Email to Deliver High-Impact Episodic
Training. Learning Circuits, Aug. 19, 2002.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2002/aug2
002/elearn.html
Laurillard, Diana (1993). Rethinking
University Teaching: a framework for the
effective use of educational technology.
London: Routledge.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415
256798/ref=pd_rvi_gw_2/002-9253176-
3276022?ie=UTF8
McGreal, R. and Elliott, M. (2004).
Technologies of Online Learning. In Terry
Anderson and Fathi Elloumi (Eds.) Theory
and Practice of Online Learning. e-Book,
University of Athabasca.
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Morgan, Nick (2002). The Eleven
Commandments for controlling your e-mail.
Working Knowledge Newsletter, September
23, 2002.
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=3103
&t=technology
75
 Stone, A. and Briggs, J. (2002). ITZ GD 2
TXT – How To Use SMS Effectively in M-
Learning. Proceedings of the European
Workshop on Mobile and Contextual
Learning (MLEARN 2002). June, 20-21,
2002.
http://dircweb.king.ac.uk/papers/Stone_A.
2002_412104/stone_briggs_post_peer_re
view.doc

76 © Brandon Hall Research


Competency Tracking
Software
Related terms
Competencies, competency-based training,
performance appraisal, skills inventory,
skills verification, talent management
Description
According to Sanders (2001), a competency
“is an area of knowledge or skill that is
critical for producing key outputs.” Many
training departments track employee
performance by breaking tasks into required
competencies and then testing for each
one. Organizations and individuals can have
identifiable competencies (Cooper, 2000).
The idea of measuring and tracking
competencies in the workplace is a legacy
of the command and control experience of
World War II and became an important
management focus after the war ended.
Known in the early days as the “quality
movement,” it started in 1950 with Dr. W.
Edwards Deming, who developed modern
quality control methods for Japanese
industries. In 1973, David McClelland, a
Harvard psychologist, advocated using
competencies rather than IQ as criteria in
hiring.
Competency tracking involves developing a
competency model, entering defined
competencies into a matrix, and then having
a mechanism to check off when
competencies are achieved. Wagner (2000)
defines a competency model as “a
collection of related descriptions of the
knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviors of
an excellent performer.”
Competency tracking allows a system to
build an inventory of skills, which can be
used to identify gaps in competencies and
recommend the necessary steps for
remedial action. Competency tracking and
gap analysis are features of more advanced
learning management systems (for
examples of LMSs that do this, see below)
and performance or talent management
systems.
The major problem with competency
tracking is that there is no uniform or
Do not reproduce
coordinate system for skills verification nor
methods for tracking competencies.
Competency-based systems can also be
overly elaborate and bureaucratic and
unresponsive to changing workplaces
(Parkin, 2005).
The main benefits of a competency-based
system are that employees have a clear set
of objectives and expectations for job
performance, hiring and appraisal systems
are more fair and open, organizational and
personal goals are tied together, and work
processes are measurable and
standardized across organizational and
geographical boundaries.
Selected Examples
The IMS Global Learning Consortium has
developed a Reusable Definition of
Competency or Educational Objective
(RDCEO). Download the documentation on
this definition at:
http://www.imsproject.org/competencies/in
dex.html
The IMS definition of a competency was
developed as the IEEE Competency
Definition Standard. Rigorous application of
this competency definition in Singapore
resulted in a Competency Definition
Information Model with the following
elements:
> Identifier
> Title
> Description
> Definition
> Metadata
For more on this model, go to:
www.itsc.org.sg/events/lstc_seminar_Oct04
/Competencies.pdf
CanDo is an open source student
competency tracking system. CanDo is built
on the SchoolTool platform. SchoolTool is a
project to develop a common global school
administration infrastructure freely available
under an Open Source license.
https://launchpad.net/products/cando
Physicians need to be able to gather data,
diagnose symptoms, and carry out proper
procedures. For a large list of competencies
for physicians, see the competencies
77
 matrices from the Physician Assistant
Department at the University of Western
Michigan.
http://www.wmich.edu/paprog/clin_events.
htm
Many companies have their own
competency models. For example, the Carr
Performance Group uses these headings to
describe each competency: purpose,
objectives, activities, measurement, and
development interventions. Read their white
paper at:
http://www.cpgvision.com/article16.html
For a comprehensive list of the
competencies needed to be an e-learning
professional, see the 2001 article by Ethan
Sanders at:
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2001/mar2
001/competencies.html
The U.S. Departments of Labor and
Education formed the Secretary's
Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills
(SCANS) to study the kinds of competencies
and skills that workers must have to
succeed in today's workplace. See the list of
competencies at:
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/m
ethods/assment/as7scans.htm
Learning Management Systems with
Competency Tracking
A number of learning management systems
have built-in modules for tracking
competencies and tying verification of a
competency to an assessment engine.
Learning management systems that have
this functionality include the following (Full
disclosure: I work for Operitel Corp., the
company that develops the LearnFlex LMS):
Desire2Learn (D2L) Learning Management
System.
http://www.desire2learn.com/
IBM Workplace Collaborative Learning
Management System
http://www-
128.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/library
/lms-iwcl/
LearnFlex Learning Management System
http://www.learnflex.com
Oracle Learning Management System
http://www.oracle.com/applications/huma
n_resources/learning.html
78
SyberWorks LMS – Competency
Management Module
http://www.syberworks.com/skillsman.htm
Online Resources
HRSG, a Canadian company, has a
Comprehensive Competencies Dictionary
that lists “41 competencies included in this
dictionary are required of most employees,
regardless of industry or sector.”
http://www.hrsg.ca/index.php?sctn=4&ctgr
y=55#1
Bibliography
Bersin, Josh (2006). Competency-Based
Learning: The Resurrection of a Classical
Approach. Chief Learning Officer, April.
http://www.clomedia.com/content/templat
es/clo_article.asp?articleid=1320&zoneid=
187
Bloom, Benjamin (1956). Taxonomy of
Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The
Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0582
280109/104-7132080-
0775136?v=glance&n=283155
Boyatzis, R.E. (1982). The competent
manager: a model for effective
performance. London: Wiley.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471
09031X/sr=8-
1/qid=1156366415/ref=sr_1_1/104-
7132080-0775136?ie=UTF8
Cooper, Ken (2000). Effective Competency
Modeling and Reporting: a step-by-step
guide for improving individual and
organizational performance. New York:
AMACOM.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0814
405487/sr=1-
1/qid=1156366446/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-
7132080-0775136?ie=UTF8&s=books
Dev, Sudipta (2005). Building a skills
inventory. Express Computer, April 25,
2005.
http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20
050425/technologylife01.shtml
Hogg, Clare (2005). Competency and
competency frameworks. Factsheet
published online by the Chartered Institute
of Personnel and Development.
http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/perfmangm
© Brandon Hall Research
t/competnces/comptfrmwk.htm?IsSrchRes 809886/sr=1-
=1 1/qid=1156366692/ref=sr_1_1/104-
7132080-0775136?ie=UTF8&s=books
Incomes Data Services. (2001).
Competency Frameworks. Study 706. Wagner, Ellen (2000). Emerging technology
London: IDS. trends in e-learning. LineZine: Learning in
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0846 the New Economy, Fall 2000.
452448/sr=1- http://www.linezine.com/2.1/features/ewet
5/qid=1156366474/ref=sr_1_5/104- te.htm
7132080-0775136?ie=UTF8&s=books
Whiddett, S. and Hollyforde, S. (2003). A
McClelland, David. (1973). Testing for practical guide to competencies: how to
competence rather than intelligence. enhance individual and organisational
American Psychologist, v.28, pp. 1-14. performance. 2nd ed. London: Chartered
Institute of Personnel and Development.
Miller, L., Rankin, N. and Neathy, F. (2001).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1843
Competency frameworks in UK
980126/sr=1-
organisations: key issues in employers’ use
3/qid=1156366723/ref=sr_1_3/104-
of competencies. London: Chartered
7132080-0775136?ie=UTF8&s=books
Institute of Personnel and Development.
http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/perfmangm Woodill, Gary (2004). Courses vs
t/competnces/comptfrmwk.htm Competencies: a comparative analysis.
White paper from Operitel Corporation.
Parkin, Godfrey (2005). Competency based
http://www.operitel.com
learning management. Parkin’s Lot, April
30, 2005. Woodill, G. and Cahorn, P. (2005). Tracking
http://parkinslot.blogspot.com/2005/04/c Comptencies and Developing Skills
ompetency-based-learning- Inventories with LearnFlex™. White paper,
management.html Operitel Corporation.
http://www.operitel.com/Lists/Publications
Radsma, Johanna. (1999). Competency-
/DispForm.aspx?ID=15&Source=http%3A%
based Initiatives and their Users: an
2F%2Fwww%2Eoperitel%2Ecom%2FLists%2
exploration of competency modeling from
FPublications%2FAllItems%2Easpx
the perspective of employees and their
supervisors in three Canadian Zwell, Michael. (2000). Creating a Culture of
organizations. Master's thesis, University of Competence. New York: John Wiley.
Toronto. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2 350745/sr=1-
/dsk1/tape10/PQDD_0021/MQ45867.pdf 1/qid=1156366788/ref=sr_1_1/104-
7132080-0775136?ie=UTF8&s=books
Rankin, N. (2004). The new prescription for
performance: the eleventh competency
benchmarking survey. Competency &
Emotional Intelligence Benchmarking
Supplement 2004/2005. London: IRS.
Rankin, N. and Epstein, P. (2001). The IRS
handbook on competencies: law and
practice. London: IRS.
Sanders, Ethan (2001). E-Learning
Competencies. Learning Circuits, March
2001.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2001/mar2
001/competencies.html
Sternberg, R. and Grigorenko, E. (Eds.)
(2003). The Psychology of Abilities,
Competencies, and Expertise. Cambridge,
UK: Cambridge University Press.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521

Do not reproduce 79

Content Management
Systems
Related terms
Learning content management systems,
LCMS, Learning objects, Repositories, Topic
maps
Description
Computer-based content management
systems (CMS) that develop, manage, and
deliver content via the Internet have been
available for quite a long time. Learning
management systems (LMS) organize the
administration of learning activities, such as
registering users, displaying a course
catalogue, launching courses, and reporting.
With the advent of learning objects, it
seemed a natural fit to put CMS and LMS
systems together. This hybrid has been
called learning content management
systems (LCMS), which are mainly
distinguished from learning management
systems by having built-in authoring
systems and repositories for learning
objects.
I feel that closed, stand-alone learning
content management systems (LCMS) will
disappear over the next few years. These
systems usually contain a proprietary
authoring system that builds “courses” by
stringing together “learning objects” stored
in a central database. Sold on the basis of
being “easy to use,” such self-contained
systems have been described as being, in
fact, too complex and are likely to fail for
several reasons. First, simply linking a group
of de-contextual-ized objects into a course
based on “gaps” in knowledge is poor
instructional design because learning is a
flow activity, not one based on memorizing
discrete “chunks of knowledge.”
As well, there is usually a trade-off for “easy-
of-use” in that it is often accompanied by an
inability to produce complex and original
learning experiences. But perhaps most
important is the fact that the emerging
product design in e-learning is moving away
from the LCMS model to the management
of diverse and widely distributed
educational content using “mashups,” Web
80
services (see Woodill and Oliveira, 2006),
and “topic maps.”
Imagine the early years in the development
of railroads. If you could afford it, you could
hire a company to build a private, non-
standard gauge railway line and have the
rolling stock and engines specially built to
run on it. Or you could build a railway line
that connected to the standard gauge grid
that was being laid down everywhere and
buy your rolling stock from the same factory
as everyone else. As more and more
railroaders built standard gauge lines and
connected them, the matrix of lines became
a continent-wide grid, and railway cars (like
packets) could be sent anywhere on the
network. Today, the standardized railway
system still works while private, non-
standard gauge lines have mostly
disappeared or now serve as tourist
attractions.
Ed Cohen (2005) comments that “learning
content management systems (LCMSs) are
akin to the Swiss Army Knife, whereas
enterprise content management (ECM)
systems are analogous to the corresponding
industrial-strength solution. Both are
excellent tools if applied to the right
business challenge.
Unfortunately, to date, most LCMS vendors
have failed to recognize this fact. They have
designed competitive, rather than
complementary, functionality to an ECM,
suggesting that companies use the “handy
tool” to perform “industrial strength” tasks.
This is a major reason why few companies
have deployed an LCMS.” He adds that
“vendors such as Macromedia, Microsoft
and Trivantis offer authoring tools far
superior to any authoring tools contained
within an LCMS.”
Selected Examples
ATutor is an open source content manage-
ment system that has been especially
designed for accessibility and adaptability.
http://www.atutor.ca/
Drupal is an open source content manage-
ment system. According to its official Web
site, “Drupal can support a variety of Web
sites ranging from personal Weblogs to
large community-driven Web sites.”
http://drupal.org/
© Brandon Hall Research
Plone is a user-friendly content manage-
ment system with strong multilingual
support.
http://plone.org/
Sakai is an open source learning content
management system designed by a
consortium of universities.
http://sakaiproject.org/
AuthorIT is a CMS that allows publishing in
multiple formats from one source. It allows
training and e-learning providers to author
once, reuse in many places, and publish to
multiple outputs.
http://www.author-it.com/
Topic maps are an alternative to the present
day LCMSs. They map the distribution of
resources on a topic as it is spread across a
network.
> http://www.topicmap.com
> http://www.topicmaps.org
Online Resources
Compare the features of up to ten different
content management systems with the CMS
Matrix.
http://www.cmsmatrix.org/
The e-Learning Centre in the UK has three
different Web pages to learn about content
management systems and learning content
management systems.
http://www.e-learningcentre.co.uk
Bibliography
Bonk, Curtis (2005). The So Sad and Silly
State of the CMS. TravelinEdMan blog, Dec.
18, 2005.
http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/2005/1
2/so-sad-and-silly-state-of-cms.html
Cisco Corp. (2004). Integrating Rich Media
Communications with Learning and Content
Management Systems. San Jose, Cisco
Corporation White Paper.
http://www.cisco.com/global/EMEA/ciscoit
atwork/pdf/Integrating_Rich_Media_White_
Paper.pdf
Cohen, Ed. (2005). Strategies for managing
scalable content. Chief Learning Officer
Magazine, March 2005.
http://www.clomedia.com/content/templat
es/clo_article.asp?articleid=881&
Do not reproduce
Leslie, Scott (2005). “Monoliths,” APIs and
Extensibility – a presentation on the past
and future directions of CMS. EdTechPost
blog, June 9, 2005.
http://www.edtechpost.ca/mt/archive/000
689.html
McGee, P., Jafari, A. and Carmean, C. (Eds.)
(2005). Course Management Systems for
Learning: beyond accidental pedagogy.
Hershey, PA: Idea Group.
McGovern, Gerry (2003). Why content
management software hasn’t worked. New
Thinking Blog, March 3, 2003.
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2003/n
t_2003_03_03_cms.htm
Siemens, George (2003). Content
Management: our organized future.
elearnspace blog, January 23, 2003.
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/conte
ntmanagement.htm
Simon, B., Retalis, S. and Brantner, S.
(2003). Building Interoperability among
Learning Content Management Systems.
Proceedings of the 12th World Wide Web
Conference. Budapest, 2003.
http://www.softlab.ntua.gr/~retal/papers/c
onferences/www2003/Interoperability_post
er.pdf
Weigel, Van (2005). From Course
Management to Curricular Capabilities: a
capabilities approach for the next-
generation CMS. Educause Review, 40(3),
May/June, 2005.
http://www.educause.edu/apps/er/erm05/
erm0533.asp
Woodill, G. and Oliveira, C. (2006).
Mashups, SOAP and Services: welcome to
Web hybrid e-learning applications.
Learning Solutions, May 15, 2006.
http://www.operitel.com/publications.aspx
81

Data Mining
Related Terms
Adaptive software, knowledge discovery,
personalization
Description
Data mining is a set of techniques and
methodologies designed to extract useful
knowledge from large amounts of data and
to reveal patterns and relationships in large
and complex data sets (De Veaux, 2000;
Luan and Willett, 2001).
De Veaux (2000) lists five data mining
models:
> Descriptions
> Classifications
> Regressions
> Clustering
> Associations
Some data mining techniques touch on
more than one model. As data mining tools
and techniques evolve, more sophisticated
knowledge can be gleaned. This emerging
field is also known as knowledge discovery
in databases (KDD).
How can data mining be used in e-learning?
Monk (2005) provides an example of trying
to understand learner behavior in taking an
online course:
The initial investigation aimed to examine
the paths learners followed…However, it
quickly became clear that students were
spending little time with the course
materials online and the time spent with
each page was usually less than 20
seconds. Consequently, a better
understanding of how learners accessed the
electronic course materials was needed to
evaluate the effectiveness of developing
and delivering courses in this way. By
combining data on the activity with content
with user profiles it was possible to exam-
ine alternate information per-spectives and
reveal patterns in large volume data sets.
Mining data in this way provides ways to
learn about learners in order to make
effective decisions regard-ing teaching
82
methods, delivery models and infrastructure
investment.
Data mining can be used to map patterns
and answer questions about group behavior
that allow educational and training
organizations to predict and plan for the
future. Ueno (2004) lists the following as
unique functions of data or text mining in e-
learning:
> Summarization of learners’ knowledge
states
> Summarization of learners’ learning
processes
> Summarization of learners’ discussion
processes
> Prediction of learner’s knowledge states
in the future
> Detection of the learners who need
teacher’s help
> Analyses of e-learning contents
> Analysis of each learner’s
characteristics in discussion
Pahl (2004) has a different but overlapping
list of the functions of data mining in
education and training:
> Usage Statistics – see what parts of the
e-learning application are used
> Classification and Prediction – see
where learners fall in preset categories
> Clustering – pattern recognition and
grouping
> Association rules – interesting
relationships
> Sequential patterns – order of events
> Time Series – variance of patterns and
rules over time
The major concerns with data mining in
education revolve around issues of privacy.
Selected Examples
Reel Two and GeneEd have launched a
powerful new text-mining tool for life
sciences research. The Gene Ontology
Knowledge Discovery System (GO KDS) is
the first application designed to classify
unstructured documents according to the
widely used Gene Ontology. GO KDS has
© Brandon Hall Research
classified the full set of more than 12
million MEDLINE documents classified
against the Gene Ontology terms.
http://www.reeltwo.com/index.php?page=n
ews&article=2002100101
TADA-Ed (Tool for Advanced Data Analysis in
Education) is a data mining platform
dedicated to teachers, allowing them to
visualize and mine students' online exercise
work with the aim of discovering
pedagogically relevant patterns. Data stored
in a database often needs some
transformation. TADA-Ed contains pre-
processing facilities so that users can
transform the database tables to a format
that, when used with a particular data
mining algorithm, can generate meaningful
results for the teacher.
http://imej.wfu.edu/articles/2005/1/03/in
dex.asp
Icosystem creates customized tools that
replicate the detailed behavior of real
systems whose complexity pushes them
beyond the reach of traditional analytical
approaches.
http://www.icosystem.com/
Hammouda and Kamel (2006) have written
a chapter in a new book that presents an
innovative approach for performing data
mining on documents, which serves as a
basis for knowledge extraction in e-learning
environments.
http://pami.uwaterloo.ca/pub/hammouda/
hammouda-elearning.pdf
SmartTutor is an innovative online learning
platform for deploying e-courses. One of the
functionalities that differentiates
SmartTutor from other online learning
platforms is that, by applying fuzzy logic,
rule-based inferencing and data mining
technologies, SmartTutor can identify the
weaknesses of a learner in an e-course and
advise the learner on how to make efficient
revisions.
http://www.soul.hkuspace.org/home/eng/p
roducts/product_profile/smart.pdf
Excalibur is a deep search engine that
organizes the Web into millions of
categories and then uses a data mining
approach to find information. RetrievalWare
is a knowledge discovery engine for
unstructured data. Both products are from
Do not reproduce
Convera.
http://www.convera.com/
Online Resources
The KDnuggets Web site lists resources for
data mining, knowledge discovery, text
mining, and Web mining.
http://www.kdnuggets.com
Dr Kalina Yacef is an Educational Data
Mining Specialist at the University of
Sydney, Australia. See a list of her research
in this area at:
http://www.cs.usyd.edu.au/%7Ekalina/inde
x.html
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De Veaux, R. (2000). Data Mining: What’s
New, What’s Not. Presentation at the Data
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http://www.amstat-
online.org/sections/qp/qpr/QPRC2001/invi
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Fayyad, U., Piatetsky, G. and Smyth, P.
(1996). From Data Mining to Knowledge
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Freitas, Alex (2002). Data Mining and
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Hammouda, K. and Kamel, M. (2006). Data
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E-Learning Networked Environments and
Architectures: A Knowledge Processing
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hammouda-elearning.pdf
Iskander, Robert (2002). Data mining: a
great opportunity for schools. School
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Jantke, K., Lange, S., Grieser, G., Grigoriev,
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student data captured from a Web-based
tutoring tool: initial exploration and results.
Journal of Interactive Learning Research,
15(4), 319-346.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=6569
Merceron, A. and K. Yacef (2005). TADA-Ed
for Educational Data Mining. Interactive
Multimedia Electronic Journal of Computer-
Enhanced Learning, 7(1).

84 © Brandon Hall Research


Decision Support
Software
Related Terms
Artificial intelligence
Description
In education and training we make choices
all the time, such as deciding which
resources to deploy in a given situation.
New software has recently emerged to help
us make such decisions. The software is
also useful in teaching about decision-
making processes. For example, in their
case study of medical education, Frize and
Frasson (2000) point out that teaching
decision making processes can be
supported using decision support tools.
Decision-support systems include the
following:
> Scoring systems (to add up weighted
scores to guide decision making)
> Bayesian models (recommendations
based on probabilities)
> Heuristic reasoning (expert systems
based on empirical rules-of-thumb)
> Case-based reasoning (looking at the
evidence for a decision)
> Artificial neural networks (using parallel
processing to work through a mass of
data)
> Cognitive agents (artificial intelligence
routines that “think” about decisions)
> Intelligent tutoring (watching for
patterns and errors, and recommending
remedial action)
According to Bahlis (2004), the using
decision support software in corporate
training can have the following benefits for a
business:
> Align Training with Organizational Goals
> Improve Human Performance
> Reduce Time to Competency
> Select the Right Blend of Delivery
Options
> Consider Internal vs. External Solutions
Do not reproduce
> Duplicate Programs That Run Effectively
Selected Examples
GrassGro is a commercial computer
software package developed by the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organisation (CSIRO), which
provides predictive outcomes (both
biological and economic) for agricultural
systems in a wide diversity of environments.
GrassGro is being used at the University of
New England to explore interactions within
grazed ecosystems over time.
http://www.une.edu.au/dss/grassgro/index
.html
Decisionarium is a site for interactive multi-
criteria decision support, with tools for
individual decision making and for group
collaboration and negotiation. It has been
used for e-learning content in negotiation
analysis.
http://www.decisionarium.tkk.fi/
BNH Expert Software is a Canadian
company that produces decision support
software for e-learning.
http://www.bnhexpertsoft.com/
Facilitate.com is a Web site featuring online
collaboration software for decision making.
The activities supported are 1) brainstorm,
2) categorize, 3) vote/prior-itize, 4) develop
an action plan, 5) carry out a survey, and 6)
document results.
http://www.facilitate.com/
Which Book asks you to make a set of
choices based on up to four criteria. The
software then recommends books that you
might like to read.
http://www.whichbook.net/index.jsp
The Joint Gains software has been
successfully applied as an interactive
training tool in the e-learning of negotiation
analysis.
http://www.sal.hut.fi/Publications/pdf-
files/mkos.pdf
The Adaptive Technology Resource Centre
at the University of Toronto has an online
Decision Support Tool.
http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/research/deci
sion_support_tool/index.html
Meetingworks for Windows is a local area
network (LAN) based group decision support
system (GDSS) used when decision makers
85
 are located in different places and have
incompatible schedules.
http://www.meetingworks.com/index.html
Online Resources
DSS Resources is a Web site devoted to all
aspects of decision support systems. For
newsletters, books, and information on this
area, see:
http://www.dssresources.com/
The Open Directory Project lists over 30
companies under “Decisions Support
Tools.”
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Data
bases/Data_Warehousing/Decision_Suppor
t_Tools/
Bibliography
Bahlis, Jay (2004). From Classroom to
Boardroom: six strategies to maximize
impact of training budgets and resources.
White paper from BNH Expert Software.
http://www.bnhexpertsoft.com/english/pro
ducts/advent/classroomtoboardroom.pdf
Chakrabarty, Kankana (2005). Decision
analysis under uncertainty for e-learning
environment. UniServe Science Blended
Learning Symposium Proceedings.
http://science.uniserve.edu.au/pubs/procs
/wshop10/2005Chakrabarty.pdf
Ehtamo, H., Hamalainen, R. and Koskinen,
V. (2004). An e-learning approach for
teaching mathematical models of
negotiation analysis. Online manuscript.
http://www.sal.hut.fi/Publications/pdf-
files/mkos.pdf
Frize, M. and Frasson, C. (2000). Decision-
support and intelligent tutoring systems in
medical education. Clinical and
Investigative Medicine, 23(4), August.
http://www.site.uottawa.ca/~frize/victoriap
aperapril.html
Hamalainen, Raimo (2003). Decisionarium
– Aiding Decisions, Negotiating and
Collecting Opinions on the Web. Journal of
Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, 12(2-3),
101-110.
http://www.sal.hut.fi/Publications/pdf-
files/mham03.pdf
Jantke, K., Lange, S., Grieser, G., Grigoriev,
P., Thalheim, B. and Tschiedel, B. (2004).
Learning by doing and learning when doing -
86
dovetailing e-learning and decision support
with a data mining tutor. In Proceedings,
International Conference on Enterprise
Information Systems (ICEIS'2004), Porto,
Portugal, 238-241.
http://www.is.informatik.uni-
kiel.de/~thalheim/psfiles/ICEIS.2004.pdf
Jantke, K., Memmel, M., Rostanin, O.,
Thalheim, B. and Tschiedel, B. (2003).
Decision Support by Learning-On-Demand.
DSE'2003 Workshops Proceedings,
Information Systems for a Connected
Society, Aachen, Germany, 317-328.
http://damit.dfki.de/html/publikationen/DS
E03DaMiT.pdf
Knolmayer, Gerhard (2003). Decision
Support Models for Composing and
Navigating through e-Learning Objects.
Paper presented at the 36th Hawaii
International Conference on Systems
Sciences, Hawaii, Jan. 6-9.
http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu/HICSS36/HIC
SSpapers/CLNGL03.pdf
Ounapuu, Enn (2004). Decision Support
Component in Intelligent E-Learning
Systems. In Vladimir Uskov (Ed.):
Proceedings of the 7th IASTED International
Conference on Computers and Advanced
Technology in Education, August 16-18,
2004, Kauai, Hawaii, USA.
http://www.actapress.com/PaperInfo.aspx?
PaperID=17096
Ounapuu, Enn (2005). Decision Support
Systems in e-Learning. Paper presented at
the European University Information
Systems (EUNIS) Conference, Manchester,
June 20-24, 2005.
http://www.mc.manchester.ac.uk/eunis200
5/medialibrary/papers/paper_118.pdf
Power, Dan (2003). A Brief History of
Decision Support Systems. Paper by the
editor of DSS Resources Web site.
http://dssresources.com/history/dsshistory
.html
Rhyne, Theresa (1998). Collaborative
Computing & Integrated Decision Support
Tools for Scientific Visualization. SIGGRAPH
publication.
http://www.siggraph.org/education/materia
ls/HyperVis/misc_topics/nsf2.html
Scott, Jim (2002). Enhancing student
learning using decision support tools across
© Brandon Hall Research
the curriculum. CAL-laborate, Vol. 9, Oct.
2002.
http://science.uniserve.edu.au/pubs/callab
/vol9/scott.html
Shimizu, T., de Carvaho, M. and Laurindo, F.
(2006). Strategic Alignment Process and
Decision Support Systems: Theory and Case
Studies. Hershey, PA: Idea Publishing.
http://www.idea-
group.com/books/details.asp?id=5390

Do not reproduce 87

Displays
Related terms
Digital ink, digital paper, electronic paper,
head mounted displays, projectors,
monitors, whiteboards
Description
Given that a great deal of e-learning is
visual, display technologies are critical in
delivering an outstanding educational
experience online. For some applications
this means a much larger and clearer
screen. New high definition computer
displays are getting larger while the price is
decreasing. This is good news for those who
want to create highly immersive virtual
environments using extremely large
screens.
But getting larger is not the only change in
emerging display technologies. In the near
future, a whole variety of display
technologies will be available to the e-
learning practitioners, including the
following:
> Head-mounted displays
> Monitors
> Portable screens
> Projectors
> Wall displays
> Air displays
> Digital whiteboards
> Digital ink and paper
Head-mounted displays and heads-up
displays are increasingly being used in
educational simulations and games.
Screens in portable devices are becoming
clearer and less susceptible to light
pollution. Projectors can pump out images
that are over 4000x4000 pixels, lighting up
theater size screens. By stacking a second
projector, resolution can be increased to
8000x8000 pixels, big enough to be
projected on large walls.
For air displays, viewers see a floating mid-
air image or video. This can be a
holographic image,or a rear projection into a
specially treated stream of air or fog.
88
Digital whiteboards can accept input from a
number of devices, including the human
hand that which can draw or print directly
onto the whiteboard. Finally, digital ink and
paper allow for large displays of information
on flexible media. In regards to digital
paper, eSchool News suggested in 2003
that “one possibility is electronic textbooks
that can be refreshed with new content
instantly, saving schools on the cost of
textbook purchases. A common complaint
about the current generation of eBook
reader devices is they don't replicate the
experience of reading from an actual book.
Electronic paper could change that some
day.”
Selected Examples
Samsung, in cooperation with Sony, has
developed the world’s largest plasma
monitor screen (102 inches) and the largest
LCD display (an 82 inch screen).
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12
/16/samsung_monster_telly/
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03
/08/samsung_82in_lcd/
Silicon Light Machines holds a number of
patents on devices that allow for laser-
based projectors that project over a wide
area. See their Grating Light Valve (GLV)
technology on display at:
http://www.siliconlight.com/htmlpgs/home
set/homeframeset.html
IO2 Technology features its “heliodisplay”
that shows images hovering in mid-air.
http://www.io2technology.com/technology/
overview
NTERA, Inc. is the leading enabler of
electronic displays, intelligent interfaces,
and solid state optics using proprietary
electrochromic materials featuring uniquely
transparent and natural colors.
http://www.ntera.com/about.html
Promera is a hand-held computer,
still/video camera, and projector developed
at Carnegie Mellon University. It can display
and send data out through its wireless
components.
http://killer.ices.cmu.edu/design/Camera.P
rojector.html
The FogScreen is a new invention that
makes objects seem to appear and move in
© Brandon Hall Research
thin air! It is a screen you can walk through! writing surface without cluttered toolboxes:
http://www.fogscreen.com/ Shifting the focus back to content delivery.
In G. Richards (Ed.), Proceedings of the
ProVision 3D display technology shows 3-D
World Conference on E-Learning in
images that seem to jump right out of the
Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and
screen. See a demo at:
Higher Education (E-Learn 2005), pages
http://www.provisionentertainment.com/
3053-3068, Vancouver, Canada, Oct. 2005.
http://ad.informatik.uni-
Online Resources freiburg.de/mitarbeiter/khaireel/authorsCo
The Technorati Web site contains numerous py/2005-eLearn.pdf
references and links to articles on digital Wang, Tim (2005). Largest LCD and video
paper. projection. Tim Wang’s e-Learning Blog,
http://www.technorati.com/tags/digital%20 Dec. 3, 2005.
paper?start=0 http://blog.loaz.com/timwang/index.php/2
T.H.E. Journal has a list of the latest in 005/03/12/largest_lcd_and_video_projecti
advanced digital display technologies. on
http://thejournal.com/the/topics/display/
First Monday is a journal on new
technologies. In 2005, it published a special
issue on “Urban Screens,” those giant
electronic billboards that are becoming
pervasive in our society. To access the
articles, see:
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/special
11_2/
Khaireel Mohamed is a leading researcher
in the area of digital ink and paper. He is
programming computers to recognize and
interpret gestures on whiteboards made
using a digital pen. For a list of his
publications, see:
http://ad.informatik.uni-
freiburg.de/mitarbeiter/khaireel/publication
s.php

Bibliography
Advanced Display Technologies. JISC
Technology Watch White Paper.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=tec
hwatch_ic_reports2005_published
Fuchs, H., State, A., Pisano, E., Garrett, W.,
Hirota, G., Livingston, M., Whitton, M. and
Pizer, S. (1996). Towards Performing
Ultrasound-Guided Needle Biopsies from
within a Head-Mounted Display.
Proceedings of the 4th International
Conference on Visualization in Biomedical
Computing Conference, Hamburg, Germany.
London: Springer.
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?coll=GUI
DE&dl=GUIDE&id=718981
Mohamed, K. and Ottmann, T. (2005).
Controlling the electronic whiteboard’s

Do not reproduce 89

E-Portfolio Tools
Related terms
Assessment, evaluation, résumés
Description
E-portfolios are online collections of digital
works that highlight a person’s abilities and
achievements. My first report in this series,
entitled Emerging E-Learning: New
Approaches to Delivering Engaging Online
Learning Content (Brandon Hall Research,
2005), reviewed e-portfolios as an online
content format. In this report I look at the
tools available for developing e-portfolios.
Selected Examples
Angel – ePortfolio – An e-portfolio that is
meant to integrate with the Angel Learning
Management System.
http://www.angellearning.com/products/ep
ortfolio/default.html
Chalk and Wire – ePortfolio with
RubricMarker – A customizable e-portfolio
that is also compliant with Section 508
accessibility guidelines.
http://www.chalkandwire.com/eportfolio/in
dex.html
FolioTek – Portfolio Management – An
institutional based system that gives each
student his or her own portfolio.
http://www.foliotek.com/
LiveText – College LiveText Portfolio – An e-
portfolio based on a set of pre-designed
templates. Has a “visitor’s pass” that allows
prospective employers to view contents
http://college.livetext.com/college/portfolio
s.html
Nuventive – iWebfolio – A flexible, Web-
based personalized portfolio in a hosted
environment.
http://www.iwebfolio.com/
PebblePad – PebblePad ePortfolio – An e-
portfolio that is designed for advanced
functionality, maximum flexibility, and
simple usability. Based on a personal
development planning (PDP) model.
http://www.pebblelearning.co.uk/
90
Penchina Web Design – Pupil Pages – An
ePortfolio designed for students K-12.
http://www.pupilpages.com/
ISLE stands for Individualised Support for
Learning through ePortfolios. This con-
sortium of ten educational institutions in the
UK has agreed to recognize work in portfolio
format from any member.
http://isle.paisley.ac.uk/default.htm
The Open Source Portfolio Initiative (OSPI) is
a community of individuals and
organizations collaborating on the
development of a non-proprietary, open
source electronic portfolio.
http://www.osportfolio.org/
Online Resources
The e-Learning Centre in the UK maintains a
resource site with materials on e-portfolios.
http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/ep
ortfolios.htm
Educause, a nonprofit organization devoted
to e-learning research, has posted a list of
Online Resources on e-portfolios.
http://www.educause.edu/E%2DPortfolios/
5524
The 2004 article on e-portfolios by George
Siemens has an extensive list of online
materials on this topic.
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/eportf
olios.htm
IMS, the global consortium that sets
standards for e-learning, has an “E-Portfolio
Best Practice and Implement-ation Guide”
available for download.
http://www.imsglobal.org/ep/epv1p0/imse
p_bestv1p0.html
EPICC is a European e-learning project for
producing specifications for the
interoperability of electronic portfolios (e-
portfolios) and, thus, helping to transform
education and training.
http://www2.educa.ch/dyn/9.asp?url=129
063%2Ehtm
eP4LL stands for “ePortfolio for Lifelong
Learning.” This project in the UK has the
goal of producing a reference model of an e-
portfolio that is capable of exchanging data
with another e-portfolio.
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/epreference
model/
© Brandon Hall Research
Scott Wilson has an interesting concept of
an e-portfolio based on content from various
Web feeds.
http://connect.educause.edu/blog/nils_pet
erson/eportfolio_with_foaf_and_atom_proof
_of_concept/1511
The Collaborative Learning Environments
Sourcebook, an online resource on
collaboration, has a section on e-portfolios,
with many links.
http://www.criticalmethods.org/collab/v.mv
?d=1_76
Bibliography
Achrazoglou, J., (2002). A white paper on
performance assessment in teacher
education: The Iowa ePortfolio model.
University of Iowa, College of Education
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000
6S3GSE/103-2496940-
8161425?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&
v=glance
Attwell, Graham (2005). Recognizing
Learning: educational and pedagogic issues
in e-portfolios. Online Paper.
http://elgg.net/gattwell/files/486/1465/ep
ortfoliopaper.doc
Banks, Bob (2004). e-Portfolios: their use
and benefits. FD Learning White Paper.
http://ferl.becta.org.uk/content_files/ferl/r
esources/organisations/fd%20learning/e-
portfoliopaper.pdf
Batson, Trent (2002). The Electronic
Portfolio Boom: What's it All About? Campus
Technology Magazine, Dec.
http://www.campus-
technology.com/article.asp?id=6984
Cohn, E. and Hibbitts, B. (2004). Beyond the
Electronic Portfolio: A Lifetime Personal Web
Space. Educause Quarterly, Vol 27 No 4,
2004
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQ
M0441.pdf
Conway, Frederick (2005). Electronic
Portfolios and Dimensions of Learning. THE
Journal Online, March.
http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault
/A5260.cfm
Dubinsky, J., (2003). Creating new views on
learning: ePortfolios. (Focus on Teaching),
Business Communication Quarterly.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/d
Do not reproduce
etail/-
/B0008411NS/qid=1131423591/sr=1-
1/ref=sr_1_1/103-2496940-
8161425?v=glance&s=books
Gathercoal, P., Love, D., Bryde, B. and
McKean, G. (2002). On implementing Web-
based electronic portfolios. Educause
Quarterly, 37(2).
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eq
m0224.pdf
Greenberg, Gary (2004). The digital
convergence: extending the portfolio model.
Educause Review, vol. 39, no. 4, July/
August 2004, 28–37.
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/er
m0441.pdf
Lorenzo, G. and Ittelson, J. (2005). An
Overview of e-Portfolios. An Educause
Learning Initiative Paper. Online.
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI
3001.pdf#search=%22An%20Overview%20
of%20e-Portfolios%22
Roberts, G., Aalderink, W., Cook, J., Feijen,
M., Harvey, J., Lee, S., and Wade, V. (2005).
Reflective learning, future thinking: digital
repositories, e-portfolios, informal learning
and ubiquitous computing. Paper presented
at the ALT/SURF/ILTA1 Spring Conference
Research Seminar, Trinity College, Dublin,
April 1, 2005.
http://www.alt.ac.uk/docs/ALT_SURF_ILTA_
white_paper_2005.pdf#search=%22Reflect
ive%20learning%2C%20future%20thinking
%3A%20digital%20repositories%22
Siemens, George (2004). ePortfolios.
elearnspace, Dec. 16.
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/eportf
olios.htm
Tosh, D. and Werdmuller, B. (2004).
Creation of a Learning Landscape:
Weblogging and social networking in the
context of e-portfolios. Online paper.
http://www.eradc.org/papers/Learning_lan
dscape.pdf#search=%22Creation%20of%2
0a%20Learning%20Landscape%3A%20web
logging%20and%20social%20networking%2
0in%20the%20context%20of%20e-
portfolios%22
Tosh, D., Light, T., Fleming, K., and
Haywood, J. (2005). engagement with
electronic portfolios: challenges from the
student perspective. Canadian Journal of
Learning and Technology, 31(3), Fall.
91
 http://www.cjlt.ca/content/vol31.3/tosh.ht
ml
Young, C.A., & Figgins, M.A. (2002). The Q-
Folio in action: Using a Web-based
electronic portfolio to reinvent traditional
notions of inquiry, research, and portfolios.
Contemporary Issues in Technology and
Teacher Education, 2(2), 144-169.
http://www.citejournal.org/vol2/iss2/englis
h/article1.cfm

92 © Brandon Hall Research


Gaming Development
Tools
Related terms
Immersive environments, games, serious
games, simulations, virtual reality
Description
Learning through playing games (also
known as “serious games”) is one of the
hottest areas of emerging e-learning. Online
gaming and role-playing games are
expected to take in more than $3 billion in
2007. Major learning management
platforms have added simulation or gaming
extensions that will allow them to launch
games and track results. Educational games
and simulations now appear on cell phones,
and traditional educational publishers have
announced gaming initiatives for their
higher education markets.
The theory of educational games is
developing as the Game Achievement
Model (GAM), which is an attempt to provide
a framework to understand the
relationships between story, play, and
learning (Amory, 2003). Dr. Constance
Steinkuehler, from the University of
Wisconsin, has found that massive multi-
player online games are “sites for socially
and materially distributed cognition,
complex problem solving, identity work,
individual and collaborative learning across
multiple multimedia, multimodality
'attentional spaces' and rich meaning-
making and, as such, ought to be part of the
educational research agenda” (quoted in
Godwin-Jones, 2005).
One interesting phenomenon is “modding”
– modifying existing game engines to create
new educational games. Marc Prensky
(2003), writing about “first person shooter
games,” says that “in the mod world,
‘shooter’ should not necessarily be taken as
a negative: the Shell players shot fire-
fighting foam, the BT players shot ideas out
of their cell phones. Making such changes is
part of what modding is about.”
Do not reproduce
Selected Examples
The latest trend in online games involves 3-
D virtual social environments where each
player is represented by a changeable
avatar and where the “play” of the game
depends on the direction the collectivity
wants to take. Examples include Hive7,
Cyworld, MySpace, Facebook, and Second
Life. Try them out at:
> http://www.hive7.com
> http://us.cyworld.com/
> http://www.myspace.com/
> http://www.facebook.com/
> http://www.secondlife.com
Freescale Semiconductor produces
CodeWarrior Game Development Tools for
both Sony and Nintendo game platforms.
http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site
/homepage.jsp?nodeId=0127268507
Microsoft has released a set of game
development tools for the Xbox video game
console. For a brief review of these tools,
see:
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+developer
+tools+prep+for+next+Xbox/2100-1043_3-
5603082.html
Clickteam in the UK offers its Games
Factory software that promises the ability to
produce a credible game in less than a half
hour. There is a free 30-day trial version.
http://www.clickteam.com
Thinking Worlds is an educational games
authoring engine. This game allows users to
play, edit, create, and even share games
with other members of the Thinking Worlds
community. Thinking Worlds is based on
well researched and proven learning
principles and has already been used to
develop highly engaging games in many
subject areas.
http://www.thinkingworlds.com/
In 2005, Microsoft announced a version of
Visual Studio for producing computer
games. The toolset, dubbed XNA Studio,
allows members of a game development
team to work together, helping speed up the
game creation process.
http://www.microsoft.com/xna/
Softimage, a subsidiary of Avid
Technologies, has game development tools
93
 for the Xbox. You can read about them at
Pluginz.com or go directly to the Softimage
Web site.
> http://www.pluginz.com/news/548
> http://www.softimage.com/solutions/g
ames/default.aspx
Magnetar Games Corporation is a research-
oriented software developer based in
Vancouver, Canada. Magnetar provides
authoring systems that allow even a non-
programmer to become more involved in the
game playing experience.
http://www.magnetargames.com/
Muzzy Lane Software develops multi-player
games for education that come with
authoring tools. See the selection of games
at:
http://www.muzzylane.com/
Thiagi, Inc. produces educational games for
training. Many of their learning games
resources are free. Some of their games are
played by simply using e-mail. For example,
see how to play the e-mail game Depolarizer
by finding the “Free Resources” at:
http://thiagi.com
The North American Simulation and Gaming
Association (NASAGA) is a growing network
of professionals working on the design,
implementation, and evaluation of games
and simulations to improve learning results
in all types of organizations. Started in North
America, NASAGA has members from more
than 50 countries from around the globe.
http://www.nasaga.org/?14@33.mpjgaBKQ
dAe.0@
Online Resources
The ACM SIGGRAPH Web site lists suppliers
of over 50 different game engines, along
with their Web sites. Review them at:
http://esub.siggraph.org/cgi-
bin/cgi/idCatResults.html&CategoryID=23
Rod Corbett at the University of Calgary has
posted a page entitled “Cool Development
Tools for Developing Games and
Simulations (mostly freeware).”
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~corbett/gamers/t
ools.htm
Beverly Farrell of the University of Georgia
maintains a massive list of resources on
educational games.
http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Games_Reso
94
urces.html#Games-
_Gaming_for_Education_
The Education Arcade is a Web site
managed by a partnership of MIT and the
University of Wisconsin to publicize research
and development projects that drive
innovation in educational computer and
video games. Get the latest information in
this field from:
http://educationarcade.org/
The Serious Games Initiative is the place for
tracking the latest developments in the field
of educational gaming. They also hold an
annual Game Developers Conference.
http://www.seriousgames.org/index2.html
The Serious Games Summit is another
annual conference that brings together
educational and business games
developers.
http://www.seriousgamessummit.com/
The DigiPlay site is a place to keep up with
the latest in online gaming for education.
http://www.digiplay.org.uk/index2.php
The former Game Technology Conference is
now called FuturePlay. It presents sessions
on emerging trends in game development.
Sign up at:
http://www.futureplay.org/
The Game Developers Conference is held
each year and brings together developers,
researchers, and speakers on all aspects of
gaming.
http://www.gdconf.com
Programmers Heaven devotes a section of
its Web site to game development for
various platforms and lists of game
development tools.
http://www.programmersheaven.com/zone
8/index.htm
Dr. Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen at the IT
University of Copenhagen has written many
articles in English and Danish on “serious
games,” Find his list of publications at:
http://www.it-c.dk/people/sen/public.htm
Dr. Constance Steinkuehler is a specialist in
the cognitive effects of being involved in
“massively multi-player games.” Read her
research at:
http://website.education.wisc.edu/steinkue
hler/
© Brandon Hall Research
Bibliography
Amory, Alan (2003). Another Country: Virtual
Learning Spaces. Paper presented at ED-
Media 2003 Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii,
June 25-28, 2003.
http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ited/amory/edmedi
a2003.pdf
Bergeron, Bryan (2006). Developing Serious
Games. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar
Learning.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1584
504447/sr=8-
2/qid=1145998935/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-
3215669-7528032?%5Fencoding=UTF8
Chen, S. and Michael, D. (2005). Proof of
Learning: assessment in serious games.
Gamasutra, Oct. 19, 2005.
http://www.uwf.edu/atc/web_casts/games
/Gamasutra%20-%20Feature%20-
%20_Proof%20of%20Learning_%20Assess
ment%20in%20Serious%20Games_.pdf
Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Simon (2005). Beyond
Edutainment: Exploring the Educational
Potential of Computer Games. IT-University
Copenhagen.
http://www.it-
c.dk/people/sen/egenfeldt.pdf
Godwin-Jones, Bob (2005). Emerging
Technologies: Messaging, Gaming, Peer-to-
Peer Sharing: Language Learning Strategies
& Tools for the Millennial Generation.
Language Learning and Technology, 9(1),
Jan. 2005, 17-22.
http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num1/pdf/emerging
.pdf
Guetl, C., Dreher, H., Williams, R. and
Maurer, H. (2005). Game-based E-Learning
Applications by applying the E-Tester: A Tool
for Auto-generated Questions and
Automatic Answer Assessment. Paper
presented at the ED-Media 2005
Conference, June, Montreal.
http://www.iicm.edu/iicm_papers/Gameba
sedLearning_ED-MEDIA2005.pdf
Michael, D. and Chen, S. (2005). Serious
Games: Games That Educate, Train, and
Inform. Boston: Thomson Course
Technology PTR.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592
006221/ref=pd_bxgy_img_a/002-
3215669-7528032?%5Fencoding=UTF8
Do not reproduce
For an online excerpt, see:
http://www.uwf.edu/atc/web_casts/games
/Gamasutra%20-%20Feature%20-
%20_Proof%20of%20Learning_%20Assess
ment%20in%20Serious%20Games_.pdf
Prensky, Marc (2003). “Modding” – The
Newest Authoring Tool. Learning on
Demand Bulletin, SRI-BI, Fourth Quarter,
2003.
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prens
ky%20-%20Modding%20-
%20The%20Newest%20Authoring%20Tool.
pdf
Reynolds, Rob (2006a). Technology Trends
for the Year. Xplanazine, January 2, 2006.
http://www.xplanazine.com/archives/2006
/01/technology_tren.php
Reynolds, Rob (2006b). Games and
Education = Oil and Water. Xplanazine,
March 10, 2006.
http://www.xplanazine.com/archives/2006
/03/games_and_educa.php
Rieber, Lloyd (2005). Multimedia learning in
games, simulations and microworlds. In
Richard E. Mayer (Ed.) The Cambridge
Handbook of Multimedia Learning. Chapter
33. New York: Cambridge University Press,
549-567.
http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/ca
talogue.asp?isbn=0521547512
Steinkuehler, Constance (2005). Cognition
and Learning in Massively Multiplayer
Online Games: a critical approach. Doctoral
dissertation, University of Wisconsin -
Madison.
http://website.education.wisc.edu/steinkue
hler/papers/Steinkuehler_0.pdf
Swamy, N. and Swamy, N. (2006). Basic
Game Design & Creation for Fun &
Learning. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar
Learning.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1584
504463/sr=8-
1/qid=1145999026/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-
3215669-7528032?%5Fencoding=UTF8
Tan, J., Beers, C., Gupta, R. and Biswas, G.
(2005). Computer Games as Intelligent
Learning Environments: A River Ecosystem
Adventure. Paper presented at the Artificial
Intelligence in Education (AIED) Conference,
2005.
http://jason.teachableagents.org/publicatio
ns/RiverAdventureAIED2005Handouts.pdf
95
 Tye, Jason (2004). Methods and
Considerations in Designing Web-based
Real-Time Strategy Games. Masters Thesis,
Michigan State University, 2004.
http://woz.commtechlab.msu.edu/courses/
theses/mudcraft/thesis.pdf

96 © Brandon Hall Research


Gesture and Facial
Recognition
Related terms
Affective computing, artificial intelligence,
haptics, robotics
Description
We all use gestures and facial expressions
to communicate. Gesture and facial
recognition technologies refer to a combin-
ation of computer hardware and software
that can sense and understand a user’s
gestures and facial expressions. A system’s
recognition of the user’s actions and inten-
tions becomes another form of communic-
ation between computers and humans.
The end goal of using this technology is to
create a system that can identify a gesture
or facial expression and then use that
information to personalize the interaction or
to control a particular device attached to the
system. The same techniques can be used
to automatically scan and index video,
looking for particular sequences. Artificial
intelligence techniques, such as Markov
models, play an important role in gesture
and facial expression recognition.
Recognizable learner gestures can include
the following:
> Cursor movement
> Single-lick
> Double-click
> Rollovers
> Drag and drop
> Click and place
> Keyboard response
> Voice command
> Drawing with a stylus
> Iris tracking
> Head pointers (mainly used for persons
with a physical disability)
The major educational purpose of gesture
recognition is to enable the computer to
have a better model of the user in order to
respond more appropriately. Advances in
Do not reproduce
this area will have a major impact on the
effective use of artificial intelligence,
affective computing, and robotics in e-
learning.
Selected Examples
The Institute for Neural Computation –
Machine Perception Lab, at the University of
California, is investigating “how the brain
works by developing embodied systems that
solve problems similar to those
encountered by the brain.”
http://mplab.ucsd.edu/
Online Resources
The 7th International Conference on
Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition,
FG2006, was held in Southampton, UK,
April 10-12 2006. For a list of papers:
http://www.fg2006.ecs.soton.ac.uk/
The 8th International Conference on
Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition,
FG2008, will be held in Amsterdam on
September 10-13, 2008.
http://www.fg2008.nl/
Charles Cohen maintains a Web site on
gesture recognition research, including
identifying commercial products.
http://www.cybernet.com/~ccohen/gesture
.html
Research by Dr. Maja Pantic of Imperial
College, London, UK is on interactive
actions and intentions for achieving
multimodal human-machine interaction:
http://mmi.tudelft.nl/~maja/
Bibliography
Allen, Michael (2003). Learner-interface
Design: recognizing learner gestures.
eLearning Developers’ Journal, Aug. 18,
2003.
http://www.elearningguild.com/pdf/2/081
803DES.pdf
Beringer, Nicole (2001). Evoking Gestures
in SmartKom − Design of the Graphical
User Interface. Ludwig-Maximilians
University, Munich, Report No. 3, March.
http://www.smartkom.org/reports/Report-
NR-03.pdf
Borghi, F., Lombardi, L., Porta, M. (2005).
Basic Hand Gesture Recognition for Human-
97
 Computer Communication. In Proceedings
of the 11th International Conference on
Human-Computer Interaction, Las Vegas,
Nevada, July 22-27.
http://www.ercim.org/publication/Ercim_Ne
ws/enw63/hci.html
Chang, Shi-Kuo (2000). Sentient Map and
Its Application to E-Learning.Twenty-Fourth
Annual International Computer Software
and Applications Conference, 2000.
http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.110
9/CMPSAC.2000.884693
Chen, Y., Gao, W. and Ma, J. (2000). Hand
gesture recognition based on decision tree.
http://www.iscslp2006.org/anthology/200
0/paper/or03/027.pdf
Corradini, A., Wesson, R. and Cohen, P.
(2002). A Map-based System Using Speech
and 3D Gestures for Pervasive Computing.
In Proceedings of the 4th IEEE International
Conference on Multimodal Interfaces
(ICMI'02), October 14-16, Pittsburg, PA,
191-196,
http://www.cse.ogi.edu/CHCC/Publications
/a_map_based_system_using_speech_3d_
gestures_corradini.pdf
Daugman, J.; (1997). Face and gesture
recognition: overview. Pattern Analysis and
Machine Intelligence, IEEE Transactions,
19(7), July 1997, 675 - 676
http://lcv.stat.fsu.edu/research/geometrica
l_
representations_of_faces/PAPERS/survey_
Daugman.pdf
Ebert, A., Deller, M. and Bender, M. (2005).
An Immersive Gesture Controlled Interface
for Virtual Document Information Spaces. In
Proceedings, Visualization, Imaging and
Image Processing 2005 Conference.
http://www.actapress.com/PaperInfo.aspx?
PaperID=21655
Ezzat, T., Geiger, G. and Poggio, T. (2004).
Trainable Videorealistic Speech Animation.
In Proceedings of the Sixth IEEE
International Conference on Automatic Face
and Gesture Recognition (FGR2004) Seoul,
Korea, 57-64.
http://cbcl.mit.edu/projects/cbcl/publicatio
ns/ps/siggraph02.pdf
Lee, C., Lee, J., Park, C. and Kim, D. (1997).
Real-time Gesture Recognition for the
Control of Avatar. Proceedings of
VRSTAC'97 Conference, 242-245.
98
http://www.research.rutgers.edu/~chansu/
paper/1997/VRSJ97_CS.pdf
Loi, M., Wong, Y. and Wong, C. (2005).
Facial Expression Analysis in E-Learning
Systems — The Problems and Feasibility.
Proceedings, Fifth IEEE International
Conference on Advanced Learning
Technologies (ICALT'05), 442-446.
http://csdl2.computer.org/persagen/DLAbs
Toc.jsp?resourcePath=/dl/proceedings/&to
c=comp/proceedings/icalt/2005/2338/00
/2338toc.xml&DOI=10.1109/ICALT.2005.1
50
Nakanishi, Y., Sato, Y. and Koike, H. (2002).
EnhancedDesk and EnhancedWall:
Augmented Desk and Wall Interfaces with
Real-Time Tracking of User’s Motion.
Proceedings of Ubicomp2002 Workshop on
Collaborations with Interactive Walls and
Tables, September 2002, 27-30.
http://interact.media.mit.edu/mas963/enh
encedwall.pdf
Ou, J., Fussell, S., Chen, X., Setlock, L. and
Yang, J. (2003). Gestural Communication
over Video Stream: Supporting Multimodal
Interaction for Remote Collaborative
Physical Tasks. Proceedings of the 5th
international conference on Multimodal
interfaces, Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada
http://cims.clayton.edu/jpreston/8530/Pap
ers%20Not%20used/p242-ou.pdf
Peixoto, P. and Carreira, J. (2005). A Natural
Hand Gesture Human Computer Interface
using Contour Signatures. In Proceedings,
Human-Computer Interaction Conference
(HCI2005).
http://www.actapress.com/PaperInfo.aspx?
PaperID=22470
Turk, Michael (2004). Computer vision in
the interface. Communications of the ACM,
47(1), January, 2004.
http://www.recveb.ucsb.edu/pdfs/5_Turk%
202004.pdf
Wilson, A.D. and Bobick, A.F (1999).
Parametric hidden Markov models for
gesture recognition. Pattern Analysis and
Machine Intelligence, IEEE Transactions,
21(9), Sept. 1999, 884 – 900.
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?coll=GUI
DE&dl=GUIDE&id=317049
Yang, C., Lai, S. and Chang, L. (2004).
Robust face image matching under
© Brandon Hall Research
illumination variations. Journal on Applied
Signal Processing, 2004:16, 2533–2543.
http://www.hindawi.com/GetPDF.aspx?pii=
S1110865704410014

Do not reproduce 99

Graphics Tools
Related terms
Design, visualization
Description
The visual dimension of software
information is important for a number of
reasons. Consider the topics and sub-topics
in the first ten pages of William Horton's
Illustrating Computer Documentation
(1991):
Why Graphics Make Documentation Work
Better
> Graphics aid job performance
> Graphics help documents go global
> Graphics reach nonreaders
> Graphics seduce reluctant readers
> Graphics add credibility
> Graphics aid thinking
> Graphics promote more efficient
reading
> Graphics can explain visual and spatial
concepts
Why Graphics Work
> Vision is our dominant sense
> Graphics are compact
> Graphics escape the limitations of
linear text
> Graphics are readily understood
> Graphics are remembered
> Graphics are self-correcting
While Horton's 1991 book is about
enhancing documentation and help
systems, the same principles apply to user
interface design. Horton applied these in his
2000 book, Designing Web-Based Training,
and in his recent 2006 book, e-Learning By
Design.
Selected Examples
There are many graphical design tools on
the market. Following are the ones most
commonly used:
100
Adobe Corporation has been a leader in
graphics tools in multimedia for the past 20
years. In acquiring Macromedia, Adobe has
strengthened its position in the e-learning
world, given that the majority of online
developers use Macromedia and Adobe
tools. Following is a list of the major
graphics software packages from Adobe:
> Adobe Fireworks
> Adobe Flash
> Adobe FreeHand
> Adobe Illustrator
> Adobe InDesign
> Adobe Photoshop
http://www.adobe.com
Advanced Visual Systems GSharp
http://www.avs.com/software/soft_t/gshar
p.html
Autodesk AutoSketch
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/inde
x?id=2753027&siteID=123112
AutoTrol – Technical illustration tool
http://www.tech-
illustrator.com/TechIllustrator.html
Blender - Blender is the open source
software for 3-D modeling, animation,
rendering, post-production, interactive
creation, and playback. Download a copy:
http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Home.2.0.h
tml
Broderbund Printmaster
http://www.broderbund.com/
Canvas Professional
http://www.acdamerica.com/products-x/
Corel Corporation is a distant second in the
graphics tools space in terms of market
share. Nevertheless, they provide a very
competent set of tools for the lower priced
end of the market:
> Corel Draw
> Corel Painter
> Corel PaintShop Pro
> Corel Photopaint
> Corel Picture Publisher
http://www.corel.com/
© Brandon Hall Research
IBM CATIA
http://www-
306.ibm.com/software/applications/plm/c
atiav5/
ITEDO IsoDraw – technical illustration
http://www.itedo.com/E/1335.php
Microsoft graphics software applications are
used by many e-learning developers. The
most commonly used packages are the
following:
> Microsoft Image Composer
> Microsoft Paint
> Microsoft PowerPoint
> Microsoft Visio
> Microsoft Word Drawing Tool
http://www.microsoft.com
SmartDraw
http://www.smartdraw.com/exp/ste/home/
Xara Xtreme – open source graphics
software
http://www.xaraxtreme.org/
Online Resources
By now there are hundreds of 2-D and 3-D
software tools on the market. One of the
best sites to locate reviews and ratings of 3-
D software is 3DLinks.com.
http://www.3dlinks.com/index.cfm
The e-Learning Centre in the UK has a
comprehensive listing of graphics and
animation tools.
http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/vendors/grap
hics.htm
Several thousand graphics tools are listed
by Google Directory. The most listings are
for 3-D software.
http://www.google.com/Top/Computers/So
ftware/Graphics/
The ACM SIGGRAPH Industry Directory lists
thousands of graphics companies offering a
huge variety of 2-D and 3-D services and
products.
http://esub.siggraph.org/cgi-
bin/cgi/idCatList.html&CategoryID=1
The Virtuality Web site in the UK lists both 3-
D editors and tools and 3-D models.
Do not reproduce
> http://virtuality3d.co.uk/index.php?p=d
ir&viewCat=9
> http://virtuality3d.co.uk/index.php?p=d
ir&viewCat=7
Bibliography
Horton, William (1991). Illustrating
Computer Documentation: The Art of
Presenting Information Graphically on
Paper and Online . NY: John Wiley.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471
538450/qid=1152417819/sr=1-
7/ref=sr_1_7/104-9851151-
1919955?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
Horton, William (2000). Designing Web-
Based Training. New York: John Wiley.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471
35614X/sr=8-
1/qid=1154298806/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-
2921152-9837507?ie=UTF8
Horton, William (2006). e-Learning by
Design. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0787
984256/sr=1-
5/qid=1154298858/ref=sr_1_5/104-
2921152-9837507?ie=UTF8&s=books
Hwang, Fu-Kwan (2004). Online Physics
Forum with Integrated Web Editor -
Integrating Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG).
In P. Kommers & G. Richards (Eds.),
Proceedings, ED-Media Conference.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=12808
Neuman, A. (2005). The Use of SVG and
ECMASCRIPT Technology for E-Learning
Purposes. ISPRS Workshop Commissions
VI/1 – VI/2, Tools and Techniques for E-
Learning, Potsdam, Germany, June 1-3.
http://www.carto.net/papers/svg/articles/p
aper_use_of_svg_and_ecmascript_for_elear
ning_isprs_workshop_potsdam_2005.pdf
McConnell, Gloria (2004). Tools Usage
Survey Results. Report by the Society for
Technical Communication (STC), Pheonix.
http://www.stc-
phoenix.com/ToolsSurveyResults04.pdf
Qiu, X., Pallickara, S. and Uyar, A. (2004).
Making SVG a Web Service in a Message-
based MVC Architecture. Paper presented
at the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
Conference, Tokyo, Japan · Sept 7-10.
http://grids.ucs.indiana.edu/ptliupages/pu
101
 blications/MakingSVGaWebServiceinaMess
ageBasedMVCArchitecture_final.pdf
Tufte, Edward (1990). Envisioning
Information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961
392118/sr=8-
4/qid=1152418193/ref=sr_1_4/104-
9851151-1919955?ie=UTF8
Tufte, Edward (1997). Visual Explanations :
Images and Quantities, Evidence and
Narrative . Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961
392126/sr=8-
3/qid=1152418193/ref=sr_1_3/104-
9851151-1919955?ie=UTF8
Tufte, Edward (2001). The Visual Display of
Quantitative Information. 2nd Ed. Cheshire,
CT: Graphics Press.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961
392142/sr=8-
1/qid=1152418193/ref=sr_1_1/104-
9851151-1919955?ie=UTF8
Wirth, Frances (2004). The Tech Writer’s
Essential Toolkit. STC. Carolina Chapter.
http://www.stc.org/51stConf/sessionMateri
al/dataShow.asp?ID=167

102 © Brandon Hall Research


Haptics
Related terms
Force feedback, touch
Description
Haptics involves transmitting information
through the sense of touch or force feed-
back. Haptic devices and interfaces are
generally used with 3-D virtual environ-
ments to give a sense of realism to the
action taking place within the virtual world.
Haptic devices come in many forms,
including pens, gloves, joysticks/ joypads,
and force-feedback mice. Technology has
advanced to the point that the sense of
touch and force can be experienced in real
time over a network.
There are distinct subcategories in the field
of haptics, including the following:
> Proprioceptive (general sensory
information about the body)
> Vestibular (the perception of head
motion)
> Kinaesthetic (the feeling of motion in
the body)
> Cutaneous (sensory information from
the skin)
> Tactile (the sense of pressure
experienced through the skin)
Touch is one of the most important sensa-
tions for growth and learning, especially
when training motor skills and physical
relationships. Haptic devices can also be
used to provide feedback from hands-on
models or simulators and to try out proced-
ures at a nanotechnology level, such as
docking two molecules to see if they fit
together.
Finally, active object manipulation is more
engaging than passively watching
something happen on a screen. When used
approp-riately, haptics helps make e-
learning more relevant to the learner, who
becomes directly involved in experiencing
something.
Do not reproduce
Selected Examples
The “Museum of Pure Form” is a virtual
reality system where the user can interact
through the senses of touch and sight with
digital models of 3-D art forms and
sculptures.
> http://www-
percro.sssup.it/projects/pureform.html
> http://www.pureform.org/
Using the CANARIE advanced high-speed
network CA*net 4, a “surgeon” in Canberra
was able to teach a “medical trainee” in
Montreal the different steps to a gall
bladder extraction. Read the press release
at:
http://www.mpb-
technologies.ca/mpbt/haptics/hand_contro
llers/freedom/f6_news_touching.html
“Force Dimension's haptic force feedback
devices - in conjunction with a scanning
probe microscope - now allow the
nanotechnology and nanoscience
community not only to look at atoms and
molecules but even to touch them.”
http://www.forcedimension.com/fd/avs/ho
me/
Handshake proSENSE™ 2.0 Virtual Touch
Toolbox for Control Systems - Create
networkable force feedback programs using
drag-and-drop program blocks.
http://www.handshakeinteractive.com/secti
on/view/?fnode=24
The project "HAPtic sensing of virtual
TEXtiles" (HAPTEX). HAPTEX is a research
project on multimodal perception of textiles
in the virtual environment.
http://haptex.miralab.unige.ch/
SenseGraphics is a company that
specializes in open source development of
haptics and graphics software.
http://www.sensegraphics.se/index.html
SensAble Technologies develops haptic
devices that make it possible for users to
touch and manipulate virtual objects.
http://www.sensable.com/products/phanto
m_ghost/phantom.asp
Body-based devices include gloves, suits,
and exoskeletal devices can be obtained
from Immersion Corporation.
http://www.immersion.com/
103
 Online Resources
The Robotics Group of the University of Pisa
maintains a list of publications on the
“fundamentals of haptics.”
http://www.piaggio.ccii.unipi.it/newrobotics
/robpublications/Keyword/FUNDAMENTALS
-OF-HAPTICS.html
Haptics-e is an online journal on haptics
research.
http://www.haptics-e.org/
Haptics-L is the “electronic mailing list for
the international haptics community.”
http://www.roblesdelatorre.com/gabriel/ha
pticsl/
The International Society for Haptics is a
new, professional, not-for-profit group that
brings together researchers interested in
haptics.
http://www.isfh.org/
The World Haptics Conference was last held
in Pisa, Italy in March, 2005. Find a list of
papers on haptics at:
http://www.informatik.uni-
trier.de/~ley/db/conf/haptics/whc2005.ht
ml
Bibliography
HAPTEX Project (2005). Specification of the
Whole Haptic Interface. Deliverable D4.1.
Report delivered January 15, 2005.
http://haptex.miralab.unige.ch/public/HAPT
EX-D4.1_release-public.pdf
Hespanha, J., McLaughlin, M. and
Sukhatume, G. (2002). Touch in Virtual
Environments: Haptics and the Design of
Interactive Systems. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
http://www.phptr.com/title/0130650978
Inoue, M., Matsubara, Y., Iwane, N.,
Nakamura, M. and Ichitsubo, M. (2005). VR-
Based Dynamics Learning System Using
Haptic Device and Its Evaluation.
Proceedings, International Conference on
Advanced Learning Technologies
(ICALT'05), 917-921.
http://csdl2.computer.org/persagen/DLAbs
Toc.jsp?resourcePath=/dl/proceedings/&to
c=comp/proceedings/icalt/2005/2338/00
/2338toc.xml&DOI=10.1109/ICALT.2005.3
06
104
Kushner, David (2003). Reality bytes. New
York Times (Online), July 31, 2003.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/
30/1059480393138.html
Levesque, Vincent (2005). Blindness,
Technology and Haptics. Research report,
Haptics Laboratory, Centre for Intelligent
Machines, McGill University.
http://www.cim.mcgill.ca/~haptic/pub/VL-
CIM-TR-05.pdf
McLaughlin, M. L., Sukhatme, G., Shahabi,
C., Medioni, G., and Jaskowiak, J. (2000).
The Haptic Museum. Proceedings, Electro-
nic Imaging and the Visual Arts Conference
http://infolab.usc.edu/DocsDemos/eva200
0.pdf
Ó hAnluain, Daithí (2003). Reaching through
the net to touch. Wired News, July 3, 2003.
http://www.matr.net/article-7304.html
O’Malley, M. and Hughes, S. (2003).
Simplified Authoring of 3D Haptic Content
for the World Wide Web. Proceedings of the
11th Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for
Virtual Environment and Teleoperator
Systems (HAPTICS’03).
http://csdl.computer.org/comp/proceeding
s/haptics/2003/1890/00/18900428.pdf
O’Modhrain, M.S. and Essl, G. (2004).
PebbleBox and CrumbleBag: Tactile
Interfaces for Granular Synthesis. Paper
presented at the 3rd international
conference on new interfaces for musical
expression. 3-5 June 2004. Japan.
http://web.media.mit.edu/~sile/palpable/N
IME04-grain-revised2.pdf
O’Modhrain, M.S. and Gillespie, R.B. (1997).
The Moose: A Haptic User Interface for Blind
Persons. Proceedings of the Third WWW6
Conference, Santa Clara, CA, April.
http://www.ra.ethz.ch/CDstore/www6/Acce
ss/ACC239.html
Ross, S., Donnelly, M., Dobreva, M., Abbott,
D., McHugh, A. and Rusbridge, A. (2005).
Core Technologies for the Cultural and
Scientific Heritage Sector. Chapter on
Haptics. DigiCULT Technology Watch Report
3.
http://www.digicult.info/downloads/TWR3-
lowres.pdf
Rowell, Laurie (2004). Haptics: cybertouch
and how we feel about it. Prentice Hall
online article, Oct. 22, 2004.
© Brandon Hall Research
http://www.informit.com/articles/printerfrie
ndly.asp?p=345621
Sakano, Y., Kaneko, H., & Uchikawa, K.
(2001). The effect of haptic learning on the
integration of disparity and perspective for
the dynamic and static slant perception.
Journal of Vision, 1(3), 250a.
http://www.journalofvision.org/1/3/250/

Do not reproduce 105


Interface Devices
Related terms
Digital ink, digital paper, display
technologies, electronic paper, experience
computing, gesture recognition, haptics,
handwriting recognition, head mounted
displays, human-computer interaction, input
devices, projectors, monitors, tangible
computing, wearable computing,
whiteboards
Description
For humans to use a computer, they must
interact with it through an interface device.
This is the apparatus that takes human
input and digitizes it for use by computer
programs. Examples of interface devices
include the following:
> Digital ink and paper
> Foot pedals
> Gesture technologies
> Haptics devices
> Handwriting and printing recognition
> Instruments and sensors
> Joysticks and wheels
> Keyboards
> Mice
> Microphones and sound cards
> Tablet PCs
> Video cards
> Whiteboards
> Wireless technologies
Many of these technologies are covered
elsewhere in this report so will be only
mentioned briefly here. Major technological
improvements are being made in all of the
above interface devices, and some, like
digital ink and paper, are just emerging as
viable ways of connecting with a computer.
Now in the research and development
phase, flexible digital paper should become
commonplace over the next few years.
Writing will require special digital pens,
although writing using a finger or hand is
now becoming possible.
106
Having more kinds of input devices allows
for a much richer e-learning experience.
However, instructional designers will need
to learn about the various possibilities of
each device in order to incorporate them
into producing e-learning content. This
requires a move towards better training of e-
learning developers and instructional
designers to advance the quality of e-
learning experiences.
Selected Examples
Accuscript and AuthentImage are two
technologies for handwriting recognition
and authentication.
http://www.buffalo.edu/reporter/vol35/vol
35n17/articles/Accuscript.html
Sony, Philips, and digital paper pioneer E-
Ink have announced an electronic book
reader that is due to go on sale in Japan in
late April for $375 (£204). Called Librié, the
device will be the size of a paperback book
and can hold 500 texts in its onboard
memory. For a review, see:
http://www.dottocomu.com/b/archives/00
2571.html
For an explanation of E-Ink’s proprietary
technology that uses microcapsules of
positively charged white pigment and
negatively charged black pigment, see:
http://www.eink.com/technology/howitwork
s.html
Digital ink is a pen that writes on foldable
digital paper. Both technologies were
developed at Carnegie Mellon University.
> http://killer.ices.cmu.edu/design/Digita
link.html
> http://killer.ices.cmu.edu/design/Folda
bleDisplay.html
In 2005, Fujitsu announced that it had
“developed the world's first film substrate-
based bendable color electronic paper
featuring an image memory function.”
http://www.fujitsu.com/global/news/pr/arc
hives/month/2005/20050713-01.html
MIT Media Lab's I/O Brush, which "is a new
drawing tool to explore colors, textures, and
movements found in everyday materials by
'picking up' and drawing with them."
http://web.media.mit.edu/~kimiko/iobrush
/
© Brandon Hall Research
Logitech has developed the io2 Digital
Writing System, consisting of a pen and a
charger. This device allows handwritten
notes to be downloaded to a computer via a
USB interface.
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/product
s/features/digitalwriting/US/EN
Imagine writing mathematical equations on
a whiteboard and having them solved in
front of your eyes. The “Weapons of Maths
Construction” project at the University of
Swansea in Wales can do just that.
http://www.cs.swan.ac.uk/calculators/
On their “Experience Computing” Web site,
Sony Corporation demonstrates five
futuristic ways of interacting with a
computer. These methods are 1) touch, 2)
roll, 3) throw, 4) bend, and 5) build.
http://www.sony.net/Fun/SonyDesign/200
3/home.html
Samsung's new SCH-S310 mobile phone is
equipped with motion-recognition
capabilities. Users can dial by waving the
phone to write the number in the air in-
stead of pressing a keypad and to erase
items by shaking the phone up and down.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/
afp_asiapacific_business/view/126978/1/.
html
Smart Technologies makes a series of
interactive whiteboards.
http://www.smarttech.com/
Microsoft Corporation has developed a
footpad computer interface.
http://www.lifehacker.com/software/gadge
ts/microsoft-prototypes-footpad-computer-
interface-157916.php
Wacom Technology Corporation is a supplier
of graphics tablets and pens. Although this
technology has been around for a few years,
it is constantly being improved and updated.
http://www.wacom.com
Online Resources
The National Clearinghouse for Educational
Facilities (NCEF) has a resource list of links,
books and journal articles on the
educational uses of interactive whiteboards.
http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/interactive_w
hiteboards.cfm
The Education Network Australia has a Web
page of links to articles on interactive
Do not reproduce
whiteboards.
http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/page4588.h
tml
The e-Learning Centre in the UK maintains a
list of resources on using electronic
whiteboards.
http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/wh
iteboards.htm
The Wireless Directory Web site lists
Bluetooth products and services and
provides extensive information on this
wireless format.
http://www.thewirelessdirectory.com/Bluet
ooth-Overview/Bluetooth-Training.htm
Graphics Interface is the oldest continuously
scheduled conference in the field. GI
consistently attracts high-quality papers
from around the world on recent advances
in interactive systems, human computer
interaction, and graphic.
http://www.cs.usask.ca/~gutwin/gi/
Becta is a UK agency that supports
education departments in UK in their use of
computers. The agency has a comparison
page of different brands of interactive
whiteboards.
http://whiteboards.becta.org.uk/
The Community Learning Resource Web site
supports adult and community learning. The
site contains reviews of interactive
whiteboards and tablet technologies.
http://www.aclearn.net/display.cfm?page=
961
The Hertfordshire Grid for Learning gives
teachers many resources on the proper use
of interactive whiteboards. See their advice
and resources at:
http://www.thegrid.org.uk/learning/ict/man
aging/resources/whiteboards.shtml
PC Tablet Developer is an online serial that
publishes all types of material on tablet
computer use.
http://www.devx.com/TabletPC/Door/2030
1
Over the years, Wired Magazine has
published a number of articles on digital ink
and digital paper. Following are three such
articles:
> http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5
.05/ff_digitalink_pr.html
107
 > http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8
.08/epapers.html
> http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9
.04/anoto.html
Anoto is a digital pen and ink company in
Sweden. Read all about their award winning
technology at:
http://www.anoto.com/
Microsoft’s Tablet PC, with its use of digital
ink, is described in a 2002 press release.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/featu
res/2002/oct02/10-29tabletinking.mspx
Bibliography
Cogill, Julie (2002). How is the Interactive
Whiteboard being used in the primary
school and how does this affect teachers
and teaching? Research report, King’s
College, University of London.
http://www.virtuallearning.org.uk/whiteboar
ds/IFS_Interactive_whiteboards_in_the_pri
mary_school.pdf
Cross, Michael (2005). Chalk one up to the
whiteboard. Guardian Unlimited, Oct. 6,
2005.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/elearning/
story/0,10577,1585516,00.html
eSchool News. (2003). New ultra-thin
screen could lead to electronic paper.
eSchool News Online, June 1, 2003.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showst
ory.cfm?ArticleID=4436
Knight, Will (2004). The most flexible paper
yet revealed. NewScientist Magazine
(Online), Jan. 26, 2004.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=
dn4602
Mohamed, K., Haag, S., Peltason, J., Dal-RI,
F. and Ottmann, T. (2006). Disoriented Pen-
Gestures for Identifying Users around the
Tabletop without Cameras and Motion
Sensors. In Proceedings of the First IEEE
International Workshop on Horizontal
Interactive Human-Computer Systems,
Adelaide, Australia, Jan. 2006.
http://ad.informatik.uni-
freiburg.de/mitarbeiter/khaireel/authorsCo
py/2006-tabletop.pdf
Mohamed, K. and Ottmann, T. (2005).
Controlling the electronic whiteboard’s
writing surface without cluttered toolboxes:
Shifting the focus back to content delivery.
108
In G. Richards (Ed.), Proceedings of E-Learn
2005, Vancouver.
http://ad.informatik.uni-
freiburg.de/mitarbeiter/khaireel/authorsCo
py/2005-eLearn.pdf
Otsuki, Y., Bandoh, H., Kato, N., Indurkhya,
B. and Nakagawa, M. (2004). Educational
software employing group competition using
an interactive electronic whiteboard. Journal
of Interactive Learning Research, 15(3),
257-269.
http://dl.aace.org/16321
Read, J. C. (2005). The Usability of Digital
Ink Technologies for Children and
Teenagers. HCI2005. Edinburgh, Scotland,
Springer.
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/facs/destech/com
pute/staff/read/Publish/ChiCi/references/t
he_usability_of_digital_ink.pdf
Revell, Phil (2004). Whiteboards are doing
the chalking. Guardian Unlimited, January 6,
2004.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/elearning/
story/0,10577,1116483,00.html
Wong, Nicole (2006). Going beyond the
alphabet: keyboard pad frees user from
Western model. The Mercury News, Fri. April
7, 2006.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercury
news/business/technology/14286388.htm
Zeichick, Alan (2004). Why the Pen and
Digital Ink Will Change Mainstream
Computing. Tablet PC Developer, December
22, 2004.
http://www.devx.com/TabletPC/Article/266
67
© Brandon Hall Research

Learning Management
Systems
Related terms
Campus portals, Content management,
Course Management Systems (CMS), e-
learning portals, Learning Content
Management Systems (LCMS), learning
integration
Description
Learning management systems (LMS) – the
term used in North America – and Managed
Learning Environments (MLE) or Virtual
Learning Environments (VLE) – terms used
in Great Britain – are not “emerging
technologies” per se, as this category of
software has been around for about ten
years. But there are a number of
innovations in LMSs and VLEs that
distinguish an “ordinary” system from one
that is more advanced.
There have been several “generations” of
learning management systems:
> 1st Generation LMS – Stand-alone
application running on a single
computer with or without timesharing
terminals
> 2nd Generation LMS – Web-based
application with client-server
architecture
> 3rd Generation LMS – Web-based
application with N-tier architecture
(separation of application into
components and independent layers of
functioning)
> 4th Generation LMS – Web-based
application with distributed content that
uses Web services and service oriented
architecture (SOA)
There is considerable debate in the e-
learning field as to whether or not LMSs
have a future (Farmer, 2005), while others
worry that the current model of LMSs has
become entrenched to the point of
inhibiting innovation. Morrison (2004)
contends “that because key decisions and
investments are already being (or have
been) made, the widespread adoption by
institutions of the current generation of
Do not reproduce
MLE/VLEs is in danger of creating a de facto
global e-learning monoculture.” Others are
developing new views of what a learning
management system can become, and
there are a number of significant
innovations in 4th generation learning
managements systems. Innovations include
the following:
> Adaptability/Personalization
> Artificial Intelligence/Intelligent Tutoring
> Automatic generation of motivational
messages
> Move from managing presentations and
testing to learner control, conversation,
and collaboration
> Use of 2-D and 3-D Virtual
environments
> Service Oriented Architecture -
integration with other enterprise
systems, especially human
resources/“talent management”
systems
Feldstein (2005) suggests that the next-
generation of learning management
systems should have the following
characteristics:
> LMSs should provide a framework that
makes it as easy as possible for
programmers with different skill levels
in different programming languages to
build and integrate learning tools to
serve specialized teaching and learning
needs.
> Whenever possible, the technology
standards implemented by the
framework should be general rather
than education-specific to encourage
the re-use of relevant groupware
applications not originally designed for
e-learning purposes.
> Part of what the framework should
provide is a set of user interface
primitives, thus reducing the usability
challenge of mixing applications that
were designed by different groups of
people. But those primitives should be
inheritable by applications with as little
specific programmer effort as possible
(i.e., they should mostly come along
automatically when the developer
chooses to use the framework).
109
 > Another part of what the framework
should provide is strong and flexible
groups, roles, and permissions
structures to be used by the various
learning applications.
> The roles, groups, and permissions
framework should also provide the
capability of a user-centric view in which
users can get roll-up views of data in
applications that they use across
several different groups (e.g., the
combined calendar dates in several
courses plus club and campus events).
These ideas have gelled into a concept
called the learning management operating
system (LMOS), which has the following
aims:
> For students, more control over their
own data
> For faculty, more control over the
learning environment
> For institutions, more integration with
their other campus IT systems
> For consortia, more ability to share
computing resources without sacrificing
needs of individual members
Selected Examples
Academici is a “virtual classroom”
environment with a global peer to peer
network, a search engine, a communic-ation
platform, a contact management system,
content-driven forums run by experts, and
other academic services.
http://www.academici.com
Elgg is an open source “learning land-scape
platform” that integrates a number of
learning tools and information systems. To
quote the developers, “Elgg is a personal
learning landscape with the goal of
connecting learners, instructors and
resources creating communities of
learning.”
http://elgg.net/index.php
EVE, a prototype of a new type of learning
environment that uses 3-D graphics, has the
following functionality:
> Communication Channels
> User's Representation and Awareness
using Avatars
110
> Manipulation of Users/ Objects
> Presentation Table
> Application Sharing
> Break-out session rooms
http://lttf.ieee.org/icalt2002/proceedings/
p103.pdf
An e-book by William Rice on how to use
Moodle, a leading open source learning
management system, is available as a free
download.
http://opensourceschools.org/download/M
oodle_Sample_e-book.pdf
Over 50 leading learning management
companies and their LMS systems are listed
in the Brandon Hall Research LMS
Knowledgebase (Full disclosure: I work for
Operitel Corporation, one of the LMS
vendors listed below, and Brandon Hall
Research is the publisher of this report). The
LMS companies, in alphabetical order, are:
Allen Communication Learning Services -
Allen Communication Learning Portal
http://www.allencomm.com/
Avilar Technologies Inc. - WebMentor LMS
http://www.avilar.com/
Compendium Corporation - Learn Enterprise
Learning Management System
http://www.compendiumcorp.com/
Cornerstone OnDemand Inc. - Cornerstone
OnDemand Enterprise Suite
http://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/
Element K - KnowledgeHub
http://www.elementk.com/
Frontline Data Solutions, Inc. - TrainingMine
http://www.fldata.com/
Generation21 Learning Systems -
Generation21 Enterprise
http://www.gen21.com/
GeoLearning Inc. - GeoMaestro
http://www.geolearning.com/
GeoMetrix Data Systems Inc. - Training
Partner
http://www.trainingpartner.com
Gyrus - Training Wizard MX/SST
http://www.gyrus.com/
IBM - IBM Lotus Workplace Collaborative
Learning
© Brandon Hall Research
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks.ns
f/RedpieceAbstracts/sg247254.html?Open
InfoSource Inc. - InfoSource
http://www.howtomaster.com/
Integrated Performance Systems- iPerform
http://www.ips-inc.com/
Intellinex LLC- Intellinex LMS
http://www.intellinex.com/
Interactive Solutions New Media Inc. - On-
Tracker LMS
http://www.isnewmedia.com/isnm2005/in
dex.html
IntraLearn Software Corp. - IntraLearn XE
http://www.intralearn.com/
KnowledgePlanet Inc. - KnowledgePlanet
Enterprise Learning Suite
http://www.knowledgeplanet.com/flashhom
e.asp
Learn.com - LearnCenter
http://www.learn.com
LearnSomething Inc. - Isoph Blue
http://www.learnsomething.com/
MaxIT - LearnerWeb
http://www.maxit.com/
Meridian Knowledge Solutions Inc. -
Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre
http://www.meridianksi.com/
mGen Inc. - mGen Enterprise
http://www.mgen.com/
NetDimensions - Enterprise Knowledge
Platform (EKP)
http://www.netdimensions.com/
Novasys Information Services Ltd. -
TrainingOffice Audit
http://www.novasys-corp.com/index.jsp
Operitel Corporation - LearnFlex LMS
http://www.operitel.com/overview.aspx
Oracle USA Inc. - Oracle Learning
http://www.oracle.com/applications/huma
n_resources/learning.html
OutStart Inc. - OutStart Evolution LMS
http://www.outstart.com/portal/index.jsp
PeopleSoft (Oracle) - PeopleSoft Learning
Management
http://www.oracle.com/applications/people
soft/hcm/ent/module/learning_mgmt.html
Do not reproduce
Plateau Systems - Plateau Learning
Management System
http://www.plateau.com/
Platte Canyon Multimedia Software Corp. -
Tracker.Net
http://www.vbtrain.net/trackerinfo.aspx
RISC - Virtual Training Assistant
http://www.risc-inc.com/
Saba - Saba Enterprise Learning Suite
http://www.saba.com/products/saba/learni
ng/index.htm
SAP - SAP Learning Solution
http://www.sap.com/solutions/business-
suite/erp/hcm/learningsolution/index.epx
SSA Global Technologies Inc. - SSA Learning
Management
http://www.ssaglobal.com/
SSE - SSElearn Portal
http://www.sselearn.com/
Strategia - Ed Training Platform
http://www.strategia.ca/en/default.asp
SumTotal Systems Inc. - TotalLMS
http://www.sumtotalsystems.com/
Syntrio - Syntrio Enterprise LMS
http://www.syntrio.com/
Technomedia Training Inc. - TM SIGAL
http://www.technomedia.ca/en/htm/en_00
_01_01.cfm
TEDS Inc. – TEDS
http://www.teds.com/
TeraLearn.com Inc. - TeraLearn LCMS
http://www.teralearn.com/2004/index.html
Trivantis Corporation - CourseMill LMS
http://www.trivantis.com/
TTG Systems Incorporated – TRACCESS
http://www.ttg-inc.com/
Vuepoint - Vuepoint Learning System
http://www.vuepoint.com/
WBT Systems - TopClass LMS
http://www.wbtsystems.com/
WebRaven Pty Ltd - DOTS - Dynamic Online
Training System
http://www.webraven.com
Websoft Systems Inc. – KnowledgeBridge
http://www.websoft.com/
Wizdom Systems Inc. - LMSLive
http://www.wizdom.com/
111
 Worldwide Interactive Network Inc. - The
Learning Manager
http://www.thelearningmanager.com
XStream Software Inc. - XStream
RapidShare LMS
http://www.xstreamsoftware.com/
Xtention Inc. - Xtention Learning
Management System
http://www.xtention.com/
Online Resources
Brandon Hall Research (publisher of this
report) has a section of their Web site called
“LMS Central,” where they publish extensive
documentation on learning management
systems. For LMS buyers who already have
a short list of systems, Brandon Hall
Research provides access to individual
profiles of more than 50 learn-ing
management systems. Each profile is 30 to
50 pages long and contains a re-view of the
system and detailed specifica-tions
regarding the system's features.
http://www.brandonhall.com
For a review of leading open source learning
management systems, see the recent
article in Learning Circuits, by Sam Adkins.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2005/oct2
005/adkins.htm
The Western Cooperative for Educational
Telecommunications (WCET) maintains a
Web site called EduTools. The site contains
a large number of reviews of "course
management systems."
http://www.edutools.info/static.jsp?pj=8&p
age=HOWTO#productinfo
The e-Learning Centre in the UK combines
reviews of corporate learning management
systems (LMS) and learning content
management systems (LCMS), separating
these from “educational course
management systems” and “virtual learning
environments,” and open source course and
learning content management systems.
http://www.e-learningcentre.co.uk
Teresa A. D’Eca in Portugal maintains a
fantastic list of Web resources on all
aspects of learning online:
http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/webheads/
online-learning-environments.htm#Teaching
An evaluation report on learning activities
management systems (LAMS) is available
112
from the JISC in the UK.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=elp
_lams
A detailed diagram of the future of virtual
learning systems according to Scott Wilson
is available at:
http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/scott/blo
gview?entry=20050125170206
Bibliography
Adkins, Sam (2005). Wake-Up Call: open
source LMS. Learning Circuits, October.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2005/oct2
005/adkins.htm
Bouras, C. and Tsiatsos, T. (2002). Building
educational virtual environments.
Proceedings, ICALT2002 Conference.
http://lttf.ieee.org/icalt2002/proceedings/
p103.pdf
Cohen, Ed. (2006). The Learning Horizon:
tomorrow’s technologies. Chief Learning
Officer, (Online edition), August, 2006.
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/Mediate
c/clo0806/
Colazzo, L., Molinari, A., Ronchetti, M. and
Trifonova, A. (2002). Towards a Multi-
Vendor Mobile Learning Management
System. Paper presented at the European
Workshop on Mobile Contextual Learning,
University of Birmingham, UK, June 20-21.
http://www.science.unitn.it/~foxy/docs/To
wards%20a%20multi-
vendor%20Mobile%20LMS%20(long).pdf
Dalziel, James (2003). Implementing
Learning Design: the learning activity
management system (LAMS). Paper
presented at ASCILITE 2003 Conference.
http://www.melcoe.mq.edu.au/documents/
ASCILITE2003%20Dalziel%20Final.pdf
Dillenbourg, Pierre (2000). Virtual Learning
Environments. Paper presented at the EUN
Conference 2000: learning in the new
millennium - building new education
strategies for schools. Workshop on virtual
learning environments.
http://www.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/html/m
m1010/public/d05_7.PDF
Farmer, James (2005). Un-Managing
Learning Management Systems - A possible
future for online learning. Incorporated
Subversion, Jan. 21, 2005.
http://incsub.org/blog/2005/un-
© Brandon Hall Research
manageing-learning-management-systems- almet/melbmonash/media/LMSGovernanc
a-possible-future-for-online-learning eFinalReport.pdf
Jenkins, M., Browne, T. and Walker, R.
(2005). VLE Surveys: a longitudinal
perspective between March 2001, March
2003 and March 2005 for higher education
in the United Kingdom. Report published by
UCISA.
http://www.ucisa.ac.uk/groups/tlig/vle/vle_
survey_2005.pdf
Morrison, Derek (2004). E-Learning Flexible
Frameworks and Tools: Is it too late? – the
Director's Cut. Proceedings of ALT-C, Exeter,
November 2004.
http://www.bath.ac.uk/e-
learning/Download/DM20040909.pdf
Sadeghi, J., Aavani, A., and Sharifi, M
(2005). CyberSession: a new proposition for
e-learning in collaborative virtual
environments. Proceedings, WSCG
Conference 2005, Plzen, Czech Republic,
Jan. 31-Feb. 4, 2005.
http://wscg.zcu.cz/wscg2005/Papers_200
5/Poster/J03-full.pdf
Tsinakos, Avgoustos (2004). The puzzle:
virtual learning environments - what criteria
should be present in the ideal VLE? Turkish
Online Journal of Distance Education
(TOJDE), 5(2), April.
http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde14/pdf/tsi
nakos.pdf
Ueno, Maomi (2005). Intelligent LMS with
an agent that learns from log data.
Proceedings of World Conference on E-
Learning in Corporate, Government,
Healthcare, and Higher Education 2005,
Vancouver, October 2005.
http://www.aace.org/newdl/index.cfm?fuse
action=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=216
87
Wiegel, Van (2005). From course
management to curricular capabilities: a
capabilities approach for the next
generation course management system.
Educause Review, 40(3), May-June, 2005.
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/er
m0533.pdf
Wise, L. and Quealy, J. (2006). LMS
Governance Project Report. Report for the
Melbourne- Monash Collaboration in
Educational Technologies. May 2006
http://www.infodiv.unimelb.edu.au/telars/t

Do not reproduce 113


Learning Objects and
Repositories
Related terms
Artificial intelligence, intelligent tutoring,
learning object model (LOM), learning object
repository (LOR), rapid learning, reusable
learning objects (RLOs), sharable content
objects (SCOs), SCORM.
Description
Learning objects are a unit of software that
is produced about a particular aspect of a
subject and that has educational value.
They are emulations of “software objects,” a
central concept of object-oriented
programming that provides for the
reusability of coherent pieces of code.
Beyond that, there is no agreed upon
definition of what learning objects really are.
Learning objects range from a single image
or piece of text to full Web-based units on a
specific curriculum. Learning objects are
also referred to as “reusable learning
objects” (RLOs) and “sharable content
objects” (SCOs). The acronym SCORM, a
well-known standard for learning objects,
stands for Sharable Content Object
Reference Model.
As online educational materials are
produced, they often end up in online
aggregations of learning objects, usually
referred to as “learning object repositories.”
To facilitate searching and retrieval,
metadata is used to describe objects in
repositories.
Learning objects have several uses. One
use is to improve the efficiency of producing
educational materials by reusing learning
objects in new curriculum units (which
themselves may also be learning objects).
The vision of the learning object model
(LOM) is to have computer programs
organize
personalized courses of study using many
learning objects that are selected based on
gaps in knowledge determined by computer-
based assessments. However, it has been
difficult to show a working demonstration of
this vision that makes sense from a
pedagogical point of view. While there is a
vision of both reusability and interoperability
114
of learning objects, in practice most uses of
learning objects fall far short of that ideal.
Another use for learning objects is in the
area of “rapid learning,” where a particular
learning object is served up in response to a
specific user's immediate need for
information. This application of learning
objects is sometimes referred to as “just-in-
time learning.” This use has been more
successful, as the learning objects do not
need to make sense linked together
because they are used to deliver specific
pieces of information.
Learning objects are often referred to as
“chunks of learning.” But people do not
learn much in de-contextualized discrete
chunks, and the presentation of a particular
“chunk of learning,” such as a graph, does
not mean the intended learning has taken
place. Rather, learning objects are really
software objects built to be reusable so that
programmers or graphic artists do not need
to reconstruct them. There is nothing
inherently wrong with the concept of
reusability, but it is important to understand
that the act of reassembling parts on a
screen is not an adequate instructional
design model (Krauss, 2004; Wiley, 2006).
At the simplest level, the reassembly of
learning objects results in the same old
“tell-test” presentations. A more soph
isticated version of this model is the vision
of giant repositories of reusable objects that
can be assembled into a “course” or
“teaching moment” based on the results of
continuous online assessments. This idea is
based on older, behaviorist concepts of
“programmed instruction” that have now
been replaced by newer cognitive and
constructivist learning theories of
education. While older adults may be
impressed by a program’s ability to provide
a custom mix of items to view on the
screen, this model does not work for the
younger generation of adults now in
educational institutions or work settings. As
Collis and Strijker (2003) note, “The
reusability of an electronic learning resource
depends on its fit with the language,
culture, curriculum, computer-use practices,
and pedagogical approaches of the
potential learners and their instructors.
Making this fit has proven to be very
difficult.”
© Brandon Hall Research
Repositories for learning objects can be
simple or complex (“rafts” or “battleships”
to use Derek Morrison’s metaphor), and
they can be general or subject specific.
What is stored in learning object
repositories is not standardized in terms of
formats but represents a wide range of
educational media.
Selected Examples
Following is a list of some of the many
learning object repositories:
The California Digital Library supports the
libraries of the University of California.
http://www.cdlib.org/
CLOE stands for the Cooperative Learning
Object Exchange, a consortium of colleges
and universities who have agreed to share
learning objects.
http://learnware.uwaterloo.ca/projects/CCC
O/cloe_stories.html
The Digital Library of Information Science
and Technology is based at the University of
Arizona.
http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/
DLORN (Distributed Learning Object
Repository Network) is a repository set up
by Stephen Downes, a senior researcher at
the National Research Council in Canada.
http://www.downes.ca/cgi-
bin/dlorn/dlorn.cgi
DSpace is a digital repository system that
captures, stores, indexes, preserves, and
distributes digital research material.
http://dspace.org/index.html
EducaNext is a service that supports
creating and sharing knowledge for higher
education. It is open to any member of the
academic or research community.
http://www.educanext.org/ubp
Fedora is a general-purpose repository
system developed jointly by Cornell
University Information Science and the
University of Virginia Library.
http://www.fedora.info
FLORE stands for the French Learning
Object Repository for Education, hosted by
the University of Victoria in Canada.
http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/flore/
Gateway to 21st Century Skills contains
thousands of lesson plans and teaching
Do not reproduce
resources for grades K-12.
http://www.thegateway.org
goENC contains resources for K-12 science
and math.
http://www.goenc.com/
IDEAS provides Wisconsin educators with
teacher reviewed resources for grades K-12.
http://ideas.wisconsin.edu
Koha is a New Zealand based online library
covering all subjects.
http://www.koha.org/
LESTER (Learning Science and Technology
Repository) is an online community and
database focused on innovations in learning
science and technology (LST), which profiles
innovative research projects and
researchers.
http://lester.rice.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?
tabindex=0&tabid=1
LLEARN is a repository of materials for
language learning.
http://www.llearn.net/project.php
LoLa Exchange is a place for sharing high
quality learning objects, with a focus on
information literacy.
http://www.lolaexchange.org/
LRC is an international community for
sharing materials in higher education.
http://www.lrc3.unsw.edu.au:8010/
The Maricopa Learning Exchange is a
warehouse of learning objects at the high
school and college levels.
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/mlx/
MERLOT is the largest repository of learning
objects, with almost 15,000 items.
http://www.merlot.org/Home.po
National Science Digital Library (NSDL) is a
great source for learning materials in
science fields.
http://nsdl.org/
The Ontario E-Learning Object Management
Repository has been set up by the Ministry
of Education to serve learning objects to
Ontario schools and post-secondary
institutions.
http://mlor.oise.utoronto.ca/acg/eduontari
o_d/secure/elearning/
PROFETIC is a French learning object
repository.
http://www.profetic.org/
115
 Public Library of Science is a nonprofit
organization of scientists and physicians
committed to making the world's scientific
and medical literature a freely available
public resource.
http://www.publiclibraryofscience.org
UNESCO maintains the Free & Open Source
Software Portal.
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-
URL_ID=12034&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_
SECTION=201.html
Online Resources
Cisco Systems has been a leader in
promoting “reusable learning objects.” A
2003 white paper on the company’s RLO
strategy is available at:
http://www.cisco.com/application/pdf/en/
us/guest/netsol/ns460/c654/cdccont_09
00aecd800eb905.pdf
A primer on how to design and author
learning objects, authored by Rachel Smith,
is available at:
http://www.nmc.org/guidelines/index.shtml
An audio discussion of learning objects with
several of the leaders in this field is
available at:
http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/archives/
002089.html
The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
hosts a large bibliography on learning
objects.
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CIE/AOP/LO_bi
b.html
The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
also maintains a list of “learning object
collections,” also known as LORs – learning
object repositories.
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CIE/AOP/LO_co
llections.html
Norm Friesen has written a review of
implementing learning object repositories
that use the Canadian standard, CANCORE.
http://www.cancore.ca/implementing_proje
cts.html
For a highly critical view of learning objects,
see Teemu Leinonen’s article, “Learning
Objects: Is the King Naked?”
http://flosse.dicole.org/?item=learning-
objects-is-the-king-naked
Scott Leslie’s reply to the above article is
found on his blog, EdTechPost.
116
http://www.edtechpost.ca/mt/archive/000
681.html
LORNET is a consortium of Canadian
universities who share research on learning
objects and their use.
http://www.lornet.org/eng/scientifiques.ht
m
The Joint Conference on Digital Libraries
holds an annual gathering.
http://www.jcdl.org/
The Higher Educational Podcast Repository
is a place for storing educationally useful
lectures and other educational events.
http://www.uis.edu/podcasting/projects/in
dex.html#com123
Bibliography
Barritt, C. and Alderman, F.L. (2004).
Creating a Reusable Learning Objects
Strategy: leveraging information and
learning in a knowledge economy. San
Francisco: Pfeiffer.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/d
etail/-
/0787964956/qid=1131924725/sr=8-
2/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-4609659-
0461665?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
Bochicchio, M., Celentano, M. And Longo, A.
(2004). SCX 2004: a SCORM 2004 – based
tool for the real-time production of Learning
Objects. Online paper.
http://www.dis.uniroma1.it/~lhci/002.doc
Christiansen, J. and Anderson, T. (2004).
Feasibility of Course Development Based on
Learning Objects: Research Analysis of
Three Case Studies. International Journal of
Instructional Technology and Distance
Learning, 1(3), March.
http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Mar_04/article
02.htm
Collis, B., & Strijker, A. (2003). Re-Usable
Learning Objects in Context. International
Journal on E-Learning, 2(4), 5-16.
http://dl.aace.org/14190
Downes, Stephen. (2000). The Need for and
Nature of Learning Objects. International
Review of Research in Open and Distance
Learning, 2(1).
http://www.irrodl.org/content/v2.1/downes
.html
Edusource (2003). Software Architecture
Document, Version .9. Online document.
© Brandon Hall Research
http://www.edusource.ca/documents/Key% McGreal, R., Anderson, T., Babin, G.,
20Planning%20Documents/Software%20Pl Downes, S., Friesen, N., Harrigan, K., Hatala,
an/SA%200.9%2015-11-03.doc M., MacLeod, D., Mattson, M., Paquette, G.,
Richards, G., Roberts, T., and Schafer, S.
Fiaidhi, J. and Mohammed, S. (2004).
(2004). EduSource: Canada’s Learning
Design Issues Involved in Using Learning
Object Repository Network. International
Objects for Teaching a Programming
Journal of Instructional Technology and
Language within a Collaborative eLearning
Distance Learning, 1 (3), March.
Environment. International Journal of
http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Mar_04/article
Instructional Technology and Distance
01.htm
Learning, 1(3), March.
http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Mar_04/article Morrison, Derek (2004a). Learning Material
03.htm Repositories - Rafts or Battleships? - Part 1.
Auricle: learning technologies in Higher
Friesen, Norm (2005). CanCore: in your
Education, July 14, 2004.
neighbourhood and around the world.
http://www.bath.ac.uk/dacs/cdntl/pMachin
Online.
e/morriblog_more.php?id=291_0_4_0_M
http://www.cancore.ca/implementing_proje
cts.html Morrison, Derek (2004b). Learning Material
Repositories - Rafts or Battleships? - Part 2.
Friesen, Norm (2006). CanCore: connection
Auricle: learning technologies in Higher
collections – an overview of approaches.
Education, Aug. 12, 2004.
Online paper.
http://www.bath.ac.uk/dacs/cdntl/pMachin
http://www.cancore.ca/protocols_en.html
e/morriblog_comments.php?id=P292_0_4_
Heery, Rachel (2006). Digital Repositories 0
Roadmap: looking forward. Research
Mortimer, Lori (2002). (Learning) Objects of
Report.
Desire: promise and practicality. Learning
http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/publ
Circuits, April 2002.
ications/roadmap-apr06/rep-roadmap-
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2002/apr2
v15.pdf
002/mortimer.html
Krauss, Fredinand (2004). The Reusability
Murphy, Elizabeth (2004). Moving from
Myth of Learning Object Design. IDEAS:
Theory to Practice in the Design of Web-
Instructional Design for Elearning
Based Learning Using a Learning Object
ApproacheS, Jan. 14, 2004.
Approach. E-Journal of Instructional Science
http://ideas.blogs.com/lo/2004/01/the_re
and Technology, 7(1), March.
usability.html
http://www.usq.edu.au/electpub/e-
Leeder, D. and Morales, R. (2004). jist/docs/Vol7_No1/content.htm
Universities’ Collaboration in eLearning
Nejdl, Wolfgang (2004). Personalized
(UCeL): Post-Fordism in action. Paper
Access to Distributed Learning Repositories
presented at eLearn 2004 conference.
(PADLR). Final Project Report.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm/files/pape
http://www.learninglab.kth.se/documents/
r_11841.pdf?fuseaction=Reader.Download
PADLR-final-report.pdf
FullText&paper_id=11841
Richards, G., McGreal, R. and Freisen, N.
Longmire, Warren (2000). A Primer on
(2002). Learning object repository
Learning Objects. Learning Circuits, March.
technologies for Telelearning: the evolution
http://www.learningcircuits.org/mar2000/p
of POOL and CanCore. Paper presented,
rimer.html
InSITE conference, June.
McGreal, Rory (Ed.) (2004). Online http://proceedings.informingscience.org/IS
Education Using Learning Objects. London: 2002Proceedings/papers/Richa242Learn.p
Falmer. df
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/d
Roselli, T., Rossano, V. and Pragnell, M.
etail/-
(2005). A Repository for the Teaching
/0415335124/qid=1131924607/sr=8-
Experiences. Paper presented at the
1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-4609659-
Workshop on E-Learning and Human
0461665?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
Computer Interaction, INTERACT 2005,

Do not reproduce 117

 > http://www.dis.uniroma1.it/~lhci/rossa
no-paper.pdf
> http://www.dis.uniroma1.it/~lhci/rossa
no-pres.pdf
Santally, M., Govinda, M., and Senteni, A.
(2004). Reusable Learning Objects
Aggregation for e-Learning Courseware
Development at the University of Mauritius.
International Journal of Instructional
Technology and Distance Learning, 1(7).
http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jul_04/article0
2.htm
Shepherd, Clive. (2000). Objects of Interest.
White paper for Fastrak Consulting.
http://www.fastrak-
consulting.co.uk/tactix/features/objects/ob
jects.htm
Wiley, David A. (2000). Learning Object
Design and Sequencing Theory. Doctoral
dissertation, Brigham Young University.
http://opencontent.org/docs/dissertation.p
df
Wiley, David A. (Ed.). (2002). The
Instructional Use of Learning Objects.
Agency for Instructional Technology and the
Association for Educational Commun-
ications. Online. :
http://reusability.org/read/
Wiley, David A. (2006). RIP-ing on Learning
Objects. Iterating Toward Openness, Jan. 9.
http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/230

118 © Brandon Hall Research


Location Based
Technologies
Related terms
Ambient content, findability, geocaching,
navigation, proximity tools, tours
Description
Location-based technologies are used in e-
learning when geographical position is
important to an educational experience. The
two technologies most prevalent in location-
based e-learning are the Global Positioning
System (GPS) and Geographic Information
Systems (GIS).
The Global Positioning System consists of
24 satellites owned by the U.S. Department
of Defense. Each satellite continually
broadcasts its position and the time. This
allows GPS receivers to triangulate their
own position to within a few meters by
taking bearings from at least three visible
satellites.
A Geographic Information System enables
the geographic aspects of a body of data to
be visualized. Usually these visualizations
are overlaid onto a map.
Bensford (2005) identifies some of the
educational uses of location-based
technologies, including the following:
> Information services and tour guides
delivered in place
> Educational games that have a
geographical component
> Support for field trips in which location-
based technologies provide learning
materials during a visit to a specific
place
> Gathering data in a specific location for
later analysis
> Personalization of a visit in real-time
based on where a person is located at
any given moment
> Learning games within a specified
geographical area
In the cultural sector, location-based
systems are found in museums, galleries,
Do not reproduce
and exhibits for a variety of purposes,
including to do the following:
> Enhance visitor experiences using
dynamic location-based content
> Provide access to specific content
irrelevant roams, galleries, or exhibits
> Improve visitor services by providing
information on nearby facilities such as
restaurants and gift shops
> Provide tour management information,
including better security due to location
tracking capabilities
> Analyze visitor traffic (for planners)
> Help users access relevant content
from the Web during and after museum
tours
> Improve accessibility for visitors with
disabilities
As computer devices become smaller and
more mobile, users will be able to use a
variety of devices, including cell phones,
PDAs, laptops, gaming consoles, personal
media players, and wearable computers, to
track their location and interact with
educational experiences that use that
information.
However, as with any new technology, there
are potential disadvantages to location-
based technologies, including privacy
concerns, more demands for a person’s
attention, and security issues.
Selected Examples
The main players in the GIS market include
the following:
Cadcorp - http://www.cadcorp.com/
Clark Labs - http://www.clarklabs.org/
ESRI- http://www.esri.com/
Intergraph - http://www.intergraph.com/
MapInfo - http://www.mapinfo.com/
Frapper is a Web site that allows you to
create custom maps and tags them with
information.
http://www.frappr.com
Google Earth is an amazing view of the
earth, with abilities to show the location of
almost any service or feature that is
119
 searchable from a database.
http://earth.google.com/
Google Maps is an intuitive map of the
world that allows the user to zoom in and
out for various levels of details. The map is
continuous and can be dragged in any
direction.
http://earth.google.com/
Google Mars is a composite of the mapping
of Mars. While not very useful for most
people, it is a great tool for teaching
science.
http://www.google.com/mars/
Mapquest is a mapping service that covers
the globe. Enter an address to find a local
map for almost anywhere in the world.
http://www.google.com/mars/
Windows Live Local is the new Microsoft
mapping service. The vision is to show
scenes of the areas on the maps.
http://local.live.com/
The GIS Laboratory at Springfield’s Illinois
State Museum uses GIS to create and
maintain a database of over 40,000
archaeological sites in the state. GIS also is
being used to create several new exhibits in
the coming year. The Laboratory’s Web site
includes a GIS animations gallery.
http://www.museum.state.il.us/research/GI
Slab/
The Science Museum of Minnesota in St
Paul has GIS-based projects for public
display and ongoing class work. A kiosk on
the museum’s exhibit floor features
interactive maps of the St Croix River valley.
http://www.smm.org/
Greatest Places allows students to explore a
variety of interesting places worldwide and
to learn about them using a Geographic
Information System.
http://www.greatestplaces.org/
Georeferencing is the process of converting
text descriptions of locations to computer-
readable geographic locations, similar to
what a GIS system uses. See how this
system is being used to plot changes in
biodiversity around the world.
http://www.biogeomancer.org/
At the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology,
Geographic Information System (GIS)
specialists have developed a WORLDCLIM
to model the climate in any place in the
120
world.
http://mvz.berkeley.edu/
PanGo offers a “location management
system” that can store and report on
geographic data.
http://www.pangonetworks.com/
CHIMER is a partly EU funded project aiming
“to capitalise on the natural enthusiasm
and interest of children in developing new
approaches to the use of evolving
technologies for documenting items of
cultural interest in their local communities.”
http://www.chimer.org/index.asp
ArcGIS by ESRI is used to teach geography
in schools. See their complete range of
products, as well as papers on trends in
GIS, at:
http://www.esri.com/index.html
The University of Leeds and the University of
Southampton in the UK offer a joint Masters
degree in using GIS systems in distance
education. The site also contains a great list
of links to geographic data and maps.
http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/odl/
GISAS stands for Geographical Information
Systems Applications for Schools. This
project's objectives are to introduce
geographical information systems into
European secondary schools and to show
how it can be used in geography and
environmental education.
http://www.edu.fi/english/page.asp?path=
500,5372,30670
The goal of the Degree Confluence Project
is to visit the intersection of every degree of
latitude and longitude in the world (except
those in the oceans and near the poles) and
take a picture to post on the Web.
http://www.confluence.org/
Platial enables anyone to find, create, and
use meaningful maps of places that matter
to them.
http://platial.com/
CAERUS is a context aware educational
resource system for outdoor sites.
http://portal.cetadl.bham.ac.uk/Lists/Publi
cations/Attachments/1/CAERUS_CAL.pdf
Online Resources
The British Ordnance Survey, the national
mapping agency for Great Britain, maintains
a Web site on educational uses of its maps.
© Brandon Hall Research
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsit
e/education/index.html
For a history of Geographic Information
Systems in education, see:
http://www.geography.wisc.edu/sco/gis/his
tory.html
A large resource list of links to open source
GIS software is available at:
http://www.opensourcegis.org/
The University of Montana offers an “earth
observing system” on its Web site that is
used for students in schools doing
geographic projects.
http://www.eoscenter.com/gis4mt/index.cf
m
The theme of the 2005 Geography, Earth,
and Environmental Sciences (GEES)
conference at Leicester University was “The
Place of GIS in the Curriculum.” Conference
abstracts are available at:
http://www.gees.ac.uk/events/2005/gis05
/gis05.htm#abs
The Petroleum and Natural Gas
International Standardization (PNGIS) Joint
Task Force has a Web site on geographical
information systems.
http://pngis.bc.ca/
Geotags.com has a scheme for embedding
geographic information in HTML pages.
> http://geotags.com
> http://geotags.com/geo/
The GeoCommunity is the place for the
Geographic Information Systems (GIS), CAD,
Mapping, and Location-Based industry
professionals, enthusiasts, and students.
http://www.geocomm.com/
Intergraph is a company devoted to
products to store, manipulate, and visualize
spatial information.
http://www.intergraph.com/
Directions Magazine is a huge resource on
geospatial technologies.
http://www.directionsmag.com/
Bibliography
Benford, Steve (2005). Future Location-
Based Experiences. JISC Technology and
Standards Watch Report, January, 2005.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents
/jisctsw_05_01.pdf
Do not reproduce
Cardinali, Fabrizio (2005). Towards
narrowcasting and ambient content: new
mobile, location and context aware
solutions for the European publishing
industry. Online article.
http://elearningeuropa.info/index.php?pag
e=doc&doc_id=6231&doclng=6&menuzon
e=1
Hightower, J. and Borriello, G. (2001).
Location systems for ubiquitous computing.
IEEE Report.
http://www.intel-
research.net/Publications/Seattle/062120
021154_45.pdf
Kaplan-Leiserson, Eva (2004). We learning:
social software and e-learning. Part II.
Learning Circuits, Jan 2004.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2004/jan2
004/kaplan2.htm
McLean, Heather (2005). GIS adds fresh
dimension to field work. Guardian
Unlimited, Nov. 15, 2005.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/elearning/
story/0,,1642288,00.html
Ross, S., Donnelly, M., Dobreva, M., Abbott,
D., McHugh, A. and Rusbridge, A. (2005).
Core Technologies for the Cultural and
Scientific Heritage Sector. Chapter on
Location Based Devices. DigiCULT
Technology Watch Report 3.
http://www.digicult.info/downloads/TWR3-
lowres.pdf
Spohrer, J.C. (1999). Information in places.
IBM Systems Journal, 38(4), 1999.
http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/3
84/spohrer.pdf
Tsirliganis, N., Arnaoutoglou, F., Koutsoudis,
A., Pavlidis, G., and Chamzas, C. (2003). 3D-
ArchGIS: archiving cultural heritages in a 3-
D multimedia space. DigiCULT Newsletter,
Issue 6, Dec. 2003.
http://www.digicult.info/downloads/dc_info
_issue6_december_20031.pdf
121

Mashups, SOAP and Web
Services
Related terms
AJAX, API clouds, composite applications,
hybrid applications, integration, Service
Oriented Architecture (SOA), tag clouds,
Web application hybrid
Description
E-learning in the workplace and, to a lesser
extent, in schools and universities, has
moved from early text-based CBT systems to
full-scale multimedia presentations. It is
about to change again into a highly
fragmented “learning landscape” where
online presentations will be only one option
in a myriad of choices for learners and
instructors. Multi-channel distributed
learning will combine many forms of face-to-
face learning with dozens of learning
technologies and data sources to produce a
rich learning experience that is dynamic,
personalized, and relevant to each person’s
learning needs and goals.
Instead of moving among discrete
applications in courses, learners in the near
future will be able to access “hybrid
applications” or “mashups” in which data is
mixed together from many different sources
in a unique blend for that learner at that
moment. The “content” for educational
experiences will be based on distributed
applications and data sources. This is all
possible because of an explosion of
innovation in information and
communications technologies (ICT) that
help individuals and collectives learn.
A “mashup,” then, is the trendy name
(borrowed from the practice of mixing
music) for a composite or hybrid Web
application. Mashups are constructed in
several ways, including a Web site that
provides access to the API of another Web
site, or through “Web services.” “Web
Services” is the name given to a method of
connecting a function in one application to a
Web page in another application so that the
function appears to be part of the Web
page.
The Web is made up of an extremely large
collection of software objects, all expressed
122
in binary code. Many of these objects are
software programs, which can range from a
single statement to massive amounts of
computer code. Programs can be “stand
alone,” that is, run all by themselves, or they
can depend on other programs to supply
data or specific functions. For two or more
programs to talk to each other, they need to
have an agreed-upon set of rules, or
protocol, of how to communicate with each
other. For example, HTTP stands for
HyperText Transfer Protocol and is the set of
rules for how a request for a specific Web
page can be made to a Web server.
Similarly, FTP stands for File Transfer
Protocol, the rules for sending files across
the Internet.
SOAP originally stood for Simple Object
Access Protocol, the set of rules for
accessing a software object on the Internet.
The meaning of SOAP has since broadened
to include rules on how two software
programs can communicate and work with
each other, also called “object
interoperability.”
Using SOAP, programmers can build
programs that communicate across the Web
and exchange data with other programs.
Such programs can “expose” their functions
or data to other programs and be
“consumed” by them. The programs that do
this are call “Web Services,” and the
organization of software to facilitate these
arrangements is called “Service Oriented
Architecture” (SOA) (Erl, 2004).
Some Web services are public and can be
linked to by any software that knows how to
read the information from the Web service,
while other Web services require
authorization through the use of security
procedures. When a Web site takes data
from several Web services and perhaps
mixes it with its own data, such a site is
referred to as a mashup or Web hybrid
application.
Any learning management system (LMS)
with built-in Web services can be part of a
mashup by integrating data and functions
from other types of programs, such as those
for collaboration, document management,
communications, etc., thereby making the
LMS capable of tracking the formal aspects
of learning while, at the same time,
providing an informal collaborative
environment.
© Brandon Hall Research
Mashups and Web services are alternative
ways of accessing educational content that
need to be taken into account by any LMS
that is tracking learning activities. As
Warlick (2006) has noted, online curriculum
is more and more becoming a mashup, as it
draws materials from many different
sources in a network of distributed servers.
Selected Examples
Mike Malloch has posted a set of examples
of educational mashups on del.icio.us.
http://del.icio.us/Mike_Malloch/webtech/M
ASHUP
Online Resources
Mashup Feed gives the latest and greatest
examples of actual mashups. Many have
educational value.
http://www.mashupfeed.com/
Emily Chang is a San Francisco Web
designer with a large offering of Web links.
Her links in the category of mashups are
found at:
http://www.emilychang.com/go/ehub/cate
gory/C49
Programmable Web claims to keep “you up
to date with the latest on mashups and the
new Web 2.0 APIs.” It has many examples
of mashups, including a matrix of 87 sites
with APIs that interact with each other.
> http://www.programmableweb.com/
> http://www.programmableweb.com/ma
trix
Deitel maintains a “mashups resource
center” with diverse articles and resources
on this topic.
http://www.deitel.com/mashups/MashUps
ResourceCenter.html
Rob Hof, a writer for Business Week, has
produced about a dozen articles on
mashups in business for his magazine.
http://blogs.businessweek.com/the_thread
/techbeat/archives/mash-ups/index.html
The Wikipedia entry for Mashup (Web
application hybrid) contains links to other
mashup sites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashup_%28
web_application_hybrid%29
Do not reproduce
Bibliography
Gruman, Galen (2006). Enterprise
mashups. Infoworld, July 28, 2006.
http://ww6.infoworld.com/products/print_fr
iendly.jsp?link=/article/06/07/28/31FEma
shup_1.html
Hof, Robert (2005). Mix, match, and
mutate. Business Week Online, July 25,
2005.
http://www.businessweek.com/@@76IH*oc
Q34AvyQMA/magazine/content/05_30/b3
944108_mz063.htm
Torres, J., Dodero, J. and Padron, C. (2004).
A Framework Based on Web Services
Composition for the Adaptability of Complex
and Dynamic Learning Processes. Learning
Technology newsletter, Vol. 6, Issue 1,
January 2004
http://lttf.ieee.org/learn_tech/issues/janua
ry2004/learn_tech_january2004.pdf
Seimens, George (undated). Web Services.
Elearnspace.
http://www.elearnspace.org/resources/web
services.htm
Siviter, Douglas (2004). Adopting and
Adapting Enterprise Technologies for Use in
Education. Learning Technology newsletter,
Vol. 6, Issue 1, January 2004
http://lttf.ieee.org/learn_tech/issues/janua
ry2004/learn_tech_january2004.pdf
Stacey, Paul (2002). E-Learning
Interoperability & Web Services. E-Learning
for the BC Tech Industry, Dec. 6, 2002.
http://www.bctechnology.com/statics/pstac
ey-dec0602.html
Warlick, David (2006). Curriculum as
Mashup. techLEARNING, March 6, 2006.
http://www.techlearning.com/blog/main/ar
chives/2006/03/curriculum_as_m.html
Woodill, G. and Oliveira, C. (2006).
Mashups, SOAP, and Services: welcome to
web hybrid e-learning applications. Learning
Solutions, May 15, 2006.
http://www.operitel.com/publications.aspx
123

Metadata, Ontologies
and Taxonomies
Related terms
Folksonomies, pervasive computing, social
bookmarking
Description
At the same time that learning objects, repo-
sitories, search engines, and artificial intelli-
gence are being developed, so are ways to
describe data so that it can be used by
programs in a variety of ways. This “data
about data” is known as metadata and has
a critical role in many emerging e-learning
technologies. An ontology, in the context of
information technology, refers to the formal
description of the network of relationships
used to track how one item or word relates
to another. A taxonomy is a hierarchical
listing of topics or subject categories in a
particular area. All of the above are used to
classify and store data for later use by a
program.
Data can be classified in a formal manner
or classified by individuals who place their
own tags into a database as they enter
data. This approach is sometimes called a
folksonomy. Computer algorithms are then
used to group similar or related tags into a
tag cloud, which is a visualization of the
metadata used in searches.
Selected Examples
The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative is an
industry group that initially met in Dublin,
Ohio, to develop metadata standards.
http://dublincore.org/
The Ontologies for Education project is a
portal maintained by three universities to
disseminate information on ontologies.
http://iiscs.wssu.edu/o4e/viewhome.do?tm
=O4E.xtm
SIMILE seeks to enhance interoperability
among digital assets,
schemata/vocabularies/ ontologies,
metadata, and services. A key challenge is
that collections that are to interoperate are
often distributed across individual,
community, and institutional stores.
http://simile.mit.edu/
124
Cancore is a Canadian initiative to develop
metadata standards for e-learning. It is
based on and fully compatible with the IEEE
Learning Object Metadata standard and the
IMS Learning Resource Meta-data
specification.
http://www.cancore.ca/en/
Online Resources
CETIS – the Centre for Educational
Technology Interoperability Standards – in
the UK has published a list of “guides to
metadata” and the learning object model
(LOM).
http://metadata.cetis.ac.uk/guides/
The MIT Libraries has produced a Metadata
Reference Guide.
http://libraries.mit.edu/guides/subjects/me
tadata/index.html
Educause lists resources on
“folksonomies,” the practice of social
bookmarking whereby users assign their
own freely chosen metadata to learning
objects.
http://www.educause.edu/content.asp?pag
e_id=645&PARENT_ID=794&bhcp=1
The IMS Global Learning Consortium has
developed guidelines for using metadata
with learning objects.
http://www.imsglobal.org/metadata/mdv1p
3pd/imsmd_bestv1p3pd.html
Bibliography
Abel, M., Benayache, A., Lenne, D., Moulin,
C., Barry, C. and Chaput, B. (2004).
Ontology-based organizational memory for
e-learning. Journal of Educational
Technology and Society, 7(4), 98-111.
http://www.ifets.info/issues.php?id=25
Chen, H., Perich, F., Finin, T., and Joshi, A.
(2004). SOUPA: standard ontology for
ubiquitous and pervasive applications. In
Proceedings, International Conference on
Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Networking
and Services, Boston, MA.
http://ebiquity.umbc.edu/get/a/publication
/105.pdf
Delphi Group (2004). Information
Intelligence: content classification and the
enterprise taxonomy practice. Delphi Group
report, June 2004.
© Brandon Hall Research
http://www.delphigroup.com/research/whit http://www.adammathes.com/academic/co
epapers/20040601-taxonomy-WP.pdf mputer-mediated-
communication/folksonomies.pdf
Friesen, Norm (2005). Can Core: learning
object metadata editors. Online article. National Information Standards
http://www.cancore.ca/editors.html Organization (NISO) (2001). Understanding
Metadata. NISO Press.
Gruber, Thomas (2005a). Ontology of
http://www.niso.org/standards/resources/
Folksonomy: A Mash-up of Apples and
UnderstandingMetadata.pdf
Oranges. Invited paper/keynote to the First
on-Line conference on Metadata and Oin, J. and Godby, J. (2003). Incorporating
Semantics Research (MTSR'05), November. Educational Vocabulary in Learning Object
http://tomgruber.org/writing/ontology-of- Metadata Schemas. PowerPoint
folksonomy.htm Presentation at the 7th European
Conference on Research and Advanced
Gruber, Thomas (2005b). TagOntology - a
Technology for Digital Libraries (ECDL2003).
way to agree on the semantics of tagging
Trondheim, Norway.
data. Presentation to Tag Camp,
http://www.ecdl2003.org/presentations/pa
http://www.tagcamp.org/, October 29..
pers/session2b/Qin/ecdl2003_presentatio
http://tomgruber.org/writing/tagontology-
n.ppt
tagcapm-talk.pdf
Ricci, Christian (2004). Developing and
Henze, N., Dolog, P. and Nejdl, W. (2004).
Creatively Leveraging Hierarchical Metadata
Reasoning and ontologies for personalized
and Taxonomy. BoxesAndArrows, May 22,
e-learning in the semantic web. Journal of
2004.
Educational Technology and Society, 7(4),
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/dev
82-97.
eloping_and_creatively_leveraging_hierarch
http://www.ifets.info/issues.php?id=25
ical_metadata_and_taxonomy
Kroski, Ellyssa (2005). The Hive Mind:
Sampson, D., Lytras, M., Wagner, G. and
folksonomies and user-based tagging.
Diaz, P. (2004). Ontologies and the
Infotangle, Dec. 7, 2005.
semantic Web for e-learning. Journal of
http://infotangle.blogsome.com/2005/12/
Educational Technology and Society, 7(4),
07/the-hive-mind-folksonomies-and-user-
26-28.
based-tagging/
http://www.ifets.info/issues.php?id=25
Lambe, Patrick (2006). Defining
Tozman, Reuben (2004). Another new
“taxonomy”. Green Chameleon, April 18,
paradigm for instructional design. Learning
2006.
Circuits, Nov. 2004.
http://www.greenchameleon.com/gc/blog_
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2004/nov2
detail/defining_taxonomy
004/tozman.htm
Lider, B. and Mosoiu, A. (2003). Building a
Weibel, Stuart (2005). Border crossings:
Metadata-Based Website. BoxesAndArrows,
reflections on a decade of metadata
April 21, 2003.
consensus building. D-Lib Magazine,
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/buil
11(7/8), July/August, 2005.
ding_a_metadata_based_website
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july05/weibel/07w
Lytras, M., Pouloudi, A. and Poulymenakou, eibel.html
A. (2002). Dynamic e-learning settings
Wodtke, Christina (2002). Unraveling the
through advanced semantics: the value
mysteries of metadata and taxonomies.
justification of a knowledge management
BoxesAndArrows, April 9, 2002.
oriented metadata schema. International
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/unr
Journal on E-Learning, October-December,
aveling_the_mysteries_of_metadata_and_t
2002.
axonomies
http://dl.aace.org/10614
Yang, S., Chen, I. and Shao, N. (2004).
Mathes, Adam (2004). Folksonomies –
Ontology enabled annotation and
Cooperative Classification and
knowledge management for collaborative
Communication through Shared Metadata.
learning in virtual learning community.
University of Illinois graduate paper.

Do not reproduce 125

 Journal of Educational Technology and
Society, 7(4), 70-81.
http://www.ifets.info/issues.php?id=25

126 © Brandon Hall Research


Mobile Devices
Related terms
Ambient computing, cell phones,
conversational learning, location based
technologies, mLearning, personal digital
assistants (PDA), personalization, pervasive
computing, podcasting, tablets, wearable
computing, wireless
Description
Mobile learning (“m-learning”) refers to the
use of mobile and handheld IT devices, such
as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs),
cellular telephones, MP3 players, laptops,
tablet PCs, and wearable computers in
teaching and learning. Essentially, it is
learning and knowledge sharing that takes
place when a learner is using a mobile
device.
Clark Quinn (2000) sees m-learning as
“…the intersection of mobile computing and
eLearning: accessible resources wherever
you are, strong search capabilities, rich
interaction, powerful support for effective
learning, and performance-based
assessment… e-learning independent of
location, time and space.” The Mobilearn
Project (2003) advocates for “a new m-
learning architecture [that] will support
creation, brokerage, delivery and tracking of
learning and information content, using
ambient intelligence, location-dependence,
personalization, multimedia, instant
messaging (text, video) and distributed
databases.”
Two years ago, there were estimated to be
1.5 billion mobile phones in the world
(Prensky, 2004). This is more than three
times the number of personal computers
(PCs), and these sophisticated phones have
the processing power of a mid-1990s PC. In
addition to sales of one billion mobile
phones in 2009, it is predicted that there
will be 2.6 billion units in operation by that
year.
The key benefits of using mobile devices for
learning include the following:
> Portability
> Any time, any place connectivity
Do not reproduce
> Flexible and timely access to e-learning
resources
> Immediacy of communication
> Empowerment and engagement of
learners, particularly those in dispersed
communities
> Active learning experiences
Researchers point out other benefits, such
as increased computer literacy,
communicative skills and community
building, improved identity creation,
collaborative learning, and mentoring.
However, there are potential disadvantages
in mobile computing (McLean, 2003),
including the following:
> Small screens limit the amount and
type of information that can be
displayed
> Limited memory and storage capacities
for mobile devices
> Batteries have to be charged regularly
> Mobile devices are more fragile than
other types of computers and can more
be more easily stolen or lost
> Intermittent connectivity
> Interoperability among devices is
difficult
> Links to learning management systems
and other enterprise IT systems are
primitive or non-existent
> Existing applications need to be
adapted for mobile devices at
considerable expense
> Network access costs can be significant
> Security is a major issue
> There is little stability in the market
because of rapid development
On a positive note, in Japan, Masayasu
Morita evaluated the use of English
language lessons formatted differently for
computers and cell phones. He found that
90 percent of cell phone users were still
accessing the lessons after 15 days,
compared to only 50 percent of computer
users. Cited in Prensky, (2004).
127
 Selected Examples
Employees at the Malmo Hospital in
Sweden access videos on how to use
various pieces of equipment in the
hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) using
handheld computers and peer-to-peer
learning.
http://www.stockholmchallenge.se/projectd
ata.asp?id=5&projectid=4572
The Tate Modern Art Museum has launched
a pilot multimedia tour of its galleries using
handheld computers. Visitors are given a
Pocket PC that uses a wireless network to
track where they are in the gallery.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/22
25255.stm
Researchers at a university in Taiwan have
developed various mobile systems for
learning about “outdoor ecology.” They have
a “firefly watching system,” a “butterfly-
watching learning system,” and a “bird
watching learning system.”
> http://www.cs.ccu.edu.tw/~yschen/my
papers/AINA2004-final.pdf
> http://www.cs.ccu.edu.tw/~yschen/my
papers/JECR-2005.pdf
> http://www.cs.ccu.edu.tw/~yschen/con
papers/bird.pdf
The Mobile Technologies for Mobile
Learning (MoTFAL) Project involves a variety
of researchers and educators.
http://csdl2.computer.org/comp/proceedin
gs/icalt/2004/2181/00/21810910.pdf
MOBIlearn is a worldwide European-led
project with 24 partner organizations across
Europe, Israel, US, Australia. Its mandate is
to develop technology and services for
mobile learning using an open service-
based architecture.
http://www.mobilearn.org/
The Handheld Devices for Ubiquitous
Learning Project (HDUL) at Harvard is
studying how wireless handheld devices can
enhance learning and teaching for faculty
and students, adult participants in the
School’s professional development
programs, and pre-service teachers.
http://gseacademic.harvard.edu/~hdul/
Urban Tapestries is an experimental
location-based wireless platform in Central
London. Users can access and create
128
location-specific text, audio, pictures,
movies, or a combination of media.
http://urbantapestries.net/
The PAST Project involves using hand-held
electronic guides to archaeological sites.
http://www.beta80group.it/past/
Urban Tapestries is an experimental loc-
ation-based wireless platform covering the
Bloomsbury area of central London in the
UK. This prototype allows users to access
and create location-specific content.
http://urbantapestries.net/
Spotlight Mobile is a group developing
software for the use of hand-held devices in
museums.
http://spotlight-mobile.com/
Knowledge Pulse is flashcard lessons for
mobile phones that automatically adjusts
the order and complexity of the lessons to
match the learning pace of the individual.
Learn more at:
http://www.knowledgepulse.com/home_en.
html
Online Resources
The e-Learning Centre in the UK has a long
list of mobile and wireless learning content.
http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/ml
earning.htm
WWWTools for Education has articles on
“Handheld Computers in Education,”
“Mobile/Cell Phones in Education,” and
“iPods and Podcasting in Education.”
> http://m.fasfind.com/wwwtools/m/273
7.cfm?x=0&rid=2737
> http://m.fasfind.com/wwwtools/m/271
7.cfm?x=0&cuID=76&rid=2717
> http://m.fasfind.com/wwwtools/m/890
7.cfm?x=0&cuID=76&rid=8907
The Mobile Learning portal lists loads of
material on mobile learning, including
issues, technologies, applications,
resources, activities, links, and a glossary.
http://www3.telus.net/~kdeanna/mlearnin
g/index.htm
Jari Laru, of the University of Oulu in
Finland, maintains an extensive Web site on
everything related to mobile learning.
http://www.mobilelearning.tk/
© Brandon Hall Research
One of the best ways to find out what is
happening in a field is by attending
conferences. For example, the IADIS
International Conference on Mobile
Learning 2006 was held on July 14-16,
2006 in Dublin, Ireland.
http://www.iadis.org/ml2006
Bob Godwin-Jones, in a recent article
entitled “Emerging technologies: Messaging,
Gaming, Peer-to-Peer Sharing: Language
Learning Strategies & Tools for the
Millennial Generation,” concludes his article
with an extensive resource list on mobile
learning.
http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num1/emerging/def
ault.html
The HandLeR IHandheld Learning Resource
Project at the University of Birmingham in
the UK has a list of publications associated
with the project.
http://www.eee.bham.ac.uk/handler/public
ations.asp
The iPods in Education Web site is a portal
on these mobile devices being used for
learning.
http://213.232.94.135/ipodined/news.php
All About Mobile Life is a blog devoted to all
aspects of mobile technologies and their
use in learning and in everyday life.
http://mobile.kaywa.com/mobile_learning/i
ndex.html
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Mobile Learning in Higher Education,
EDUCAUSE Review, Vol. 39, No. 5, Sept.
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ER
M0451.pdf
Anderson, Paul (2005). Mobile and PDA
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learning project summary. Report, Learning
and Skills Development Agency.
http://www.m-learning.org/docs/The%20m-
learning%20project%20-
%20technology%20update%20and%20proj
ect%20summary.pdf
Do not reproduce
Chen, Y., Kao, T. and Sheu, J. (2003). A
mobile learning system for scaffolding bird
watching learning. Journal of Computer
Assisted Learning, 19, 347-359.
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rs/JCAL-2003.pdf
Colazzo, L., Molinari, A., Ronchetti, M. and
Trifonova, A. (2002). Towards a Multi-
Vendor Mobile Learning Management
System. European Workshop on Mobile
Contextual Learning, Univ. of Birmingham
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wards%20a%20multi-
vendor%20Mobile%20LMS%20(long).pdf
Geddes, B.J. (2004). Mobile Learning in the
21st Century: benefit for learners.
Knowledge Tree e-Journal, No.6.
http://knowledgetree.flexiblelearning.net.au
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Godwin-Jones, Bob (2005). Emerging
technologies: Messaging, Gaming, Peer-to-
Peer Sharing: Language Learning Strategies
& Tools for the Millennial Generation.
Language Learning and Technology, 9(1),
January 2005, 17-22
http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num1/emerging/def
ault.html
Grew, P. and Pagani, E. (2005). Towards a
Wireless Architecture for Mobile Ubiquitous
E-Learning. Paper presented at the
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05/Final/pagani_ubilearn.pdf
Jasola, S. and Sharma, R. (2005). Open and
Distance Education through Wireless Mobile
Internet: A Learning Model. International
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Distance Learning, 2(9), September 2005.
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04.htm
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Learning: a good practice guide to
embedding mobile and wireless
technologies into everyday practice. JISC
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Kadirire, James (2005). The short message
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Meisenberger, M. and Nischelwitzer, A.
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(2005). The mobile learning engine (MLE) –
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Learning in the Mobile Age, Budapest,
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Hungary, April 2005.
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joanneum.at/mle/docs/Matthias_Meisenbe
rger_MApEC_Paper_mLearning.pdf Sharples, M., Taylor, J. and Vavoula, G.
(2005). A theory of learning for the mobile
Mellow, Peter (2005). The media
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bane05/blogs/proceedings/53_Mellow.pdf
bile%20learning.pdf
Metcalf, David (2006). M-Learning: Mobile
Thomas, Michael (2005). E-Learning on the
e-Learning. Amherst, MA: HRD Press.
move. Guardian Unlimited, May 23, 2005.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0874
http://education.guardian.co.uk/elearning/
259061/sr=8-
comment/0,,1490476,00.html
2/qid=1155438843/ref=sr_1_2/104-
1348092-4859103?ie=UTF8 von Koschembahr, Christopher (2005).
Mobile Learning: The Next Evolution of
Nyíri, Kristóf (2002). Towards a Philosophy
Education. Chief Learning Officer, Feb.
of M-Learning. Presented at WMTE 2002,
2005.
August 29-30, 2002, Teleborg Campus,
http://www.clomedia.com/content/templat
Växjö University, Växjö, Sweden.
es/clo_article.asp?articleid=849&zoneid=7
http://21st.century.phil-inst.hu/eng/m-
1
learning/nyiri_m-
learn_philos.htm#Implications Wagner, Ellen (2005). Enabling Mobile
Learning. EDUCAUSE Review, 40(3),
Prensky, Marc (2004). What Can You Learn
May/June 2005, 40-53.
from a Cell Phone? Almost Anything!
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/er
Innovate, 1(5), June/July 2005.
m0532.pdf
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?v
iew=article&id=83&action=article

130 © Brandon Hall Research


Natural Language
Processing
Related terms
Conversational learning, machine
translation, natural language generation,
natural language understanding, speech
recognition, speech synthesis, voice
recognition
Description
According to Coxhead (2001), “a 'natural
language' (NL) is any of the languages
naturally used by humans, i.e. not an
artificial or man-made language such as a
programming language. ‘Natural language
processing’ (NLP) is a convenient
description for all attempts to use
computers to process natural language.”
Examples of natural language processing
include the following:
> Speech synthesis
> Speech recognition
> Natural language understanding
> Natural language generation
> Machine translation - translating one
natural language into another.
Given that spoken language is an important
component of many learning situations, it is
not surprising that it has great potential in
emerging e-learning technologies. It can be
used as an interface for many different
devices, a component of intelligent tutoring
systems, an alternative communication
strategy to improve accessibility, and to
teach foreign languages or improve non-
native speakers’ accents.
Di Eugenio, et al. (2005a, 2005b)
developed two natural language generators
in e-learning applications and “... found that
the generator which intuitively produces the
best language does engender the most
learning.” See also Jordan et al. (2004), Kim
(2000), Lee et al. (2004), and Zhou (2000)
for more on natural language approaches to
intelligent tutoring.
Do not reproduce
Selected Examples
The Cognitive and Communication
Technologies (TCC) in Trento, Italy is a
European research group for natural
language processing. TCC is a member of
the European Network of Excellence in
Natural Language and Speech (ELSNET).
http://tcc.itc.it/index.html
Lexxe is a search engine powered by
“advanced natural language technology” to
find the answers to questions, rather than
just returning Web pages.
http://www.lexxe.com/
Online Resources
A very useful literature review of the use of
natural language processing technologies in
education is provided by Silvia Quarteroni, a
graduate student at the University of York in
the UK.
http://www-
users.cs.york.ac.uk/~silvia/litReview.html
The Open Directory Project lists about 150
Web resources on natural language
processing.
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Artificial_Intelli
gence/Natural_Language/
The Linguistic Data Consortium supports
language-related education, research, and
technology development by creating and
sharing linguistic resources: data, tools, and
standards.
http://www.ldc.upenn.edu
Natural language processing is one of the
featured topics on the American Association
for Artificial Intelligence Web site.
http://www.aaai.org/aitopics/html/natlang.
html
Eduforge lists 26 natural language
processing projects in education in English
and another 13 in other languages.
http://eduforge.org/softwaremap/trove_list
.php?form_cat=274
ELSNET is a European Network of
Excellence specializing in natural language
processing.
http://www.elsnet.org/
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has
a Voice Browser Working Group that has
published a number of specifications for
131
 this activity.
http://www.w3.org/Voice/Activity.html
Bibliography
Bagshaw, Paul (1994). Automatic Prosodic
Analysis for Computer-Aided Pronunciation
Teaching. Doctoral Dissertation, University
of Edinburgh.
http://www.cstr.ed.ac.uk/research/projects
/fda/Bagshaw_PhDThesis.pdf
Coxhead, Peter (2001). An Introduction to
Natural Language Processing (NLP). Online.
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/%7Epxc/nlpa/2
002/AI-HO-IntroNLP.html#fn1
Di Eugenio, B., Fossati, D., Yu, D., Haller, S.
and Glass, M. (2005a). Aggregation
improves learning: experiments in natural
language generation for intelligent tutoring
systems. Paper presented at ACL2005.
http://www.cs.uic.edu/~bdieugen/PS-
papers/ACL05.pdf
Di Eugenio, B., Fossati, D., Yu, D., Haller, S.
and Glass, M. (2005b). Natural Language
Generation for Intelligent Tutoring Systems:
a case study. Presented at AIED2005 Conf.
http://www.cs.uic.edu/~bdieugen/PS-
papers/AIED05.pdf
Drigas, A. and Vrettaros, J. (2004). An
Intelligent Tool for Building E-Learning
Content Material Using Natural Language in
Digital Libraries. WSEAS Transactions on
Information Science and Applications, Issue
5, Volume 1, November 2004
http://imm.demokritos.gr/publibations/intel
l_tool.pdf
Eskenazi, Maxine (1999). Using automatic
speech processing for foreign language
pronunciation tutoring: some issues and a
prototype. Language Learning and
Technology, 2(2), January, 62-76.
http://llt.msu.edu/vol2num2/pdf/article3.p
df
Jacquemin, Christian (2001). Spotting and
Discovering Terms through Natural
Language Processing. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262
100851/sr=8-
1/qid=1153674463/ref=sr_1_1/104-
3077212-1261530?ie=UTF8
Jordon, P., Makatchev, M. and VanLehn, K.
(2004). Combining Competing Language
132
Understanding Approaches in an Intelligent
Tutoring System. In J. C. Lester, R. M. Vicari,
and F. Paraguaçu (Eds.), Proceedings of
Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems.
http://www.pitt.edu/~vanlehn/Stringent/PD
F/04ITS_PWJ_MM_KVL.pdf
Jurafsky, D. and Martin, J. (2000). Speech
and Language Processing: an introduction
to natural language processing,
computational linguistics and speech
recognition. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0130
950696/ref=pd_bxgy_text_b/104-
3077212-1261530?ie=UTF8
Kim, Jung Hee (2000). Natural Language
Analysis and Generation for Tutorial
Dialogue. Doctoral Dissertation, Illinois
Institute of Technology, Chicago.
http://www.cs.iit.edu/~circsim/documents/
kjhdiss.pdf
Lee, C.H., Evens, M. and Glass, M. (2004).
Looking at the Student Input to a Natural-
Language Based ITS. In Proceedings of the
Workshop on Dialog-based Intelligent
Tutoring Systems, Maceió, Brazil, August
31.
http://www.cs.iit.edu/~circsim/documents/
chldial04.pdf
Linckels, S. and Meinel, C. (2004).
Automatic Interpretation of Natural
Language for a Multimedia E-learning Tool.
Proceedings of ICWE 2004 Conference.
435-439.
http://www.linckels.lu/Publications/ICWE2
004.pdf
Ram, A. and Moorman, K. (Eds.) (1999).
Understanding Language Understanding:
computational models of reading.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262
181924/sr=8-
1/qid=1153674317/ref=sr_1_1/104-
3077212-1261530?ie=UTF8
Ram, A. and Moorman, K. (Eds.) (1999).
Understanding Language Understanding:
computational models of reading.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262
181924/sr=8-
1/qid=1153674317/ref=sr_1_1/104-
3077212-1261530?ie=UTF8
© Brandon Hall Research
Ross, S., Donnelly, M., Dobreva, M., Abbott,
D., McHugh, A. and Rusbridge, A. (2005).
Core Technologies for the Cultural and
Scientific Heritage Sector. Chapter on
Natural Language Processing. DigiCULT
Technology Watch Report 3.
http://www.digicult.info/downloads/TWR3-
lowres.pdf
Steinhart, David (2001). Summary Street:
an intelligent tutoring system for improving
student writing through the use of latent
semantic analysis. Doctoral dissertation,
Univ. of Colorado.
http://lsa.colorado.edu/papers/daveDissert
ation.pdf
Yang, Feng-Jen (2001). Turn Planning for a
Dialogue-Based Intelligent Tutoring System.
Doctoral Dissertation, Illinois Institute of
Technology, Chicago.
http://www.cs.iit.edu/~circsim/documents/
fydiss.pdf
Zhou, Yujian (2000). Building a New
Student Model to Support Adaptive Tutoring
in a Natural Language Dialogue System.
Doctoral Dissertation, Illinois Institute of
Technology, Chicago.
http://www.cs.iit.edu/~circsim/documents/
yzdiss.pdf

Do not reproduce 133


Peer to Peer
Technologies
Related terms
Collaboration, sharing
Description
Peer-to-peer computing (P2P) involves
sharing resources over a network with other
users, thus bypassing a central server. As
personal computers become more powerful,
each one of them can act as a server in
terms of processing power, memory, and
storage. All that is needed is peer-to-peer
software to enable this way of working.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) software has mostly
been associated with downloading music,
movies, and games. Now there is a
movement to use it for sharing work and
collaborating in educational environments.
There are three distinct P2P computing
models (Farago-Walker, 2003):
> Multiple Peer Relationships - PCs are
connected/networked to each other
through servers, and files can be
shared and collected from anyone else
on that same network.
> Distributed Peer Relationships – A
group of computers connected together
to combine their computing and
processing abilities to search the
Internet or solve very complex problems
requiring massive process crunching.
> Collaborative Peer Relationships - A
small group of people agree to
collaborate through a common
interface such as on-line gaming, chat
rooms, instant messaging, or e-learning
environments.
Peer-to-peer e-learning is not yet prevalent,
as most formal learning is based on
individual learning and not on collaborating
or sharing work. Jokela (2003), whose
research is based on activity theory,
predicts that this will change:
The current problems of the higher
education, combined with the potential
development of e-learning may eventually
lead to the introduction of a new learn-ing
134
paradigm. In the future, the key to the
learning process will be the interactions
among students themselves, and the
formation of virtual learning communities
will be the neces-sary qualification for
effective e-learning. The potential develop-
ment of learning communities will also be
studied by using a metaphoric term “peer-
to-peer learning.”
The younger generation already does a lot
of sharing and exchanging of resources.
This ethic is sure to spread to learning in the
near future.
Selected Examples
SETI@home links and uses donated
computer processing capacity to analyze
data collected from a radio telescope
located in Puerto Rico. It is an example of
grid computing and the power of peer-to-
peer technologies.
http://www.seti.org/science/setiathome.ht
ml
Campus Movie Fest is the world’s largest
student film festival, where students meet
to share and exchange their productions.
http://www.campusmoviefest.com/
The Worldwide Lexicon Project is an open
source initiative to create a multilingual
dictionary service for the Internet and to
create a simple, standardized protocol for
talking to dictionary, encyclopedia, and
translation servers throughout the Web.
http://picto.weblogger.com/
eduCommons - The eduCommons is an
open system for creating, sharing, and
reusing educational content and discourse
to support people's learning.
http://cosl.usu.edu/projects/educommons
Edutella is a peer-to-peer service for the
exchange of educational metadata. Edutella
lives on top of the Semantic Web framework
as a distributed query and search service.
http://edutella.jxta.org
The Chord Project aims to build scalable,
robust distributed systems using peer-to-
peer networks.
http://www.pdos.lcs.mit.edu/chord/
Groove Networks has developed software
tools that provide multiple users real-time
access to information simultaneously.
Groove is now owned by Microsoft
© Brandon Hall Research
Corporation.
http://www.groove.net
Sun Microsystems Project JXTA standard is
a set of peer-to-peer protocols that allows
any connected device (cell phone to PDA,
PC to server) to communicate and
collaborate.
http://wwws.sun.com/software/jxta/
Stanford University Library Systems LOCKSS
(Lots of Copies Keeps Content Safe) project
aims to create a "low-cost, persistent digital
cache" of e-journal content.
http://lockss.stanford.edu/
The Metadata3 project (also known as md3)
is a peer-to-peer application that provides
access to quality metadata and the ability to
translate between different metadata
schemes.
http://www.md3.org
Do you have unused storage capacity on
your computer? OceanStore is a global
persistent data store designed to scale to
billions of users. Any computer can join the
infrastructure, contributing storage or
providing local user access in exchange for
money.
http://oceanstore.cs.berkeley.edu/info/ove
rview.html
Piazza peer data management system
(PDMS) project uses mapping to provide
"semantic mediation" between an
environment of thousands of peers, each
with its own data schema.
http://data.cs.washington.edu/piazza.html
Publius is a Web publishing system that is
highly resistant to censorship and provides
publishers with a high degree of anonymity.
http://publius.cdt.org/
Tapestry is a location and routing
infrastructure that provides location-
independent message routing using only
point-to-point links and without centralized
resources.
http://p2p.cs.ucsb.edu/chimera/
Advanced Reality has a set of P2P collabor-
ation products that allow users to work
directly together on various applications.
http://www.advancedreality.com/products/i
ndex.html
MoveDigital, the online P2P distribution
service for independent artists, musicians,
and videomakers, allows anyone, for a small
Do not reproduce
fee, to distribute content on the Web using
P2P techniques.
http://www.movedigital.com/
Overnet is an open source, cross platform
application (Win, Mac, and Linux) that
allows people to share files with millions of
others across the globe.
http://www.overnet.com
DigitAlexandria is a peer-to-peer scientific
digital library with interesting free resources.
http://www.bdaweb.net/index.php
FreeScience software from DigitAlexandria
allows any researcher to share his or her
scientific papers (as well as notes, data, and
drawings) into a P2P network so that his
works will be instantly available to hundred
of thousands researchers worldwide.
http://www.bdaweb.net/freescience_learn
more_it.php#
LimeWire claims to be “the fastest P2P file
sharing program on the planet.” It also says
that there is “no spyware, no adware, no
Trojan horse” bundled with this program.
http://www.limewire.com/english/content/
home.shtml
LionShare is an open source P2P
collaboration among several universities,
headquartered at Penn State University.
http://lionshare.its.psu.edu/main/project_i
nformation
The Canadian LLEARN project for learning
French (at the secondary school level) has
built-in P2P functionality. It is being use as
part of the learning infrastructure to provide
students a means to find and exchange
resources.
http://www.llearn.net/
The Malmo Hospital and Malmo University
in Sweden are enabling employees at the
Malmo hospital to access videos on how to
use various pieces of equipment in the
hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) using
handheld computers and peer-to-peer
learning.
http://www.stockholmchallenge.se/projectd
ata.asp?id=5&projectid=4572
Online Resources
The e-Learning Centre in the UK maintains
an extensive list on the use of P2P software
in education.
http://www.e-
135
 learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/p2
p.htm
Internet 2’s Peer to Peer Working Group
keeps an up to date list of educational
projects using P2P technologies.
http://p2p.internet2.edu/apps_list.html
Clive Shepherd from Fastrak Consulting in
the UK has an introductory white paper on
peer-to-peer e-learning, including a case
study entitled “Learning Swap Shop.”
http://www.fastrak-
consulting.co.uk/tactix/features/swapshop.
htm
Bibliography
Boettcher, Judith (2006). How P2P will
change collaborative learning. Campus
Technology, June 1, 2006.
http://www.campus-
technology.com/article.asp?id=18570
Canali De Rossi, Luigi (2005). Why P2P file
sharing is good: the P2P Manifesto. Robin
Good Blog, January 17, 2005.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/2005/01
/17/why_p2p_file_sharing_is.htm
Jokela, Paivi (2003). Peer-to-Peer Learning:
an ultimate form of e-Learning. Proceedings
of World Conference on E-Learning in
Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and
Higher Education 2003, pp. 1624-1631.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=12187
Nejdl, Wolfgang (2002). Semantic Web and
Peer-to-Peer Technologies for Distributed
Learning Repositories. Proceedings of the
IFIP 17th World Computer Congress -
Stream on Intelligent Information
Processing.
http://www.kbs.uni-
hannover.de/Arbeiten/Publikationen/2002
/nejdl_iip02.pdf
Ratti, R., Bokma, A., Ginty, K., Tektonidis, D.
and Koumpis, A. (2004). P2P Interactions
for the Support of Knowledge Sharing in
Networked Enterprises. In Cunningham,
Paul & Cunningham, Miriam (Eds.),
eAdoption and the Knowledge Economy:
Issues, Applications, Case Studies.
Amsterdam: IOS Press, pp 1051-1058.
http://voyager.sunderland.ac.uk/Download
s/P2P_in_Networked_Enterprise.pdf

Cross, Jay (2001). eLearning Forum Update: Vassileva, Julita (2004). Harnessing P2P
peer-to-peer. Learning Circuits, July 2001. Power in the Classroom. Paper presented at
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2001/jul20 the ITS2004 Conference.
01/Cross.htm http://julita.usask.ca/Texte/ITS2004-
camera.pdf
Farago-Walker, Susan (2003). Peer-to-peer
Computing – Overview, significance and
impact, eLearning and future trends. Online
paper, University of Texas, Austin.
http://www.edb.utexas.edu/multimedia/PD
Ffolder/PeerComputing.pdf
Farges, N. and Guergachi, H. (2002). P2P
and its impact on the enterprise. Intranet
Journal, Online article.
http://www.intranetjournal.com/articles/20
0109/tm_09_26_01a.html
Fletcher, Martin (2004). Peer-to-Peer
Networks and Opportunities for Alignment of
Pedagogy and Technology. AACE Journal
12(3), 301-313.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=11303
Hofmann, Jennifer (2002). Peer-to-Peer: the
next hot trend in e-learning? Learning
Circuits, January 2002.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2002/jan2
002/hofmann.html

136 © Brandon Hall Research


Personal Learning
Environments
Related terms
ePortfolios, learning management systems,
personalization
Description
The concept of a personal learning
environment (PLE) is similar to a learning
management system but designed for an
individual learner. The idea is to have an
application that tracks learning
achievements controlled by a single user for
his or her benefit. This concept is quite
removed from formal teaching in an
educational institution. It is a virtual space
that brings together a multitude of software
and data that can be available for
individuals to use for learning, such as
search engines, blogs, libraries, discussion
forums, e-portfolios, wikis, and social
bookmarking sites. The demand for
personal learning environments comes from
the fact that learning management systems
are not easily customized to suit the needs
and preferences of individuals. Secondly, as
learners move between institutions, they
may need to learn new interfaces for
different learning management systems. A
personal learning environment would be
portable and would interact with
institutional learning management systems
as well as other sources of online content.
Here are the disadvantages of learning
management systems/virtual learning
environments compared with the
advantages offered by personal learning
environments:
> LMSs are not intrinsically learner-
centered. Courses are largely created
and structured around the curriculum
and administrative organization of the
> institution, which leaves little freedom
for the learner to be involved in the
design. A PLE is structured by the
learner, for the learner.
> Individualization in an LMS is weak.
Although the learner sees his own
selection of courses and may be able to
make some graphical modifications
Do not reproduce
(mostly in the interest of accessibility),
there is little scope to choose a person-
al suite of tools or resources according
to individual learning styles and work
habits. A PLE contains the tools of the
learner’s choice and resources as
chosen and managed by the learner.
> LMSs offer collaboration tools (discuss-
ion, chat, whiteboard), but these are
only available to members of the
course, often only for the purposes of
the course. A PLE contains collabor-
ation tools that can connect with
anyone.
> Technology needs to be situated. To
practice real-world situations, learners
need to be in real-world situations. This
means that the learning environment
also needs to be present and
appropriate to the situation. In many
cases, a live connection to the Internet
is not possible (in various laboratories,
work places, social environments, etc.),
and, without an offline client to the
LMS, there can be no electronic
interaction. A personal learning
environment can be self-contained on a
user’s computer or can connect to the
wider Internet.
> Learning happens everywhere and at all
times. An LMS cannot be ubiquitous.
> A PLE must support lifelong learning.
This requires support over time,
amongst institutions, and through a
variety of technologies. (Cortlett et al.,
2005)
Personal learning environments are in the
early stages of development, and it remains
to be seen if they will become common-
place or will replace learning management
systems.
Selected Examples
Interactive Logbook: a Mobile Portfolio and
Personal Development Planning Tool brings
together all the tools and networked re-
sources required by the learner. Running on
the learner's PC, it helps the user plan,
manage, track, and review his or her
learning activity.
http://portal.cetadl.bham.ac.uk/ilogbook/d
efault.aspx
137
 ELGG is an open source personal learning Interactive Logbook. Online case study
environment that is already working. paper.
http://elgg.net/ http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents
/birmingham.doc
Personal Learning Environments is a funded
project of the Joint Information Systems
Committee in the UK.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=ceti
s_ple
In a post on his blog, Derek Morrison has
suggested that a PLE could be in the form of
a smartcard that learners can carry.
http://www.bath.ac.uk/dacs/cdntl/pMachin
e/morriblog_more.php?id=521_0_4_0_M

Online Resources
Coverage of a June 2006 conference on
personal learning environments held in the
UK and a long list of relevant PLE links can
be found at:
http://www.elearning.ac.uk/news_folder/pl
e%20event
The personal learning environments blog is
maintained by Bolton University in the UK.
http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/ple/

Bibliography
Anderson, Terry (2006). PLEs versus LMS:
are PLEs ready for prime time? Virtual
Canuck, January 9, 2006.
http://terrya.edublogs.org/2006/01/09/pl
es-versus-lms-are-ples-ready-for-prime-time/
Corlett, D., Chan, T., Ting, J., Sharples, M.
and Westmancott, O. (2005). Interactive
Logbook: a Mobile Portfolio and Personal
Development Planning Tool. Proceedings of
HCI International 2005, 22-27 July 2005,
Las Vegas, Nevada.
http://www.mlearn.org.za/CD/papers/Corle
tt.pdf
Farmer, James (2006). A personal learning
environment based 0 on WPMU.
Incorporated Subversion, Jan. 11, 2006.
http://incsub.org/blog/2006/the-inevitable-
personal-learning-environment-post
Milligan, Colin (2005). PLE Reference
Model. Presentation to the 2005 CETIS
Conference, Edinburgh, UK.
http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/ple/resou
rces/cdm_ple_session.ppt
University of Birmingham (2005).
Supporting personalised learning – the

138 © Brandon Hall Research


Personalization
Software
Related terms
Adaptive software, artificial intelligence,
intelligent tutoring personal learning
environments
Description:
Individualization has been the “holy grail” of
progressive teaching. However, it has been
difficult to achieve because it requires
different materials to be prepared for each
learner. Furthermore, keeping track of what
has been offered to each learner as an
educational experience, and the results of
testing to allow appropriate materials to be
served and to track each learner’s progress,
have proven to be too complex in most
traditional classrooms and training
programs.
The goal of personalization software is to
change that by having software adapt to the
user's needs. Keenoy et al. describe the
state of personalization in software today:
When we talk about personalisation, we
mean a process whereby mach-ines
(computer systems, learning environments,
etc.) automatically adapt their behaviour to
cater for the needs or preferences of
different individuals. At the simplest level
this takes the form of customisation – users
can adjust various system settings stored in
a profile and the system will reflect the
changes. Examples of customisation are
things like setting the desired font size in a
Web browser, a Web site that “remembers”
if the user prefers a yellow or blue
background as the background on a PC’s
“desktop.” All of these systems remember a
user’s preferences and adjust their
behaviour accordingly, yet we would heist-
ate to call this real personalis-ation –
customisation is just remembering some
user settings for a predictable behaviour.
Real personalisation begins to happen when
the system uses the information it has
about the user to anticipate their needs and
provide them with some-thing that they
want or need. In this case it is not just
remember-ing a setting for something that
the user knows about (which font size,
Do not reproduce
colour, picture, etc.), but actually adapting
new behaviour to what the user is most
likely to want.”
All personalization schemes in software
utilize a user profile or model. This can be
an explicit model based on information
directly supplied by the user (e.g., through a
questionnaire), or it can be an implicit
model, based on inferences from user
behavior in navigating or interacting with
the personalized application (e.g., using
dynamic profiling techniques such as
cookies or log files). Often, personalized
applications use both explicit and implicit
approaches. (Filippini-Fantoni, 2005)
Once the user data has been collected,
there are many techniques to turn it into a
personalized experience. These techniques
include content-based filtering, collabor-
ative filtering, rule-based filtering, and Web
usage mining (Filippini-Fantoni, 2005).
Once a personalization algorithm has done
its work, the personalization can be applied
to content, navigation, and/or presentation
of materials. Adaptive content is when
different information is retrieved based on
personalization techniques. Adaptive
navigation is providing a personalized set of
links to the user. Adaptive presentation is
the changing format in which the content is
presented.
Selected Examples
The ELANA Project features “Personal
Learning Assistant Services.” Access
through a Web browser or the user’s history
of interaction with the site allows different
device preferences (e.g., PDAs).
http://www.elena-
project.org/en/index.asp?p=1-1
The ILEX Project uses natural language
generation techniques to generate
descriptions of museum artifacts that
consider both the level of user knowledge
and the history of previous encounters with
the artifact.
http://www.hcrc.ed.ac.uk/ilex/final.html
The Kaleidoscope TRAILS Project is based
on the fact that learners engaging with
learning objects leave “trails” - time-ordered
sequences based on a learner’s path
through educational materials. The trails
can be related to a learner’s interests or
139
 cognitive traits.
http://www.noe-
kaleidoscope.org/public/pub/researcher/ac
tivities/trails/kal_activity_sheetsA-
018.pdf?PHPSESSID=cbl7ltb6bnsklh3e95g
gchc021
The PAST project was a prototype exploit-ing
a number of key technologies (handheld
PCs, wireless networks, dynamic user
profiling techniques, dynamic scheduling
and planning techniques, and XML
technologies) to create a wireless e-guide
for archaeological sites. A demo is available
at:
http://www.beta80group.it/past
The Calimera Project has issued a set of
guidelines with links to museums with
personalization projects.
http://www.calimera.org/default.aspx
Electronic Maritime Cultural Content project
(eMarcon Project) has several European
Maritime museums sharing personalized
content.
http://www.emarcon.net/home.html
The Web site architecture of the Virtual
Museum of Canada includes My Personal
Museum, allowing the user to change the
online experience of visiting the museum.
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/English/Pers
onal/index.html
The Carrara Marble Museum in Italy allowed
visitors to choose one of four possible
profiles - three pre-defined profiles and a
user-defined profile. Each of the profiles
resulted in different content being delivered
to each user.
> http://www.directa.net/toscana/events
/museomarmo.html
> http://www.ecdc.nl/publications/paper
s/Museums%20with%20a%20personal
%20touch.pdf
An article on the “Getty Guide” describes a
handheld device for navigating the Getty
Museum.
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_
5/hamma/
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
allows Web site visitors to build a My Met
page where they can gather information
together on their favorite works of art.
https://www.metmuseum.org/mymetmuseu
140
m/index.asp?HomePageLink=mymetmuseu
m_l
Online Resources
User Modeling and User-adapted
Interaction: the Journal of Personalization
Research publishes research on
personalization studies.
http://www.umuai.org/
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revised.pdf

144 © Brandon Hall Research


Portals
Related terms
Collaboration, content management,
learning management systems, resource
sites
Description
Portals are Web sites that aggregate and
integrate content and links from many
different sources. In the business world,
corporate portals are usually structured
around roles that are found inside an
organization, while enterprise portals are
expansions of corporate portals to include
customers, vendors, and other roles outside
an organization (Collins, 2001).
Collins (2001) identifies nine types of
corporate portals:
> Information Portals
> Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP)
Portals
> Electronic Commerce Portals
> Employee/Human Resources Portals
> Corporate Interest Portals
> Internet Hosting Portals
> Collaborative Portals
> Expertise Portals
> Knowledge Portals
Corporate portals can have many functions
within an organization, including the
following:
> Value Chain Integration
> Client Relationship Management (CRM)
> Knowledge Bases, Knowledge
Management, and Knowledge Flow
> Document/Content Management
> Information Integrator – Deep
integration
> Information Filter
> Search
> Collaboration
> Polls and Surveys
Do not reproduce
> Communities of Practice
> Personalization - Push information to
where it is needed
> Communications Tools
> Applications Integration
> Consistent Brand Experience - Both
internal and external to the organization
A complete e-learning portal represents the
total integration of multimedia, instructor-
led, and real-time training and documents in
a supportive, collaborative environment. The
interaction of the learner with a portal's
information can be personalized based on
previous and current user choices, which
form a dynamic user profile. Learner profiles
can be used to personalize learning portals
and to help form “communities of practice”
among the portal users.
Some uses of e-learning portals include:
> Acting as the initial interface to live
presentations
> Providing access to online classes or
seminars
> Using collaborative options to allow for
whiteboards along with demonstrations
through application sharing
> Using Web instructor-led learning
solutions that can automate the
attendance process
> Allowing for the administration of exams
and other forms of assessment
> Providing access to searchable
educational content
> Effectively delivering learning to a
geographically dispersed workforce
(Ateshian, 2004)
Selected Examples
Elearning Europa is a portal on all aspects
of e-learning in Europe. As of early 2006,
the portal offered information on more than
20,000 projects on e-learning and
thousands of articles. There is also a
directory of publications and a directory of
authors and contributions.
http://www.elearningeuropa.info/
Microsoft SharePoint is portal software that
allows “team members” (who could include
145
 students, instructors, administrators, and
technical staff) to access a series of shared
content libraries, news and announce-
ments, document management information,
interactive discussion groups, instant
messaging, e-mail distribution lists, online
meetings with text, audio and/or video, and
shared lists for tasks, calendars, and
schedules. All of this activity can be
archived within SharePoint.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2
003/technologies/sharepoint/default.mspx
For a demo of SharePoint, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/sharepoin
t/prodinfo/demo.mspx
HP offers an eLearning Portal Solution that
is based on Microsoft SharePoint. HP
Services delivers eLearning Portal Solutions
for Education that are designed to provide
an equally powerful educational resource
that brings teachers, school administrators,
students, and their families together in a
virtual environment to enable stronger
collaboration and communication through a
single sign-on portal.
http://h20219.www2.hp.com/services/cac
he/259662-0-0-225-121.html
Other e-learning portal vendors include the
following:
Centra Knowledge Center (now Saba)
http://www.saba.com/products/centra/kno
wledge_center/index.htm
CyberU – Access to over 3,000 online
courses
http://www.cyberu.com/home.asp
Element K – Access to over 2,300 online
courses
http://www.elementk.com/
Executrain – Access to hundreds of online
IT courses
http://www.executrain.com/
Fathom – Large archive of courses and
learning materials maintained by Columbia
University on behalf of a number of libraries,
museums, and universities.
http://www.fathom.com/
ProQuest – Agreements with more than
9,000 publishers worldwide
http://www.proquest.com/
146
Teach-nology – Access to over 27,000
lesson plans
http://www.teach-nology.com/
Training Registry – Large online training
directory
www.trainingregistry.com
World Wide Learn – Access to over 16,700
online courses
http://www.worldwidelearn.com/
Online Resources
Mart Muller maintains a blog on all aspects
of SharePoint, including educational uses.
http://blogs.tamtam.nl/mart/CategoryView,
category,Education.aspx
Bibliography
Ateshian, Ron (2004). You’ve come a long
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Barron, Tom (2000). A Portrait of Learning
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2000/Barron.htm
Brockbank, Bray (2001). Demystifying
eLearning Portals: The Convergence of
Enterprise Intelligence and Learning.
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Campbell, K. and Aucoin, R. (2003). Values-
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Weggen, Cornelia (2000). E-Learning
Portals--Who Needs Them? Learning
Circuits, September 2000.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2000/sep2
000/Weggen.htm

Do not reproduce 147


Presentation Tools
Related terms
Screencasting, Skypecasting, virtual
classrooms, web conferencing, webcasting,
webinars
Description
Lecturing has been a method of
transmitting information to students since
the Middle Ages. In fact, the word
“lecturing” means “to read.” In the Middle
Ages, a lecturer would read to a group of
monks who would then copy down his every
word. This was how manuscripts were
reproduced before the advent of the printing
press.
Even though lecturing and presenting is
considered part of traditional education and
training, there is still a wide demand for live
and archived presentations using the
Internet. A number of emerging e-learning
technologies try to replicate the experience
of a presentation by a teacher in a tradit-
ional classroom or lecture hall. The present-
ation mode of teaching is supported by
various kinds of meeting and Web conferen-
cing software and through a technique
called screencasting. The actual present-
ations are often called online lectures or
Webinars.
Duckworth (2001) suggests the following
tips for successful live presentations:
> Begin and end on time
> Ask for support
> Establish a group identity
> Review the virtual classroom’s features
> Establish ground rules
> State objectives
> Suspend spelling and grammar
accuracy
> Promote interaction
> Keep the class on track
> Communicate effectively
It is clear that in this age of entertainment,
the quality of a lecture depends on the
performance skills of the presenter.
148
Consequently, if lecturing or presenting is
going to be done on the Web, it should be
done with the highest quality audio and
video available.
Online presentations can be very boring,
just as live lectures can be boring in a
classroom. However, when experts are not
readily available, an online lecture or
Webinar may be the most efficient way of
accessing an expert’s knowledge.
Selected Examples
The Liberty Science Center in Jersey City,
New Jersey has a “Cardiac Classroom,” a
unique two-way audio and video interactive
surgical experience. Guests can watch the
operation in progress and speak with
medical staff as it takes place.
http://www.lsc.org/livefrom/cardiac/cardia
c_home.html
Macromedia has a set of e-learning
recorded seminars that provide a flavor of
what live presentations are like on the
Internet. Experience them at:
http://www.macromedia.com/resources/el
earning/presentations/
Replay Rich Media supplies the facilities for
producing and distributing Webcasts.
http://www.replayhq.com/site/index.htm
The practice of presenting a live lecture
remains a staple of university and college
teaching, although many are trying to
change this practice. See the TEAL Project
at MIT.
http://icampus.mit.edu/TEAL).
WebTrain is a new Web conferencing
system that has received a very favorable
review from the Robin Good Blog.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/2003/09
/22/how_do_i_review_and_approach_Web
_conferencing_companies.htm
Another powerful Web conferencing system
is the software by Elluminate.
http://www.elluminate.com
Hewlett-Packard, in partnership with
Dreamworks, has created an amazing live
online conferencing system called Halo.
While it is expensive, it points to the
standards that will be used in the near
future for remote meetings.
© Brandon Hall Research
> http://www.silicon.com/cxoextra/0,380
0005416,39155030,00.htm
> http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/
press/2005/051212xa.html
An example of an online lecture from the
University of Adelaide in Australia using
RoboPresenter.
http://ajax.acue.adelaide.edu.au/~calgary/
partone/#
Presentations that are based on screen
captures and narration are sometimes
called screencasting. Two interesting
examples are both narrated by Jon Udell, a
columnist at InfoWorld.
> http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/200
5/02/25.html#a1185
> http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/200
5/01/22.html#a1156
Online Resources
Athabasca University in Canada has a
software evaluation site that lists and
describes various online meeting and
discussion packages.
http://cde.athabascau.ca/softeval/
A comprehensive “Web conferencing guide”
is maintained by David Woolley. It covers
“real-time” Web conferencing,
videoconferencing, online meetings, instant
messaging, forums and message boards,
groupware, social software for online
collaboration, online communities, virtual
teams, intranets, and e-learning.
http://www.thinkofit.com/webconf/index.ht
m learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/te
Human Resource Webinars is a free,
independent listing of Webinars, Webcasts,
and seminars relating to the field of human
resources.
http://www.humanresourceWebinars.com/
Communiqué Conferencing has a useful
white paper on how to choose a Web
conferencing system.
http://www.ccimeet.com/choosingawebcon
ferencesolution.pdf
Brandon Hall Research (publishers of this
report) has a report entitled “Live E-Learning
2004”.
http://www.brandon-
hall.com/publications/lel/lel.shtml
Do not reproduce
The Kolabora Web site lists reviews of
various resources on Web conferencing,
videoconferencing, and Web presentations.
> http://www.kolabora.com/news_radars
/web_conferencing.htm
> http://www.kolabora.com/news_radars
/web_presentations.htm
Live from… is a site for simulated medical
procedures on the heart, brain, and kidneys.
See live video from the operating room at:
http://www.lsc.org/livefrom/in-the-
or/livefrom_videos.html
The e-Learning Centre in the UK maintains a
comprehensive list of online presentation
tools and resources on “live e-learning.”
> http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resource
s/live.htm
> http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/vendors/p
resentations.htm
The e-Learning Centre in the UK has a
specific list of resources on how to use
various Acrobat/Macromedia Products such
as Acrobat, Authorware, Breeze, Captivate,
Dreamweaver, Coursebuilder, and Flash.
http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/usi
ngadobe.htm
Teaching is often equated with live
presentations, although it does not have to
be. The e-Learning Centre maintains a list of
online teaching resources.
http://www.e-
ach.htm
eWeek Magazine has lists of resources for
videoconferencing, virtual classrooms,
virtual meetings, Web conferencing, Web
seminars, and whiteboarding.
http://buyersguide.eweek.com/eweek/web
conferencing.asp_Q_sitename_E_eweek_w
ebconferencing
The e-Learning Centre in the UK has a list of
resources and links on live e-learning,
presentation and streaming presentation
tools, and using PowerPoint and Breeze.
http://www.e-learningcentre.co.uk
TimelyWeb lists and reviews over 25,000
software programs for business and
presentation tools.
149
 http://www.timelyweb.com/downloads/sear
ch.php?string=presentation&search=All&m
atch=Any&search_btn=Search+%3E%3E%3
E /are_web_conferencing_and_live_presentat
Presentations.com is a Web site and
newsletter devoted to reviewing the best
products and practices for making
presentations.
http://www.presentations.com/presentatio
ns/index.jsp
FilesLand is another site offering a long list
of software for a variety of types of
presentations.
http://www.filesland.com/software/present
ation.html
Using Apreso software, capture the
classroom lecture experience and offer it
online for those who were not there in
person.
http://www.apreso.com/
There is no shortage of presentation
programs at Program Junction.
http://www.programjunction.com/cat_busin
essproductivitytools_presentationtoolssoftw
are_1.html
Download Junction lists almost 200 online
presentation tools of various types.
http://www.downloadjunction.com/product
/software/795/index.html
WWWTools for Education has a listing of
resources on screencasts and
screencasting.
http://m.fasfind.com/wwwtools/m/21593.
cfm?x=0&rid=21593
Bibliography
Agarwal, Armit (2005). Rapid E-learning a
Breeze with Macromedia Captivate 1.01.
Digital Inspiration, July 8, 2005.
http://labnol.blogspot.com/2005/07/rapid-
e-learning-breeze-with.html
Canali De Rossi, Luigi (2003a). Best Online
Resources For Web Conferencing, Live E-
Learning, Real-Time Collaboration and Live
Presentation Tools. Robin Good Blog, April
30, 2003.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/2003/05
/02/best_online_resources_for_web_confer
encing_live_elearning_realtime_collaboratio
n_and_live_presentation_tools.htm
Canali De Rossi, Luigi (2003b). Are Web
Conferencing And Live Presentation Tools
150
Ready For Prime-Time? MasterViews
International, May 15, 2003.
http://www.masterviews.com/2003/05/15
ion_tools_ready_for_primetime.htm
Canali De Rossi, Luigi (2003c). Best new
tools for web conferencing and live
collaboration. Robin Good Blog, Sept. 3,
2003.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/2003/09
/03/best_new_tools_for_web_conferencing
_and_live_collaboration.htm
Duckworth, Christine (2001). An Instructor's
Guide to Live E-Learning. Learning Circuits,
July.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2001/jul20
01/duckworth.htm
Hofman, Jennifer (2004). Live and Online!:
tips, techniques and ready to use activities
for the virtual classroom. San Francisco:
Pfeiffer.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/d
etail/-
/0787969788/qid=1131986202/sr=1-
1/ref=sr_1_1/002-4609659-
0461665?v=glance&s=books
Lazarus, Belinda (2003). Teaching Courses
Online: How much time does it take?
Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks
(JALN), 7(3), Sept.
http://www.aln.org/publications/jaln/v7n3/
v7n3_lazarus.asp
McNally, Russ (2004). How to Become an e-
Learning Guru: It’s a Breeze... Or Is It?
eLearning Developers’ Journal, July 26,
2004. (in two parts)
> http://www.russellmcnally.com/Breeze
Part1.pdf
> http://www.russellmcnally.com/Breeze
Part2.pdf
McFerrin, K. and Furr, P. (2002). Learning in
Online and Desktop Video Conferencing
Courses: Are Some Students Plugged In and
Tuned Out? Paper presented at the 2002
SITE conference.
http://www.aace.org/conf/site/pt3/paper_
3008_148.pdf
Scott, P. and Quick, K. (2004). Heroic
failures in disseminating novel e-learning
technologies to corporate clients: A case
study of interactive webcasting. Knowledge
Media Institute Technical Report.
© Brandon Hall Research
http://kmi.open.ac.uk/publications/pdf/kmi
-05-1.pdf
Spielman, S. and Winfield, L. (2003). The
Web Conferencing Book: Understanding the
Technology, Choose the Right Vendors,
Software, and Equipment, Start Saving Time
and Money Today. AMACOM.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/d
etail/-/0814471749/002-4609659-
0461665?v=glance
Udell, Jon (2005) Let’s hear it for screen-
casting. InfoWorld, Feb. 11, 2005.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/02/1
1/07OPstrategic_1.html
Zielinski, Dave (2002). Choose your
presentation tools carefully. Choices are
great, but… Presentations Magazine, Dec..
http://www.presentations.com/presentatio
ns/delivery/article_display.jsp?vnu_content
_id=1816615

Do not reproduce 151


Rapid e-Learning Tools
Related terms
Authoring tools, extreme e-learning, just-in-
time e-learning, learning objects,
microlearning
Description
The term “rapid e-learning” has two
different meanings. It can refer to learning
something quickly, or it can mean a very
fast timeline in producing online learning
materials. In the first case, very short
segments of online content are used to
convey essential information about a topic,
usually when it is needed (Brodsky, 2003).
This type of e-learning is sometimes
referred to as microlearning.
In the second sense of the term, rapid e-
learning is any educational online content
that is produced much faster than by
normal processes by those with knowledge
of the content. For example, LTI Magazine
defines rapid e-learning as courseware (live
or self-paced) developed in less than three
weeks, where subject matter experts act as
the primary development resource.
Tools for rapid e-learning are, by necessity,
simple, easy to use, and based on
preformed templates for layout and design.
According to Ready Go!, a vendor of rapid e-
learning tools, following are characteristics
of a rapid e-learning tool:
> Short learning curve.
> Does not require the course developer
to know how to create a course’s look
and feel.
> Navigation built in - automatically
assures that all navigation works.
> Instructional design built in.
> Does not require any programming or
HTML knowledge.
> Integration with LMSs is built in – no
advanced skills are necessary.
> Deploys easily - does not require any
plug-ins.
> Advanced features, such as creating
links, tests, glossary, FAQ, and drill
152
down pages, are built in. Does not
require any advanced skills,
programming, or HTML knowledge.
> Bringing in learning objects such as
Flash, graphics, and clip art is straight
forward and supported .
Rapid e-learning is best for situations where
there are budget constraints, a demand to
produce online content very quickly, or
where the online information frequently
changes. It is best suited to text-based
materials, so is often used as a quick way of
getting “legacy’ materials online. The
downside of rapid e-learning is that it often
produces materials that are not optimal in
terms of instructional design or graphic
design. E-learning produced this way can be
very boring, especially if the same templates
for a course are used repeatedly. Clark
Aldrich (2005) has likened rapid e-learning
to producing fast food – edible, but not
always good for you.
Van Dam (2005) says that we “must take a
hard look at current e-learning development
models and identify areas for business
process improvement.” Efficiency
improvements can be achieved if efforts are
made to do the following:
> Standardize development processes.
> Standardize approaches, including tools
and templates.
> Define development approaches that
satisfy different needs (i.e., virtual
classroom, low- versus high-interaction).
> Reduce the number of development
vendors.
> Leverage professional project
management methods and tools.
> Assign SMEs who are committed, and
communicate deliverable expectations.
> Use the right blend of onshore and
offshore e-learning development
resources.
To be effective, rapid e-learning tools need
to quickly and easily create content, deliver
that content in a rich and engaging manner,
manage the content and the users, and
produce data showing that the content was
actually viewed and retained (Vidal, 2003).
That means that anyone engaging in the
rapid development of content must have
© Brandon Hall Research
access to a clear project plan, schedule and
due dates, centrally located files, version
control protocols, and competent subject
matter experts (Mayberry, 2004).
Selected Examples
The world of microlearning is covered by the
microlearning.org Web site, which contains
information on resources, conferences, and
other good stuff.
http://www.microlearning.org/
Elliott Masie is one the leading advocates
for “extreme learning,” a form of rapid
learning with much shortened timelines.
http://www.masie.com
Articulate Rapid E-Learning Studio is a
software package that includes Articulate
Presenter and Articulate Quizmaker.
http://www.articulate.com/studio.html
SCATE Technologies produces Ignite,
software that builds online content in four
steps – Capture, Edit, Enhance, and
Publish. See a demo at:
http://www.scate.com
Raptivity claims to be “the world’s first rapid
interactivity builder.” Find out more:
http://www.raptivity.com/
ReadyGo Web Course Builder is a tool for
rapid development of online courses. See
sample templates at:
http://www.readygo.com/
Online Resources
The e-Learning Centre in the UK maintains
an up to date list of Rapid E-Learning
resources.
http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/ra
pid.htm
Bibliography
Abell, Kendrick (2006). Templates,
Reusability, Future-Proofing, and the
Technology Side of Rapid e-Learning.
Learning Solutions, January 23, 2006.
http://www.elearningguild.com/pdf/2/012
306dev-h.pdf
Aldrich, Clark (2005). Learning by Doing: a
comprehensive guide to simulations,
computer games, and pedagogy and e-
learning and other educational experiences.
Do not reproduce
San Francisco: Pfieffer.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0787
977357/sr=8-
1/qid=1154628579/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-
2921152-9837507?ie=UTF8
Archibald, Dianne (2005). Rapid e-Learning:
a growing trend. Learning Circuits, January.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2005/jan2
005/archibald.htm
Bersin, Josh (2004). Rapid Instructional
Design: a breakthrough. Tips and Tech-
niques, August 2004.
http://www.bersin.com/tips_techniques/jul-
aug_04_rapid_ID.asp
Bersin, Josh (2005). Making rapid e-learning
work. Chief Learning Officer, July 2.
http://www.clomedia.com/content/templat
es/clo_article.asp?articleid=1008&zoneid=
62
Brandon, Bill (2005). Exploring the
Definition of “Rapid e-Learning”. Paper.
http://www.elearningguild.com/pdf/4/rapid
_elearning_whitepaper_3-2-05.pdf
Brodsky, Mark (2003). When 15-Minute e-
Learning Doesn’t Work. LTI Newsline, June.
http://www.elearningmag.com/ltimagazine/
article/articleDetail.jsp?id=59278
Cooper, Lane (2002). Managing Knowledge
in Internet Time: the growing role of rapid e-
learning in corporate America. Larstan
Business Reports.
http://www.meetingone.com/resources/File
/US/English/managing_knowledge1.pdf
Crosman, Penny (2004). E-Learning for
short attention spans. Transform Magazine,
July 2004.
http://www.transformmag.com/showArticle.
jhtml?articleID=22101169
Cross, Jay (2005). Extreme Learning: Deci-
sion Games. Chief Learning Officer, April.
http://www.clomedia.com/content/templat
es/clo_article.asp?articleid=899&zoneid=1
07
De Vries, Jennifer (2004). Rapid E-Learning:
Groundbreaking New Research. LTI
Newsline, June 30, 2004.
http://www.ltimagazine.com/ltimagazine/ar
ticle/articleDetail.jsp?id=102399
DeVries, J. and Bersin, J. (2004). Rapid e-
Learning: what works – market, tools,
techniques and best practices for building
153
 e-learning programs in weeks. Bersin and http://www.trainingpressreleases.com/new
Associates White Paper. sstory.asp?NewsID=1390
http://www.adobe.com/products/breeze/w
Sanford, Stephanie (2006). A team of one:
hitepapers/bersin_elearning_study.pdf
rapid e-learning environment at break-neck
Gustafson, Joe (2005). Project Management speed. Learning Solutions, January 16,
in the Age of Rapid E-learning. LTI Newsline, 2006.
Mar. 10, 2006. http://www.elearningguild.com/pdf/2/011
http://www.ltimagazine.com/ltimagazine/ar 606dev-f.pdf
ticle/articleDetail.jsp?id=150619
Shepherd, Clive (2006). Rapid e-learning
Hess, Garin (2004). Creating a Rapid e- gets the job done. The Training Foundation
Learning Development System using Flash online article.
and XML. Rapid Intake White Paper. http://www.trainingfoundation.com/articles
http://www.e- /default.asp?PageID=2542
learningguru.com/wpapers/vendor/Rapid_e
van Dam, Nick (2005). E-Learning
Learning.pdf
Development at the Speed of Business.
Jimenez, Ray (2005). Rapid e-Learning: Chief Learning Officer, February 2005.
content design and development. Vignettes http://www.clomedia.com/content/templat
for Training White Paper. es/clo_article.asp?articleid=850&zoneid=1
http://vftraining.net/acme/elearn/rapid/ra 11
pid_vft_v1.pdf
Vidal, Eric (2003). What is Rapid e-
Jimenez, Ray (2006). Rapid e-Learning: Learning? Chief Learning Officer, January
software reusability and rapid production 2003.
process. Learning Solutions, Jan. 9, 2006. http://www.clomedia.com/content/templat
http://www.elearningguild.com/articles/abs es/clo_lettertoeditor.asp?articleid=86&zon
tracts/index.cfm?action=viewonly&id=168 eid=76
Kruse, Kevin (2002). e-Learning Crop
Circles. Chief Learning Officer, Nov. 2002.
http://www.clomedia.com/content/templat
es/clo_col_elearning.asp?articleid=65&zon
eid=44
Macromedia Inc. (2004a). Making the most
of virtual classrooms and self-paced
presentations: Guidelines for Rapid
eLearning. Macromedia White Paper.
http://download.macromedia.com/pub/ele
arning/virtual_classrooms.pdf
Macromedia Inc. (2004b). Speed Is King:
Rapid Creation and Deployment of
Enterprise E-Learning Solutions.
Macromedia White Paper.
http://download.macromedia.com/pub/ele
arning/rapid_deploy_elearning.pdf
Mayberry, Ed (2004). Online learning for
tough times: keys to rapid development.
Learning Circuits, June 2004.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2004/jun2
004/mayberry.htm
Masie Center (2005). Extreme Learning Lab
Created by MASIE Center to focus on
Gaming, Simulation, Mobile and Device
Based Learning. Press release, April 20,
2005.

154 © Brandon Hall Research


Robotics
Related terms
Artificial intelligence, simulation
Description
The use of robots in education has a history
going back to the 1960s. Seymour Papert
and his colleagues at MIT developed the
LOGO computer language for children,
which is used to control both physical and
virtual “turtles” with simple commands. By
immersing children in “microworlds” the
children themselves controlled, Papert and
his colleagues hoped the children would
naturally learn mathematical relationships.
This initiative has developed into several
educational products that use LOGO and
robots for teaching.
Robots are becoming more prevalent in
educational settings and can be used for
the following:
> Teaching
> Objects of study
> Tour guides
> Welcoming devices
> Providing information
> Assisting in difficult situations such as
archaeological digs or in space
> Remote sensing
> Underwater study
> Accessibility for persons with a disability
Robotics is a great way to get students
excited about science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics. It is also
highly effective in developing team-work and
self-confidence.
Selected Examples
Remotely Operated Vehicles (or ROVS) are
one type of robot. Check out the ROVs made
by Woods Hole Marine Systems, Inc. for
underwater exploration. Their main client is
the Mystic Aquarium’s Institute for
Exploration.
> http://www.whmsi.com/
Do not reproduce
> http://www.ife.org/
The LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Invention
System allows children to produce their own
working robots and learn how to program
them.
http://mindstorms.lego.com/
Active Robots in the UK sells a wide variety
of kits for building educational robots.
Check out their online catalogue at:
http://www.active-robots.com/
Botball is a hands-on learning experience in
robotics designed to engage students in
learning the practical applications of
science, technology, engineering, and math.
http://www.botball.org/about-
botball/overview.php
NASA has a robotics program aimed at
teachers and students. Learn all about
future space robots and participate in the
activities on the site.
http://robotics.nasa.gov/
The Antarctica Online project involves
students in South Australia using robots
located at the Australian Antarctic Davis
Station to conduct remote telecontrol
experiments.
http://www.aad.gov.au/
Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics
Academy claims to be “building engineers,
one child at a time.” Find out how you can
become involved at:
http://www-
education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/index.html
Evolution Robotics offers its robot kits to
schools at substantial discounts.
http://www.evolution.com/education/
The European Robotics Research Network
(EURON) Web site provides a platform for
collecting and sharing information about
robots in education.
http://www.euron.org/
General Robotics Corporation has
developed a robotics curriculum for schools.
The "RB5X: Mission to Mars" materials are
available at:
http://www.edurobot.com/r_home.html
The KISS Institute for Practical Robotics
(KIPR) is a private non-profit community-
based organization that has worked since
1993 with all ages to provide improved
learning and skills development by applying
155
 technology, particularly robotics.
http://www.kipr.org/
LCSI is a company founded by Dr. Seymour
Papert to commercialize many of his ideas
about teaching children using the LOGO
computer language. The Microworlds EX
Robotics Edition is a kit for building
educational robots.
http://www.microworlds.com/solutions/mw
exrobotics.html
Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka
University in Japan has designed a robot in
his own image that lectures for him. By
donning motion sensors, Mr. Ishiguro can
deliver lectures through the robot even
when he is outside of Osaka. The robot can
accurately mimic Professor Ishiguro’s
posture, lip movements, and vocal tics. To
find the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at
Osaka University, go to:
http://www.ed.ams.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/
See also:
http://www.profetic.org/article.php3?id_arti
cle=8252
Professor Ishiguro is the leader of a group of
robotics researchers at the Intelligent
Robotics and Communications Laboratories
in Kyoto. Find out more about this group at:
http://www.irc.atr.jp/
Online Resources
The City University of New York maintains a
repository of links on educational robotics.
http://www.sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~sklar/er
/edu.html
Robot Haven is a community-run Web site
on robotics. It features news, links, and
other information on robotics.
http://robothaven.net/
Run by NASA, the Robotics Curriculum
Clearinghouse stores lesson plans on
robotics for all levels.
http://robotics.nasa.gov/rcc/index.php
Bibliography
Blank, D., Kumar, D., Meeden, L. and Yanco,
H. (2005). Pyro: An Integrated Environment
for Robotics Education. Paper at the
American Assoc. Artificial Intelligence Conf.
http://www.cs.uml.edu/~holly/papers/blan
k-et-al-pyro-aaai05-abstract.pdf
156
Blank, D., Yanco, H., Kumar, D. and
Meeden, L. (2004). Avoiding the Karel-the-
Robot Paradox: A framework for making
sophisticated robotics accessible. Paper at
the American Association for Artificial
Intelligence Spring Session.
http://dangermouse.brynmawr.edu/~dblan
k/papers/aaaiss04-pyro.pdf
Boersch, I., Heinsohn, J. and Loose, H.
(2004). Autonomous and Mobile Robots in
Education. Internationales Wissen-
schaftliches Kolloquium, Germany, Sept.
http://zeus.fh-
brandenburg.de/~loose/Texte_PDF/49IWKI
lmenau2004F.pdf
Cooper, M., Keating, D., Harwin, W. and
Dautenhahn, K. (1999). Robots in the
classroom - tools for accessible education.
Proceedings, AAATE Conference 1999,
November, Düsseldorf, Germany.
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/fduvalle/
robo_ed/robots_accessible_education.pdf
Ferrari, M., Ferrari, G. and Hempel, R.
(2001). Building Robots with Lego
Mindstorms. New York: Syngress Publishing.
http://www.amazon.com/Building-Robots-
Lego-Mindstorms-
Ultimate/dp/1928994679/sr=8-
4/qid=1157038194/ref=pd_bbs_4/104-
8461686-1018359?ie=UTF8
Gerecke, U., Hohmann, P. and Wagner, B.
(2004). Solutions to Meet the Requirements
of Educational Robotics. Paper presented at
the International Conference on Engineering
Education and Research (iCEERO4).
> http://www.l3s.de/morob/pdf/iCEER_P
oster.pdf
> http://www.l3s.de/morob/pdf/iCEER04
_79_Gerecke_Hohmann_Wagner.pdf
Nourbakhsh, I., Miller, D., Lathan, C. and
Mataric, M. (2004). Educational Robotics:
assessment of the state of the Art in the US.
Presentation to the 2004 National Science
Foundation Conference, June.
http://www.wtec.org/robotics/us_workshop
/June22/educational-robotics.pdf
Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children,
Computers, and Powerful Ideas. Basic
Books. New York.
http://www.amazon.com/Mindstorms-
Children-Computers-Powerful-
Ideas/dp/0465046746/sr=8-
© Brandon Hall Research
8/qid=1157038194/ref=pd_bbs_8/104-
8461686-1018359?ie=UTF8
Ross, S., Donnelly, M., Dobreva, M., Abbott,
D., McHugh, A. and Rusbridge, A. (2005).
Core Technologies for the Cultural and
Scientific Heritage Sector. DigiCULT
Technology Watch Report 3.
http://www.digicult.info/downloads/TWR3-
lowres.pdf
Stewart, T. and West, R. (2001). Levels of
Description: A Role for Robots in Cognitive
Science Education. Paper presented at
PHICS – Philosophy and Cognitive Science
Conference, Ottawa, Ontario, Sept. 28-30.
http://rob.ccmlab.ca:8080/~terry/papers/2
001-Robots_Education.pdf

Do not reproduce 157


Search Engines
Related terms
Boolean searches, data mining, federated
search, information retrieval, meta-search
engines, resource discovery, search engine
optimization, social bookmarking
Description
Search is probably the most used e-learning
application. Because of the vast store of
available information on the Internet,
searching for what we are looking for is a
form of informal learning that we have come
to take for granted. Searching the Internet
has become so commonplace that ”to
Google” has become a well-used verb for
many people.
But, as this section of the report shows,
Google is only one of hundreds of search
engines, each with their own defining
feature sets. Aharoni (2005) identifies three
main types of search engines:
> Crawler–based search engines, such as
Google and Altavista, which use
programs that crawl the Web and
create search engine indices.
> Web directories, such as Yahoo, which
depend on humans for their
hierarchical listings.
> Meta–search engines, such as
Metacrawler and Vivisimo, which submit
queries, in parallel, to several other
Web search engines and display the
search results to the user, usually after
merging and ranking them in a single
list. These may be thought of as
second-generation search engines.
Each of these search engine types can be
divided into one of the following: general
search engines that cover a wide range of
topics, or specialty search engines that
cover a more focused range of topics or
specific audiences.
Ezzy (2006a, 2006b) divides the history of
search engines into three “generations”:
> First-generation engines search ranked
sites based on page content - examples
are early yahoo.com and Alta Vista.
158
> Second-generation engines rely on link
analysis for ranking - so they take the
structure of the Web into account.
Examples are Google and Overture.
> Third-generation search technologies
are designed to combine the scalability
of existing Internet search engines with
new and improved relevancy models.
They bring into the equation user
preferences, collaboration, collective
intelligence, a rich user experience, and
many other specialized capabilities that
make information more productive.
One interesting distinction is between
“retrospective search” and “prospective
search.” The first type searches the Web as
it exists, while the latter alerts you that new
information has been posted somewhere on
your topic of interest.
There are a number of problems with search
engines that are being dealt with by
researchers. One is the problem of finding
relevant, dependable information. While
search engines have improved over the past
several years, search results still often
require careful sifting to retrieve useful
information.
One new approach is called “federated
searching,” in which a single query is used
to find information across multiple
databases and other data sources,
especially information stored on proprietary
systems that are not on the Internet. Much
of the World Wide Web is hidden to search
engines, for a variety of reasons. It is
estimated that the “deep Web” contains
approximately 500 times the amount of
information that is actually posted on
Internet servers (Geser, 2004). Federated
searching is just one of the approaches to
finding hidden information currently being
researched.
Selected Examples
Search engines can be divided into three
groups: general search engines that search
for all topics, specialty search engines that
are confined to specific subject areas or
types of media, and meta-search engines
that combine the results of many individual
search engines. Click on each of the
following search engines to see their unique
features:
© Brandon Hall Research
General search engines:
A9 – Amazon.com’s search service
http://a9.com
About.com – Features hundreds of
searchable topics.
http://www.about.com/
Aeiwi – Search by clicking on common
keywords related to a topic, then fill in the
search box.
http://www.aeiwi.com/
Alexa – Search results with Web traffic
rankings.
http://www.alexa.com/
AlltheWeb – Search audio, video, and text.
http://www.alltheweb.com/
AltaVista – Features Babel Fish translations
of entries.
http://www.altavista.com/
Answers.com – (incorporating Gurunet) –
ask questions, get answers
http://www.answers.com
AOL Search – Allows searching in a local
area (USA only).
http://search.aol.com/aolcom/webhome
AskJeeves (now Ask) – Ask questions using
a “natural language” approach.
http://www.ask.com/
Excalibur – A deep search engine by
Convera that organizes the Web into
millions of categories.
http://www.convera.com/
Fagan Finder – A search portal with many
different ways to search for information
online. It searches the Web as well as a
large number of well known reference
works.
http://www.faganfinder.com
Gada.be – Narrow a search to specific
categories for better results.
http://www.gada.be/
GigaBlast – Cluster results by top
correlations.
http://www.gigablast.com/
Gnod – A self-adapting discovery engine.
http://www.gnod.net
Google – The top search engine in the world
– has roughly 85 percent of all searches.
http://www.google.com
Do not reproduce
Grokker – Clusters results by subject.
http://www.grokker.com/
Gravee - A social search engine with tagging
and community-based ranking. Shares
advertising revenues with content owners.
http://www.gravee.com/
HotBot – Allows users to set filters on
search results.
http://www.hotbot.com/
IceRocket – Searches images, blogs, and
the Web.
http://www.icerocket.com/
Jookster – A social search engine that also
allows users who are searching for the
same things to contact each other.
http://www.jookster.com/
Lexxe – A search engine that is powered by
“advanced natural language technology” to
find the answers to questions, rather than
just returning Web pages.
http://www.lexxe.com/
Look Smart – Narrow a search to specific
categories.
http://search.looksmart.com/
Mooter – Sorts results into visual clusters.
Clicking a cluster makes search more
accurate.
http://www.mooter.com/
MSN Search – The “search builder” option
can make a search more accurate.
http://search.msn.com/
Netscape Search – Allows searching within
a local area.
http://channels.netscape.com/search/defa
ult.jsp
OAIster – Search for hard to find library
information.
http://oaister.umdl.umich.edu/o/oaister/
Octavo – A collaborative search engine.
http://www.otavo.com/
Open Directory – Search categories and
subcategories to find a desired item.
http://dmoz.org/
Outfoxed – See a visualization of the
“informer” network.
http://getoutfoxed.com/home
PubSub – Search the future – This search
engine notifies the user when his or her
159
 topic appears.
http://www.pubsub.com/
Qube – Qube is based on “browserless
search” with user collaboration and
networking.
http://qube.qelix.com/v2/index.htm
Rollyo – “Roll your own” search engine that
uses only trusted sources.
http://rollyo.com/
Squidoo – A searchable hand built catalog
of what individual contributors think are the
best resources on a given topic.
http://www.squidoo.com/
StumbleUpon – Search collaborative
recommendations on great Web sites.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/
Swicki – A search engine that learns from a
community’s search behavior.
http://swicki.eurekster.com/
TagJag – Find items from over 200
resources and see the results of other
peoples' searches.
http://tagjag.com/
Ujiko – Clusters results. Clicking a cluster
further refines a search.
http://www.ujiko.com/v2a/flash.php?langu
e=en
Vivísimo - Clusters results. Clicking a cluster
further refines a search.
http://vivisimo.com/
Wink – Using social networking, users tag
their favorite results and block spam. Wink
then diplays the results.
http://www.wink.com/
Yahoo – The second most popular search
engine on the Internet – about 9 percent of
searches.
http://www.yahoo.com/
Specialty search engines:
Acronym Finder – A search engine for
acronyms
http://www.acronymfinder.com/
Blinkx TV – A search engine for TV and
Video.
http://www.blinkx.tv/
Citeseer – Citations of academic literature.
http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/
160
FASTUS – Extracting information from real
world texts.
http://www.ai.sri.com/%7Eappelt/fastus.ht
ml
FirstGov and GPO Access – Allows a Web
site search of the US Government. Much of
this information is hidden from view.
> http://firstgov.gov/
> http://www.gpoaccess.gov/
Froogle – Google’s shopping search engine.
http://froogle.google.com/
Gnoosic – A search engine for music, books,
and movies.
http://www.gnoosic.com
Google Book Search – Search just for
books.
http://books.google.com/
Google Scholar – Search for scholarly
articles only.
http://scholar.google.com/
Govmine – Search engine based on typical
queries of government workers.
http://www.govmine.com/ts/10/
HealthFinder — A medical search engine.
http://www.healthfinder.gov/
IceRocket – Searches blogs only.
http://icerocket.com/
Infomine – Searches scholarly Internet
resource collections by subject category.
http://infomine.ucr.edu/
Internet Movie Database – search within
plot summaries, reviews, cast lists and
theatre schedules.
http://www.imdb.com/
Internet Movie Database – search within
plot summaries, reviews, cast lists and
theatre schedules.
http://www.imdb.com/
Ithaki 4 KiDs – Helps users find the best
sites just for kids by searching several other
search engines for kids in real time. Other
engines that are searched include
DmozKids, Yahooligans, FactMonster,
ArtKIDSRule, AolKIDS, AwesomeLibrary, &
KidsClick!.
http://kids.ithaki.net/
Koders – A search engine for developers
that searches for code.
http://www.koders.com/
© Brandon Hall Research
Krugle – A search engine for developers.
http://www.krugle.com/
Last.fm – A music search engine that
connects people with similar musical tastes.
http://www.last.fm/
LawCrawler - A legal search engine.
http://lawcrawler.findlaw.com/
LitLinker - Uses literature-based discovery to
find new connections between biomedical
terms that could lead to new directions in
research.
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=10
56808.1057022
LivePlasma – A search engine for music and
movies.
http://www.liveplasma.com/
MediaFinder - The MediaFinder project is
developing prototype products for
navigating and finding music files.
http://www.merl.com/projects/MediaFinder
MESA (Meta-Email-Search-Agent) – an
agent that searches e-mail (interface is in
German)
http://meta.rrzn.uni-hannover.de/
Newslink – search newspapers from around
the world
http://newslink.org/
Omgili - A search engine designed to index
Web-based discussion forums.
http://www.omgili.com
Pandora – A search engine for music artists
or individual songs.
http://www.pandora.com/
PubMed – Search engine for medical
information.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f
cgi
QBIC - IBM's Query By Image Content – A
visual search engine.
http://wwwqbic.almaden.ibm.com/
Raw Sugar – Refine a Web search by first
choosing broad category tags such as
health or education.
http://www.rawsugar.com/search/
RetrievalWare – A knowledge discovery
engine for unstructured data (by Convera).
http://www.convera.com/products/retrieval
ware/
Do not reproduce
Scirus – Search for scientific information
only.
http://www.scirus.com/srsapp/
SearchEdu - A specialty search engine
devoted to university and education related
Web sites.
http://www.searchedu.com/
SearchKing – Search for Internet
communities on specific topics.
http://www.searchking.com
SeekPort – Used to find items in Europe.
http://www.seekport.com/
Simplicity – Stands for “Semantics-sensitive
Integrated Matching for Picture Libraries.”
Content-based search engines for pictures.
http://wang16.ist.psu.edu/cgi-
bin/zwang/regionsearch_show.cgi
SMEALSearch – Search for academic
business literature.
http://smealsearch1.psu.edu/
Sound Spotter – Software that allows
computers to listen for sounds and retrieve
audio materials.
http://www.soundspotter.com/
Technorati – Searches the “Blogosphere”
and, as of this writing, is tracking over 38
million sites and 2.4 billion links.
http://www.technorati.com/
TechSearch – A search engine specifically
for technology topics.
http://techsearch.cmp.com/
Truveo – A search engine for video on the
Web.
http://www.truveo.com/
VisualSEEk – A joint spatial-feature image
search engine.
http://www.ee.columbia.edu/dvmm/resear
chProjects/MultimediaIndexing/VisualSEEk
/VisualSEEk.htm
VideoQ – A fully automated object-oriented
content-based video search engine.
http://www.ee.columbia.edu/dvmm/resear
chProjects/MultimediaIndexing/VideoQ/Vid
eoQ.htm
WebSEEk – Web image/video search
engine.
http://www.ee.columbia.edu/dvmm/resear
chProjects/MultimediaIndexing/WebSEEK/
WebSEEK.htm
161
 Voice searching – Proteus project at NYU.
http://nlp.cs.nyu.edu/
Xcavator – Uses visual clues provide by the
user to identify and extract similar pictures
from large groups of digital images.
http://www.xcavator.net
ZoomInfo – A search engine for discovering
people, companies, and their relationships.
http://www.zoominfo.com/
Meta-search engines:
Some search engines collate search results
from several different search engines.
Known as “meta-search” engines, or
federated searching, they include:
A9 – Searches many different sources in
addition to the Web, and tracks a user's
search history, bookmarks, and notes.
http://a9.com
Clusty – A clustering meta-search engine
that groups similar items together and then
puts them into separate folders.
http://clusty.com/
Copernic – Uses 90 search engines grouped
into 10 categories. Eliminates duplicate
entries and broken links.
http://www.copernic.com/
Dogpile – Searches a number of different
media with a variety of search engines.
http://www.dogpile.com/
Info – Searches reference works, news
sources, health information sources,
pictures, eBay, shopping sites, flights,
hotels, audio, video, tickets, jobs, apartment
rentals, city guides, classifieds, dating and
personals, games, greeting cards,
maps/directions, movies, lottery results,
weather, white pages, yellow pages, and
Web mail for the topic entered.
http://www.info.com/
Ithaki – Software that allows meta-
searching in at least 14 languages, with
specially-created national meta-searches of
at least 15 countries.
http://www.ithaki.net/indexu.htm
Ixquick – Searches many sources, including
a set of international telephone directories.
http://www.ixquick.com/
Kartoo – S search engine that clusters
results, produces a visual display of the
162
clusters, and links the clusters.
http://www.kartoo.com/
Search – A useful meta-search engine that
allows exact phrase searching.
http://www.search.com/
Trovando – A meta-search engine that
allows users to specify which search
engine(s) to use.
http://www.trovando.it/
Vivisimo – A quick meta-search engine that
clusters the results.
http://vivisimo.com/
ZapMeta – A meta-search engine that
allows the user to set preferences on how it
works.
http://www.zapmeta.com/
Online Resources
The main goal of the IMEDIA project is to
develop content-based image indexing
techniques and interactive search and
retrieval methods for browsing large
multimedia databases by content.
http://www-rocq.inria.fr/imedia/
Intute is a free online service created by a
network of UK universities and partners.
Subject specialists select and evaluate the
Web sites in Intute's database and write
high quality descriptions of the resources.
http://www.intute.ac.uk/
SearchTools.com provides reviews and links
to several hundred search engines.
http://www.searchtools.com/
Research Buzz has been tracking search
engine news since 1998 and, therefore, is a
valuable resource for researchers.
http://www.researchbuzz.com/
A comprehensive set of guidelines on the
use of search engines is provided by Bolton
University in the UK.
http://www.bolton.ac.uk/elab/guidelines/s
earcheng.html#top#top
SearchEngineWatch is an online newsletter
on search engine marketing.
http://searchenginewatch.com/
A swicki is new kind of search engine that
allows anyone to create deep, focused
searches on topics they care about. Unlike
other search engines, the user's community
has total control over the results, and it
© Brandon Hall Research
uses the wisdom of crowds to improve
search results. This search engine, or
swicki, can be published on the user's site.
http://swicki.eurekster.com/
The International Directory of Search
Engines lists local search engines for 319
countries and territories.
http://www.searchenginecolossus.com/
Netmasters in the UK provides a country by
country listing of search engines used in
various European countries.
http://www.netmasters.co.uk/european_se
arch_engines/
One effective way to improve search results
is to limit the scope of the search and to
employ techniques to look at the semantic
meaning of changing structured data from
dynamic Web pages. Most search engines
just look at “simple text” when analyzing the
content of a Web site. For example,
CitySearch provides up to the minute data
on events happening in various US cities.
See what is happening in New York at:
http://newyork.citysearch.com/
FirstGov and GPO Access allow Web site
searches of the US Government. Much of
this information is hidden to ordinary search
engines.
> http://firstgov.gov/
> http://www.gpoaccess.gov/
Infomine searches scholarly Internet
resource collections. Users can also browse
by subject category.
http://infomine.ucr.edu/
TVEyes makes Radio & TV searchable by
keyword, phrase, or topic - just as a search
engine is used for text. With a fast growing
network of stations monitored worldwide,
TVEyes provides the technology and the
content.
http://www.tveyes.com/
Stephen Downes, a senior researcher with
the National Research Council of Canada, is
against the idea of federated searches. Find
out why in this presentation:
http://www.downes.ca/files/KnowledgeNet
works.ppt#263
This site lists search research initiatives
including federated search projects being
funded in Europe.
Do not reproduce
http://www.elearning.ac.uk/features/searc
hprojects
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(2005). Finding information on the free
World Wide Web: a specialty meta-search
engine for the academic community. First
Monday, 10(12), December.
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10
_12/aharoni/index.html
Battelle, John (2005). The Search: how
Google and its rivals rewrote the rules of
business and transformed our culture. New
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De Pietro, O. and Apprato, F. (2004).
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d_-
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m

164 © Brandon Hall Research


Semantic Web
Related terms
Learning objects, metadata, microformats,
ontologies, search, semantic grid,
taxonomies, Web feeds
Description
The Semantic Web is a concept from Tim
Berners-Lee, founder of the World Wide
Web. Instead of simply finding items on the
Web by locating their Universal Resource
Locators (URLs), each piece of information
is tagged with additional information that
can be read by computers. This helps the
computer program understand the meaning
of the content it locates at each location.
The two main technologies involved in the
Semantic Web are the Resource Description
Framework (RDF), and the OWL Web
Ontology Language (OWL).
The Semantic Web is now an initiative of the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the
international organization that sets
standards for the technologies underlying
the World Wide Web (WWW). Berners-Lee
remains involved with this initiative and
works with the W3C from its headquarters
at MIT, near Boston.
In an article that identifies many of the
problems involved with implementing e-
learning on the Web, Abbas et al. (2005)
note that “historically, the Internet and the
World Wide Web gave birth to the concepts
of e-learning and collaborative knowledge
sharing across the globe, but due to largely
unplanned and unanticipated growth, are
now falling short of earlier promises. Lack of
machine readable content coupled with
information overload has put strains into
the traditional knowledge delivery model of
WWW. The situation is especially serious in
the e-learning domain where the success
and usefulness directly correlates with the
effectiveness of knowledge delivery in a
dynamic setting.”
There are many views on the potential of
the semantic Web for resolving some of
these problems, but it is important to realize
that the semantic Web is an idea in
development. It has both its advocates and
its critics. One of the major criticisms of the
Do not reproduce
semantic Web is that the meaning of raw
information is always ambiguous and needs
interpretation (Shirky, 2003). Like it or not,
producing metadata always implies a
particular worldview. Paul Ford (2003)
refutes Shirky’s arguments, and Peter Van
Dijck (2003) summarizes the arguments
and the cast of characters in the debate.
The major arguments for an educational
semantic Web include the following:
> Better information storage and retrieval
> The use of agents
> Improved communications and
collaboration
Major points raised by skeptics of an
educational semantic Web include:
> The idea of a semantic Web is
complicated and difficult to implement
> A single unifying ontology under which
all information can be classified is likely
impossible
> Tagging content depends on voluntary
labor
In summary, the idea of the semantic Web
is progressing, but it will not be in general
use for some time.
Selected Examples
In Europe, the ELENA project has employed
a novel infrastructure and software solution
using various semantic Web technologies.
http://www.elena-
project.org/en/index.asp?p=1-1
IBM has developed an Integrated Ontology
Development Toolkit (IODT) for creating
ontologies to use with the semantic Web.
http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/sem
anticstk
The Advanced Knowledge Technologies
Web site at the University of Southampton
in the UK uses ontologies for its ability to
link various research resources.
http://www.aktors.org/akt/
The Semantic Computing Research Group
(SeCo) at the Helsinki University of
Technology researches machine-process-
able semantics. They also create prototype
applications that demonstrate the new
possibilities of semantic technologies, such
165
 as semantic portals for end-users, semantic
infrastructural services, and ontologies and
tools for creating semantic applications.
http://www.seco.tkk.fi/
KAON is an open source ontology
management infrastructure targeted for
business applications. It includes a
comprehensive tool suite allowing easy
ontology creation and management and
provides a framework for building ontology-
based applications.
http://kaon.semanticweb.org/
Edutella is an open source project that
applies Semantic Web concepts.
http://edutella.jxta.org/
The Personal Reader Project has developed
a framework for designing, implementing,
and maintaining personalized “Web Content
Readers” using Semantic Web technologies.
http://www.personal-reader.de/html/
Online Resources
Since the beginning of 2005, the
International Journal on Semantic Web and
Information Systems has been available
from Idea Publishing. The first issue is free.
http://www.idea-
group.com/downloads/samples/JSWIS.pdf
A special issue of the Journal of Educational
Technology and Society in 2004 focused on
Ontologies and the Semantic Web for E-
Learning.
http://www.ifets.info/index.php?http://www
.ifets.info/issues.php?id=25
The Journal of Interactive Media in
Education also had a special issue on e-
learning and the Semantic Web in 2004.
http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/2004/1/
AIM@SHAPE is a project funded by the
European Commission to develop semantic
based systems for describing and handling
multi-dimensional objects on the Web.
http://www.aimatshape.net/
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166
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Berners-Lee, Tim (2003). Forward. In
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Semantic Web: Bringing the World Wide
Web to Its Full Potential. Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press, xi.
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Butler, Mark (2005). Is the Semantic Web
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© Brandon Hall Research
De Roure, D., Jennings, N. and Shadbolt, N.
(2001). Research Agenda for the Semantic
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Doctorow, Cory (2001). Metacrap: putting
the torch to seven straw-men of the meta-
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htm
Dorai, C., Mauthe, A., Nack, F., Rutledge, L.,
Sikora, T. and Zetti, H. (2002). Media
Semantics: Who Needs It and Why?
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Downes, Stephen (2005). Semantic
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bin/page.cgi?post=31624
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Ford, Paul (2003). A Response to Clay
Shirky's “The Semantic Web, Syllogism, and
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CALT_SW-EL_workshop_submit.pdf

168 © Brandon Hall Research


Simulation Tools
Related terms
Experiential learning, games, microworlds,
role-playing, scenarios
Description
The use of educational simulations is
currently the hottest trend in e-learning.
According to High (2004), “Simulation has
emerged as a fast-growing segment of the
e-learning market.” My first report in this
series, entitled Emerging E-Learning: New
Approaches to Delivering Engaging Online
Learning Content (Brandon Hall Research,
2005), reviewed simulations as an online
content format. Now in this report I look at
the tools available for developing
simulations.
Educational simulations involve learning
through experience or what Linser and Ip
(2002) call dynamic goal-based learning, a
strategy that leverages the experience and
motivation of participants trying to reach a
goal. “The idea is that in attempting to
achieve game goals, especially ones set by
themselves, in a dynamic and reflexive
environment, i.e. one which continuously
emerges from the impact of their own
actions; participants will be motivated to
evaluate, learn, and exercise the necessary
skills required to be successful in order to
reach these goals and in the process
acquire the knowledge and understanding
needed.”
Selected Examples
Need a spherical display to show a
simulation? Consider using OmniGlobe from
ARC Science Simulations. It is an innovative
solution to showing global visualizations.
http://www.arcscience.com/omni.htm
Another spherical display system is the
Science on a Sphere project from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA).
http://sos.noaa.gov/
Winters et al. (2003) present a prototype
learning environment for children to create
their own knowledge about multivariate
systems. This virtual world was linked to a
Do not reproduce
tabletop–sized physical dome in which
children experimented with environmental
parameters affecting plant growth.
http://www.i-
cherubini.it/mauro/publications/Cherubini_
Winters_Strohecker_chi03_mc.pdf
The CAVE is an immersive virtual reality
facility designed for exploring and
interacting with spatially engaging
environments. It was decommissioned in
2005, but information about it remains on
the Web.
http://cave.ncsa.uiuc.edu/
Advanced Simulations of Organizational
Dynamics are experiential learning systems
exploiting technologies such as multimedia
or virtual reality to accelerate the
understanding and learning of
organizational processes. See a variety of
such projects at:
http://www.calt.insead.edu/?pagename=Pr
ojects
The L2C (Learning to Collaborate) project
provides the opportunity to address and
significantly advance the state-of-the-art
(both theory and practice) in educational
simulations.
http://www.calt.insead.edu/?pagename=L2
C
CHANGEMASTERS provides e-learning
simulations that put users in role-playing
situations where they can develop their
skills in interacting with others.
http://www.calt.insead.edu/?pagename=Ch
angeMasters
The EIS Simulation Project is a computer-
based multimedia business simulation
involving implement ing organizational
change.
http://www.calt.insead.edu/?pagename=EI
S%20Simulation
The VERDI Project (Virtual Environment for
Real time Distributed applications over the
Internet) is a 3-D multi-user change
management business simulation that uses
a satellite network.
http://www.calt.insead.edu/?pagename=VE
RDI
The EdComNet Project is an educational
communal network that acts as a portal for
practicing better citizenship and decision-
making skills.
169
 http://www.calt.insead.edu/?pagename=Ed
ComNet
The GeoWall is a new projection technology
that uses stereo sound and fast computers
to simulate many different environments.
> http://geowall.geo.lsa.umich.edu/
> http://um3d.dc.umich.edu/hardware/G
eoWall/index.html
The Education Center on Computational
Science and Engineering at the San Diego
State University has a site on “Interactive
3D Modelling” using the Geowall, with many
examples to try.
http://www.edcenter.sdsu.edu/geowall/
Celestia is a free space simulation that lets
users explore the universe in three
dimensions. It runs on Windows, Linux, and
Mac OS X.
http://www.shatters.net/celestia/index.htm
l animat-ions and videos that play in any
The education center on computational
science and engineering at San Diego State
University has a Web site of 3-D simulations
for geoscience education.
http://www.edcenter.sdsu.edu/geowall/ind
ex.html
ThinkerTools is a set of online conceptual
tools that enable children 11-12 to
experience and play with physics. However,
they are only available for Macintosh
computers.
http://thinkertools.soe.berkeley.edu/
Harvey is a life-sized manikin used as a
cardiology patient simulator. Harvey
simulates nearly any cardiac disease at the
touch of a button by varying blood pressure,
breathing, pulse rate, heart sounds, and
murmurs. Doctors in training can examine
the Harvey just like any other patient.
http://crme.med.miami.edu/harvey_about.
html
Muzzy Lane Software of Newburyport,
Mass., has issued "The Calm and The
Storm," the first offering in a planned series
of computer programs called "Making
History."
http://www.making-history.com/company/
At the Earth System Research Laboratory,
see which simulation tools are used by
meteorological researchers to try to improve
170
weather forecasting.
http://www.fsl.noaa.gov/
Simulations are available that illustrate the
dynamics of the complexity of living things.
For example, to play in a virtual fishtank, go
to:
http://www.virtualfishtank.com
Software for authoring simulations:
Access Technologies Group – Simentor -
Character images respond with facial
expressions and body language. A guide’s
voice prompts the employee.
http://www.atghome.com/
Adobe – Macromedia Captivate - Records
all on-screen actions and instantly creates
an interactive Flash simulation.
http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/
Adobe – Macromedia Flash – Create
browser.
http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/flas
hpro/
Assisma - Wizard Training Suite – Web
cloning engine for building simulations.
http://www.assima.net/
Biographix - ISLE - Has an instructional
agent that interacts with a knowledge base.
http://www.biographix.com/
Experience Builders LLC – Experience
Builder – Build online role-playing
simulations with this tool, without
programming knowledge.
http://www.experiencebuilders.com/
Forio - Forio Broadcast – Web simulation
authoring software at three pricing levels.
http://www.forio.com/broadcastoverview.ht
m
Intermezzon - Intermezzon Designer –
Simulation authoring that allows users to
reuse previous work.
http://www.intermezzon.com/izeng/
Kaplan IT Learning - STT Trainer – Build
simulations and assessments with
documentation and help files.
http://www.stt-global.com/
Knowledge Director – LearningDirector -
Template-based game and content
development software used to create Flash
animations and highly interactive content at
© Brandon Hall Research
the click of a mouse.
http://www.knowledge-director.com/
Knowledge Planet - Firefly Simulation -
Records a sequence of actions performed
within an application.
http://www.knowledgeplanet.com/products
/firefly.asp
Knowledge Quest - ExpertAuthor – With the
built-in software simulation tool, create
courses specifically on using computer
software.
http://www.knowledgequest.com/
Kookaburra Studios - KnowledgePresenter
Simulator - Create live screen movies by
capturing actions at up to 25 frames a
second.
http://www.knowledgepresenter.com/
MaxIT - DazzlerMax – Build simulations with
programming. Integrates with many media
types.
http://www.maxit.com/
MaxIT - Visual Course Builder – Build
simulations using templates without
learning any programming.
http://www.maxit.com/
NexLearn – SimWriter – Use this authoring
tool to build social simulations that are
scenario based.
http://www.nexlearn.com
Outstart – SoftSim – With this software,
develop one simulation for multiple delivery
modes.
http://www.outstart.com/portal/index.jsp
Percepsys – SIMSTUDIO – Use this
authoring system to build 3-D scenarios with
multiple paths.
http://www.percepsys.com/3dTraining.htm
Qarbon – ViewletCam – Captures screens
and screen actions, which can then be used
to build simulations.
http://www.qarbon.com/
Reusable Objects - CONSTRUCT Roleplaying
Engine - Develop interactive role-playing
scenarios using a graphical interface
without any programming knowledge
required.
http://www.reusableobjects.com/product_r
pe.htm
StageCast – Creator – A simulation
authoring tool specifically designed for use
Do not reproduce
by children.
http://www.stagecast.com/
Stottler Henke – SimBionic – Drag-and-drop
authoring of complex simulations are
possible with this authoring tool.
http://www.stottlerhenke.com/products/
TEDS – SimCorder – Record applications
and then author simulations with this
software.
http://www.teds.com/products/sim.htm
XStream – RapidBuilder – An interactive
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) content and
animation authoring system that can be
used to build graphical simulations.
http://www.xstreamsoftware.com/
Online Resources
The e-Learning Centre in the UK maintains a
list of articles on “simulations in e-learning.”
http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/si
mulation.htm
The Encyclopedia of Educational
Technology contains descriptions of
educational technologies in medicine,
including simulations.
http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/mededuca
tion/index.htm
Want to learn about space missions? What
about trying the virtual space center control
room modeled on the Houston Space
Control Center?
http://www.virtualcontrolroom.org/
Mauro Cherubini wrote a Masters thesis on
microworlds for children to learn about
biology.
http://www.i-
cherubini.it/mauro/projects/biosphera/thes
is/
Elliot Masie, a well-known e-learning
consultant and speaker, has built a virtual
environment for simulations called
LearnLand.
http://www.learning2005.com/learnland/
The Justice Institute of British Columbia has
a Web site that lists simulation resources.
http://www.jibc.bc.ca/Libraryfiles/main/Fin
d/Links/Simulation_Training.htm
The Learning and Skills Research Centre in
the UK has an extensive list of research
projects on simulation and gaming.
171
 http://www.bbk.ac.uk/ccs/elearn/resource
s.html
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004/bersin.htm
eSchool News (2004). Med students
practice on ‘virtual patients’. eSchool News,
Aug. 4, 2004.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showS
tory.cfm?ArticleID=5212
Estabrook, Shannon (2004). Making the
most of software simulations. Learning
Circuits, September, 2004.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2004/sep2
004/estabrook.htm
High, Kamau (2004). How playing power
drives lessons home. Financial Times, Sept.
8, 2004, p. 12.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/60205728-00f2-
11d9-9d96-00000e2511c8.html
Karrer, A., Laser, A.. and Sund Martin, L.
(2001). Simulation levels in software
training. Learning Circuits, September.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2001/sep2
001/karrer.html
Linser, R. and Ip, A. (2002). Beyond the
current e-learning paradigm: applications of
role-play simulations (RPS) - case studies.
Paper presented at “E-Learn 2002”, AACE
conference, Montréal, October 15-19.
http://www.simplay.net/papers/E-
Learning.html
Lunce, Les (2004). Computer simulations in
distance education. International Journal of
Instructional Technology and Distance
Learning, 1(10), October.
http://itdl.org/Journal/Oct_04/article02.ht
m
Sloman, Aaron (2005). The SimAgent
TOOLKIT -- for Philosophers and Engineers.
Online report.
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projec
ts/poplog/packages/simagent.html
Sobeih, A., Viswanathan, M. and Hou, J.
(2004). Incorporating Bounded Model
Checking in Network Simulation: Theory,
Implementation and Evaluation. Technical
Report UIUCDCS-R-2004-2466, Department
of Computer Science, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, July.
http://www.projects.ncassr.org/multicast/p
apers/sobeihTR04.pdf
Swaak, J. & de Jong, T. (2001). Discovery
simulations and the assessment of intuitive
© Brandon Hall Research
knowledge. Journal of Computer Assisted
Learning, 17, 284-294. Online paper at:
http://lsm.dei.uc.pt/ribie/docfiles/txt20037
291013Discovery%20simulations.pdf
Tjaden, Gary (2003). Technologies for
Interactive Real-Time Simulation of the
Doctor’s Office Drug-Sales Process. White
paper commissioned by protonMEDIA LLC.
http://www.protonmedia.com/protonMEDIA
_white_paper.pdf
Turkle, Sherry (1997). Seeing through
computers: education in a culture of
simulation. The American Prospect, 8(31),
Mar.-Apr., 1997.
http://www.prospect.org/print-
friendly/print/V8/31/turkle-s.html
Winters, N., Cherubini, M., and Strohecker,
C. (2003). Biosphera: a prototype design for
learning about multivariate systems. In
Association for Computing Machinery,
CHI2003 Learning Workshop proceedings,
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, April.
http://www.i-
cherubini.it/mauro/publications/Cherubini_
Winters_Strohecker_chi03_mc.pdf

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Smart Labels and Tags
Related terms
Barcodes, infrared (IR) tags, optical tags,
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags,
symbology tags
Description
Smart tags and labels refer to a variety of
technologies that allow mobile devices to
read information from different points in an
environment. Three types of smart tags and
labels can be identified:
> Optical codes such as barcodes and
symbology tags
> Infrared tags
> Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
tags (flat, ultra-thin RFID tags are
usually called smart labels)
While most people are familiar with
barcodes and barcode readers, this older
technology is being supplanted by newer
technologies. Smart tags and labels may be
considered like an intelligent barcode
replacement with the following advantages:
> They do not require line of sight or close
proximity to the reader to be read.
> They are programmable and, therefore,
easily changed.
> They are physically durable and not
susceptible to damage from dirt,
grease, or water.
Symbology tags are scrambled markings
that can be read by special readers that are
used in cell phones in Japan (Osawa et al.,
2005).
Infrared tags use the infrared frequencies of
the electromagnetic spectrum to transmit
data to a reader; this technology is built into
many of today’s laptop computers and
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).
RFID technology is developing rapidly,
especially for tagging retail items in stores.
Consumers use RFID readers or “smart
carts” to gather information such as the
latest price from an item’s RFID tag, which
transmits over short distances. Active RFID
tags use an internal power source within the
174
tag to continuously power the tag, while
passive RFID tags rely on radio frequency
energy transferred from the reader to the
tag. RFID systems may be roughly divided
into four groups, according to their
application:
> EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance)
systems
> Portable data capture systems
> Networked systems
> Positioning systems
Educational applications of RFID
technologies are on the rise, especially in
museums and for outdoor education. While
controversial, some schools use RFID tags
to keep track of the location of students for
security purposes.
The major concern with using smart tags
and labels is a perceived threat to privacy.
For a full discussion of this issue, see the
American Library Association Web site on
the opposition to the misuse of RFID tags.
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=i
fissues&Template=/ContentManagement/C
ontentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=77689
Selected Examples
Checkpoint Systems offers RFID solutions
for a large number of industries:
http://www.checkpointsystems.com/default
.aspx?page=epcrfid
The Ruth Lilly Health Education Center
(RLHEC) has students studying nutrition by
picking up food models and placing them on
a cafeteria tray. The RFID computer
interface was developed by Pervasive
Technology Labs at Indiana University.
http://uitspress.iu.edu/102605_meal.html
The Pervasive Technology Lab at Indiana
University does research on “visualization
and interactive spaces.” RFID tags are part
of their work on “physical object interfaces.”
http://vis.iu.edu/index.shtml?prim=lab_ove
rview
Prolearn has developed “Treasure Hunt”
types of games for learning, using both
infrared (IR) and radio frequency identific-
ation (RFID) tags and handheld devices.
http://cnm.open.ac.uk/projects/prolearn/m
obiles/m02.html
© Brandon Hall Research
Aparna Ramchandran wrote a thesis on a
Plant Scanner that allowed children to use a
PDA connecting to RFID tags to obtain more
information about a particular plant.
http://www.msu.edu/~ramchan1/pda/ArrT
hesisFinal.pdf
Osawa et al. (2005) presented how outdoor
education can be enhanced by location-
awareness using RFID and 2-dimensional
symbology tags.
http://www.aace.org/newdl/inde infrared
tags
x.cfm?fuseaction=Reader.ViewAbstract&pa
per_id=20093
Andrew Robinton, in a 2005 online article,
describes the increasing use of RFID tags in
toys to increase interactivity and realism.
http://www.toydirectory.com/monthly/articl
e.asp?id=1222
Ross et al. (2003) discuss “Smart Tags and
Labels” in their review of this technology in
museums and other cultural sites.
http://www.digicult.info/downloads/twr200
3_01_low.pdf
Online Resources
For the latest developments in RFID
technologies and their uses, see the online
journal RFIDNews and RFIDOperations.
http://www.rfidnews.org/
Bibliography
Borck, James (2006). Next-gen RFID tools
expand the market. Infoworld, April 13..
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/04/1
3/77019_16FErfidsoft_1.html?s=feature
Heining, A. and Case, C. (2004). Are book
tags a threat? Christian Science Monitor
(Online), Oct. 5, 2004.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1005/p1
7s01-legn.html
Osawa, N., Noda, K., Tsukagoshi, S., Noma,
Y., Ando, A., Shibuya, T., & Kondo, K.
(2005). Outdoor education by location-
awareness using RFID and two-dimensional
symbology tags. In Kommers, P., &
Richards, G. (Eds.), Proceedings of ED-
Media 2005: Montreal, June 27, 2005,
276-283.
http://www.aace.org/newdl/index.cfm?fuse
action=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=200
93
Do not reproduce
Murray, Corey (2004). Controversial radio ID
tags keep track of students. eSchool News
Online, January 1, 2004.
http://www.eschoolnews.org/news/showsto
ry.cfm?ArticleID=4813
Ramchandran, Aparna (2004). Plant
Scanner: a handheld PDA using RFID tags
for child visitors to the Michigan 4-H
Children’s Garden. Masters Thesis,
Michigan State University.
http://www.msu.edu/~ramchan1/pda/ArrT
hesisFinal.pdf
Robinton, Andrew (2005). RFID Technology
Creeps into the Toy Box. TD Monthly, 4(3),
March.
http://www.toydirectory.com/monthly/articl
e.asp?id=1222
Ross, S., Donnelly, M. and Dobreva, M.
(2003). DIGICULT: new technologies for the
cultural and scientific heritage sector.
Technology Watch Report 1.
http://www.digicult.info/downloads/twr200
3_01_low.pdf
Salcedo, R., Ogata, H. and Yano, Y. (2005).
Towards a New Digital Library Infrastructure
with RFID for Mobile ELearning.
Proceedings, IEEE International Workshop
on Wireless and Mobile Technologies in
Education (WMTE’ 05), 261-263.
http://csdl2.computer.org/persagen/DLAbs
Toc.jsp?resourcePath=/dl/proceedings/&to
c=comp/proceedings/wmte/2005/2385/0
0/2385toc.xml&DOI=10.1109/WMTE.2005
.66
Ward, M., van Kranenburg, R., and
Backhouse, G. (2006). RFID: frequency,
standards, adoption and innovation. JISC
Technology and Standards Watch Report.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents
/TSW0602.pdf
175

Social Bookmarking
Related terms
Folksonomy, metadata, ontologies, search,
tagging, taxonomies
Description
Social bookmarking refers to the practice of
users posting materials to the Internet and
adding tags and labels that identify the
content of the materials they have posted.
Different Web sites specialize in different
kinds of media. For example, Flickr allows
users to post photographs and put tags on
them, while users of the del.icio.us Web site
(http://del.icio.us) post their favorite Web
sites, music, and books. As of April 2006,
Flickr held over 100 million images.
All of this activity adds up to a
collaboratively generated open-ended
labeling system for Web content, much of it
educational in the informal sense of the
term. The body of metadata that is built up
through social bookmarking by large
numbers of people is sometimes referred to
as a "folksonomy" in that there is no central
authority approving the descriptions that
have been posted to the Web. There is
software to collate and display the main
categories and to show the relative
frequency of various terms. The result is
something called a tag cloud, a visualization
of what users as a group think is important.
How can social bookmarking play a role in
education? Alexander (2006) suggests the
following:
“Pedagogical applications stem from their
affordance of collaborative information
discovery. For instance, researchers at all
levels (students, faculty, staff) can quickly
set up a social bookmarking page for their
personal and/or professional
inquiries….First, they act as an “outboard
memory,” a location to store links that might
be lost to time, scattered across different
browser bookmark settings, or distributed in
e-mails, printouts, and Web links. Second,
finding people with related interests can
magnify one’s work by learning from others
or by leading to new collaborations. Third,
the practice of user-created tagging can
offer new perspectives on one’s research,
176
as clusters of tags reveal patterns (or
absences) not immediately visible by
examining one of several URLs. Fourth, the
ability to create multi-authored bookmark
pages can be useful for team projects, as
each member can upload resources
discovered, no matter their location or
timing. Tagging can then surface individual
perspectives within the collective. Fifth,
following a bookmark site gives insights into
the owner’s (or owners’) research, which
could play well in a classroom setting as an
instructor tracks students’ progress.
Students, in turn, can learn from their
professor’s discoveries.”
However, social bookmarking does not fit
the traditional methods of teaching and
learning, so it may take some time before
being accepted by the educational/training
community.
Selected Examples
43Things – Users can write down up to 43
things they wants to do, get inspired, share
their stories, connect with others, or check
out what everyone wants to do.
http://www.43things.com/
Ask MetaFilter – A knowledge sharing site
where users can post questions and share
answers.
http://ask.metafilter.com/
Blinklist - Get a button to “blink” interesting
Web sites, which are then posted to a user's
Web site from Blink. Blink also provides
tools to sort, describe, and search for a
specific user's Blinks, and to share them.
Also, users can see what others are
Blinking.
http://www.blinklist.com/
BlogMarks – A collaborative link
management project based on sharing and
keyword tagging in a blog format.
http://blogmarks.net/
CiteULike - A free service to help academics
share, store, and organize the academic
papers they are reading.
http://www.citeulike.org/
Connotea – A free online reference
management system for clinicians and
scientists. They can save references, share
references with colleagues, search others’
references.
http://www.connotea.org/
© Brandon Hall Research
Consumating - A new way to find and
connect with people who share hobbies and
interests.
http://consumating.com/
Del.icio.us - A social bookmarking Web site
that allows users to keep their favorite Web
sites, music, and/or books and find them
again. They can then share these
bookmarks with others and browse related
topics.
http://del.icio.us/
Digg - A technology news Web site that
combines social bookmarking, blogging,
RSS, and non-hierarchical editorial control.
With digg, users submit stories for review,
but, rather than allow an editor to decide
which stories go on the homepage, the
users decide.
http://www.digg.com
Clipmarks - A tool that lets users clip and
save pieces of Web pages.
http://www.clipmarks.com/
Eventful – Lists events that are happening
in a community and tries to match users up
with others who are going to events.
http://blog.eventful.com/archives/beta_up
date/index.html
Feedmarker – Feedmarker is a free, Web-
based RSS/Atom aggregator with
bookmarks and tagging.
http://www.feedmarker.com/
Flickr – Store, search, sort, and share
photos with others.
http://flickr.com/
Furl - Browse the Web and save any page
with a single-click. Also retrieve it easily.
http://www.furl.net/
Jookster - A social search engine that also
allows users who are searching for the
same things to contact each other.
http://www.jookster.com/
Jots - A collaborative bookmarking system
that allows users to store, share, and
discover relevant links.
http://jots.com/
Kaboodle - A free, open source Internet
application that provides a complete
visualization of a user's LAN, updated in
near real time, and a "personal Virtual
Private Network" capability to securely
connect Kaboodle-enabled LANs together
Do not reproduce
across the Internet.
http://www.kaboodle.org/news.html
Linkroll - Linkroll is a free link blogging
service that allows users to store links to
blogs and share them with others.
http://www.linkroll.com/
Magnolia - A Web site that allows users to
both easily store their favorite bookmarks
online and find new Web sites based on
what other people have suggested.
http://ma.gnolia.com/support
MemeOrandum – This site generates a
news summary every five minutes, based on
what is happening in the news media.
http://www.memeorandum.com/
MyWeb – Save bookmarked Web pages and
share them with others.
http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/
Netscape – This venerable brand has
become a social bookmarking site, similar
to Digg.
http://www.netscape.com/
Netvouz – Create pages of favorite Web
bookmarks and then decide to keep them
private or make them public.
http://www.netvouz.com/
Network Menus – Manage Web bookmarks
by placing them within a menu structure.
http://www.networkltd.eu/products/networ
k_menus.html
PageFlakes – Allows users to put all Web
bookmarks from different sources on one
page.
http://www.pageflakes.com/
Project Pad - A project to build a Web-based
system for media annotation and
collaboration for teaching and learning and
scholarly applications.
http://projectpad.northwestern.edu/ppad2/
index.html
Rojo – An RSS feed reader based on adding
tags to information.
http://www.rojo.com/today/
Shadows – A link sharing Web site based on
social tagging.
http://www.shadows.com/
Simpy – Search tags, or enter new items
and tag them. Tags can be shared or kept
private.
http://www.simpy.com/
177
 Smugmug – A site for storing and tagging about how tagging works with del.icio.us.
digital photographs. http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/d
http://www.smugmug.com/ elicious.html
Spurl – Store interesting Web sites and Clay Shirky regularly debates the usefulness
bookmark them. of ontologies, tags, and social bookmarking.
http://www.spurl.net/ Follow the thread in the following four
postings:
Suprglu - Gathers content from popular Web
services and publishes them in one > http://shirky.com/writings/ontology_ov
convenient place. errated.html
http://www.suprglu.com/
> http://atomiq.org/archives/2005/08/o
SWiK - A project to help people ntology_is_overrated_followup.html
collaboratively document open-source
> http://www.peterme.com/archives/000
software by using tags and notes.
558.html
http://swik.net/SWiK
> http://tagsonomy.com/index.php/semi-
Tabblo – Put photos and words together to
structured-meta-data-has-a-posse-a-
tell story, and share it with others.
response-to-gene-smith/
http://tabblo.com/studio/
EDUCAUSE has published a brochure
Tagzania – Add geographical locations to
entitled “7 things you should know
documents and tag them with keywords.
about…Social Bookmarking.”
This site then displays a map of the location
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI
of the posted items.
7001.pdf
http://www.tagzania.com/
The Quick Online Tips Web site has
Unalog – See what other people are reading
hundreds of links to tools to manage social
on the Web.
bookmarking with del.icio.us, Flickr, and
http://unalog.com/
Digg.
Upcoming – An events calendar by place,
> http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archiv
with contributions from users.
es/2005/02/absolutely-delicious-
http://upcoming.org/
complete-tools-collection/
Veotag – Place tags within video or audio
> http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archiv
clips, allowing them to be divided into
es/2005/03/great-flickr-tools-
sections and to be searched.
collection/
http://www.veotag.com/
> http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archiv
Wink – A social searching engine based on
es/2005/09/complete-digg-tools-
tags entered by users.
collection/
http://www.wink.com
WWWTools for Education has a page of
Wists – A social shopping site. Post what a
resources on “Tags, Folksonomies and
user is buying or what is on his wish list.
Social Bookmarking” as well as “Sharing
http://www.wists.com/
Photographs and other Still Imagery.”
Yelp – Find out what is happening in
> http://magazines.fasfind.com/wwwtool
different cities around the U.S.A.
s/m/6350.cfm?x=0&rid=6350
http://www.yelp.com/
> http://magazines.fasfind.com/wwwtool
Zvents – Events calendar for particular
s/m/7172.cfm?x=0&rid=7172
cities. If a city is not there, anyone can start
a directory of events for their own town.
http://www.zvents.com/ Bibliography
Alexander, Bryan (2006). Web 2.0: a new
Online Resources wave of innovation for teaching and
learning? EDUCAUSE Review, 41(2),
Jon Udell, a technology columnist for
March/April 2006.
InfoWorld, has an audio presentation online

178 © Brandon Hall Research

http://www.educause.edu/apps/er/erm06/ ntent/0,289142,sid19_gci1195182,00.ht
erm0621.asp?bhcp=1 ml
Carvin, Andy (2006). Tag – You’re Delicious! Mejias, Ulises (2004). Distributed Textual
PBS TeacherSource, May 5, 2006. Discourse: A New Approach to Online
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/learning Discourse. Paper presented at the 16th
.now/2006/05/tag_youre_delicious.html Annual Instructional Technology Institute
Conference at Utah State University.
Coates, Tom (2005). How to build on
http://ideant.typepad.com/ideant/files/mej
bubble-up folksonomies... Plasticbag.org,
ias_dtd.pdf
Sept. 2, 2005.
http://www.plasticbag.org/archives/2005/ Mejias, Ulises (2005). Facilitating the social
09/how_to_build_on_bubbleup_folksonomi annotation and commentary of Web pages.
es.shtml Ideant, May 20, 2005.
http://ideant.typepad.com/ideant/2005/0
Golder, S. and Huberman, B. (2005). The
5/facilitating_th.html
Structure of Collaborative Tagging Systems.
HP Labs Report. Mote, Nicholas (2004). The New School of
http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/idl/paper Ontologies. Online Paper.
s/tags/tags.pdf http://www.isi.edu/~mote/papers/Folksono
my.pdf
Gurber, Tom. (2005). Ontology of
Folksonomy: A Mash-up of Apples and Richardson, Will (2005). Tags vs. Trusted
Oranges. Keynote address, First on-Line Sources. Webblogg-ed, Aug. 2, 2005.
conference on Metadata and Semantics http://www.weblogg-
Research (MTSR'05). ed.com/2005/08/02#a3841
http://tomgruber.org/writing/ontology-of-
Udell, Jon (2004). Collaborative knowledge
folksonomy.htm
gardening. InfoWorld, August 20, 2004.
Hammond, T., Hannay, T., Lund, B. and http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/08/2
Scott, J. (2005). Social Bookmarking Tools 0/34OPstrategic_1.html
(I): a general review. D-Lib Magazine, 11(4),
Udell, Jon (2005). Tag mania sweeps the
April 2005.
Web. InfoWorld, July 20, 2005.
http://dlib.ejournal.ascc.net/dlib/april05/h
http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/07/2
ammond/04hammond.html
0/30OPstrategic_1.html
Lawley, Liz (2005). Social consequences of
social tagging. Many2Many, Jan. 20, 2005.
http://many.corante.com/archives/2005/0
1/20/social_consequences_of_social_taggi
ng.php
Lund, B., Hammond, T., Flack, M. and
Hannay, T. (2005). Social bookmarking tools
(II): a case study – Connotea. D-Lib
Magazine, 11(4), April 2005.
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/april05/lund/04lu
nd.html
Mathes, Adam (2004). Folksonomies -
Cooperative Classification and
Communication Through Shared Metadata.
Online paper.
http://www.adammathes.com/academic/co
mputer-mediated-
communication/folksonomies.html
McGillicuddy, Shamus (2006). Social
Bookmarking: pushing collaboration to the
edge. SearchCIO.com, June 21, 2006.
http://searchcio.techtarget.com/originalCo

Do not reproduce 179


Social Networking
Related terms
Collaboration, communities of practice,
social software, tagging, Web feeds
Description
Social networking is one of the major
advantages of e-learning when compared
with traditional classroom based learning.
My first report in this series, entitled
Emerging E-Learning: New Approaches to
Delivering Engaging Online Learning
Content (Brandon Hall Research, 2005),
reviewed social networking as an online
content format. Now in this report I look at
the tools available for developing social
networks.
Haythommthwaite (2005) characterized
social networks as having the following
components:
Actors
> Nodes in the network
> Interact and maintain relations with
each other
Relations
> Lines in the network
> Connect actors in specific kinds of
interaction and joint experience
Ties
> Lines between actors
> Exist between actors, connected by one
or more relations
Networks
> Whole configuration of lines and actors
> Result from the combined set of actors
and ties
Social networking is a process that can
result in many different kinds of learning.
Social networking using computer
technologies takes a number of forms:
> Communications software: Instant
messaging, e-mail, text messaging
(SMS)
180
> Sharing software: Blogs, photo sharing
sites, shared links, peer-to-peer sharing
software
> Discovery of previous and new contacts:
Online personals, dating sites,
classmate location sites
> Sites for linking of trusted friends,
family, and acquaintances: Friend of a
friend sites, genealogical boards
> Collaboration software for working on
joint projects
> Competitive and/or cooperative gaming
sites
Social networks require what Hammond
et.al. (2005) call an “architecture of
participation,” that is, an infrastructure that
supports and gives life to online commun-
ications and collaboration. They identify five
broad classes of social software:
> Communication (IM, e-mail, SMS, etc.)
> Experience Sharing (blogs, photo
albums, shared link libraries such as
del.icio.us, etc.)
> Discovery of Old and New Contacts
(Classmates.com, online personals
such as Match.com, social networking
sites such as Friendster, etc.)
> Relationship Management (Orkut,
Friendster, etc)
Collaborative or Competitive Gaming
(MMORPGs, online versions of traditional
games such as Chess & Checkers, team-
based or free-for-all First Person Shooters,
etc.)
Selected Examples
We need to distinguish between social
networking sites and social networking
analysis (SNA) software. The sites are
places to meet people with common
interests, while SNA software analyzes and
displays representations of actual social
networks.
Social Networking Sites
Classmates – Connects friends and
acquaintances from school, work, and the
military.
http://www.classmates.com
© Brandon Hall Research
CodeVille – A site that allows programmers
and developers to share code and merge
algorithms.
http://www.codeville.org/
Diaryland – Registered users can each keep
a diary on this Web site and share it with
others with the same interests.
http://www.diaryland.com/
ESnips – Add Web snippets and links,
photos, audio, video, documents, and files
and then make them available to others.
http://www.esnips.com/signin/index.jsp
Face Party – Billed as “the biggest party on
earth,” this site seems to be aimed at youth
over age 16.
http://www.faceparty.com/
Facebook – An online directory consisting of
networks, which are groups of people who
can see each others' profiles. Facebook has
networks for colleges, high schools,
workplaces, and geographic regions.
http://www.facebook.com/
Friendster – Build a network of friends on
this site. Features photographs of members
and ways to connect and communicate.
http://www.friendster.com/
introNetworks – Software for connecting
people with each other at events, in
associations, and within “communities of
interest.”
http://www.intronetworks.com/introNetwor
ks.html
Last.fm – A place to listen to music online
and to meet others with similar tastes.
http://www.last.fm/
LinkIn – Develop a social network with this
software. List who a person knows and find
out who others know.
https://www.linkedin.com/
Live Journal - LiveJournal can be used in
many different ways: as a private journal, as
a blog, or as a social network.
http://www.livejournal.com/
My Diary – Keep a diary on the Web at this
site. Share it with others if desired.
http://www.my-diary.org/
MySpace – Set up a personal space on this
Web site and then search for others with
similar interests.
http://www.myspace.com
Do not reproduce
Open Diary – Anyone can keep a diary on
this site, which is then open to other
readers.
http://www.freeopendiary.com/
Orkut - An online community that connects
people through a network of trusted friends.
https://www.orkut.com
Platial – A site to create social maps, with a
way to annotate the world as you move
through it.
http://platial.com/splash
Sparta Networks – Set up a private social
network to support an online community
using this company's tools.
http://www.spartasocialnetworks.com/
Stumble Upon – Discover Web sites a user
likes by looking at the recommendations of
others online.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/
Xanga – A site devoted to online diaries and
journals. Users share their writings and
meet each other.
http://www.xanga.com/
Yahoo 360 – Create an online blog or
journal, upload photos, and rate local
restaurants and businesses – then share
with friends online.
http://360.yahoo.com/reg/sample.html
Social Networking Analysis Software
UCINET is the most popular and full-
featured system for social network analysis.
It is a comprehensive system designed by
academics for academics, with a very steep
learning curve that can easily discourage
novices.
http://www.analytictech.com/ucinet.htm
InFlow is targeted at businesspeople who
only want to see the most important and
basic social network analyses. It costs
several thousand dollars, which includes
telephone-based support of social network
analyses run by the user.
http://www.orgnet.com/inflow3.html
NetMiner is designed for exploratory visual
analysis. If a user asks for the key players in
an organization, NetMiner draws an
interactive picture highlighting them.
http://www.netminer.com
For an example of the use of social
networking analysis, see the PBS map
181
 “Connecting the Dots: How Al Qaeda's global links to similar sites.
network slowly came into focus for U.S. http://www.analytictech.com/networks/
intelligence (1993-2001).”
Social Networks is a multidisciplinary
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/
scholarly journal on social networking.
shows/knew/etc/connect.html
http://www1.elsevier.com/homepage/sae/
To see the relationships among all the son/menu.sht
highjackers during 9/11, check out the map
The e-Learning Centre in the UK maintains a
at org.net and the list of related articles
list of social software.
using social network analysis.
http://www.e-
http://www.orgnet.com/hijackers.html
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/so
Org.net licenses the InFlow set of software cial.htm
tools for social and organizational network
The Social Software Wiki has many
analysis. This software produces great
materials on social networking.
graphs of social networks.
http://www.usemod.com/cgi-
http://www.orgnet.com/index.html
bin/mb.pl?SocialSoftware
UCINET 6 is inexpensive social network
The Social Software Alliance is a group
analysis software that, coupled with
dedicated to all aspects of social
NetDraw, can produce detailed graphs of
networking.
social relationships.
http://www.socialtext.net/ssa/index.cgi
http://www.analytictech.com/index.htm
For a comprehensive listing of social
Online Resources networking sites, see the list in Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_
For a review of a variety of types of social networking_websites
software, see the JNthWeb Wiki.
http://jnthweb.pbwiki.com/SocialSoftware Social software report from FutureLab.
http://www.futurelab.org.uk/download/pdfs
The syllabus for a graduate course on social /research/opening_education/Social_Softw
software at Teacher’s College, Columbia are_report.pdf
University.
http://ideant.typepad.com/ideant/2005/0
8/syllabus_for_gr.html
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Allee, Verna (2004). Knowledge Networks
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and Communities of Practice. OD
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n4/knowledgenets.html
A free introductory text and major
Allen, Christopher (2004). Tracing the
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Evolution of Social Software. Life with
Robert Hanneman and Mark Riddle.
Alacrity, Oct. 13, 2004.
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Another free textbook on social software acing_the_evo.html
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Anderson, Terry (2005). Educational Social
Capital & Social Software” by William
Overlay Networks. Virtual Canuck, Nov. 28,
Davies.
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h/isociety/social_capital_contents.jsp
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Anklam, Patti (2003). KM and the Social
Interaction contains many links to
Network. Knowledge Management
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teraction.html
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Social Network Analysis Instructional Web 00508B44AB3A/articleid.F79B4E31-7854-
Site has many downloadable items and

182 © Brandon Hall Research

4B6A-9202-
164FB18672D3/qx/display.htm
Barabási, A. L., (2002). Linked: The New
Science of Networks, Cambridge, MA,
Perseus Publishing.
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Boyd, Stowe (2003a). Are you ready for
social software? Darwin, May 2003.
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social.html
Boyd, Stowe (2003b). Cracking the social
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Cross, R., Borgatti, S. and Parker, A. (2002).
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Shirky, Clay (2003). Social software and the
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184 © Brandon Hall Research

http://eradc.org/papers/Learning_landscap
e.pdf
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2005.
http://www.cnet.com/4520-6033_1-
6240543-1.html

Do not reproduce 185


Telepresence
Technologies
Related terms
Instant messaging, presence, presentation
tools, transparent telepresence
Description
The Internet is a form of technology that can
separate humans from each other or can
bring them together. A person generally
responds better to another person if they
have more sensory contact that reveals the
humanity of the other person. That is the
theory behind telepresence applications.
This category of software is designed to
reveal the human characteristics of, and the
sense of contact with, another person while
communicating via the Web. When it is fully
successful, the experience is like another
person at a remote location being fully
present in the live real world location.
In 2000, the Internet Society’s Network
Working Group suggested that presence “is
a means for finding, retrieving, and
subscribing to changes in the presence
information (e.g., "online" or "offline") of
other users.” The most commonly used
presence technology today is “instant
messaging,” but other more elaborate
technologies, such as remotely operated
vehicles (ROV), are also available.
In spite of a growing research literature on
the phenomenon of “telepresence” in
networked environments, most online
learning environments are bereft of
anything representing the bodily features of
teachers or fellow learners. It is not
surprising that a two-year study of 169
Internet users found that they were more
isolated and depressed at the end of the
study than when they started (cited by
Dreyfus, 2001).
Telepresence systems have three essential
sub-systems: a home site with technology
that interfaces with the local user, a
communication link between the home site
and a remote site, and remote site
technology that interfaces with the
communication link and the person at the
remote site.
186
Presence information lets users change
their location and have phone calls and e-
mails follow them. "Always on"
videoconferencing lets users find colleagues
online and convene real-time meetings, as if
they were in the same room.
There are several subcategories in the field
of telepresence, including the following:
> Telemanipulation devices and
telerobotics with live interaction
> Haptic telesensation
> Telementoring and Teleteaching
Selected Examples
The Halo Collaboration Studio is a system of
carefully placed plasma televisions,
cameras, and microphones that allows two
groups of up to six people to hold a live
meeting in two separate locations.
Conceived by Dreamworks as a response to
travel concerns after the terrorist attacks of
Sept. 11, 2001, Halo allows meeting
participants to make eye contact, share files
and documents, and shout over each other
to try to be heard, just like during a real
meeting.
> http://www.hp.com/halo/index.html
> http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/f
eature_stories/2005/05halotale.html
KMi Stadium is the generic label for a suite
of activities and software tools that have
been evolving since mid-1995 at the UK
Open University's Knowledge Media
Institute. The common goal of these
activities is to stage large-scale live events
and on-demand-replays while giving remote
participants anywhere on the Internet a
sense of 'being there.'
http://cnm.open.ac.uk/projects/stadium/
The goal of the Transparent Telepresence
Research Group (TTRG) at the University of
Strathclyde is to produce the world's first
telepresence system where the technology
is totally transparent to the user. This would
enable the user to experience being fully
present, in every sense, at a physically
remote real world site.
http://telepresence.dmem.strath.ac.uk/ind
ex.htm
PERCRO is an Italian group with a variety of
telepresence projects. Their tag line is
© Brandon Hall Research
“Simultaneous Presence, Telepresence and
Virtual Presence."
http://www.percro.org/
Teledrive is a remotely operated vehicle
(ROV) that produces the feeling of “being
there” for the driver. The driver sits in a box,
with controls and video screens that show
the remote environment.
http://laimuz.unizar.es/teledrive/
Tele-Immersion technology is designed to
enable users in different locations to
collaborate as if they were in the same
room.
> http://www.advanced.org/teleimmersio
n.html
> http://www.advanced.org/teleimmersio
n2.html
Fakespace has the world’s first fully
immersive visualization system, the CAVE,
and other software that enhances a sense
of being at a remote location.
http://www.fakespace.com
Instant Messaging Tools:
AOL AIM – The instant messaging software
from America Online.
http://www.aim.com/
eBuddy – A site listing all the major instant
messaging tools.
http://www.ebuddy.com/index.php
IBM Lotus Sametime – Enterprise instant
messaging and conferencing software.
http://www-142.ibm.com/software/sw-
lotus/products/product3.nsf/wdocs/homep
age
GAIM – Gaim is a multi-protocol instant
messaging (IM) client for Linux, BSD, MacOS
X, and Windows.
http://gaim.sourceforge.net/
Jabber – An open, secure, ad-free
alternative to consumer instant messaging
services.
http://www.jabber.org/
Windows Live Messenger (aka MSN
Messenger) – All the main features of
instant messaging software, plus the ability
to hook up a Webcam and chat with a video
feed between computers.
http://get.live.com/messenger/overview
Do not reproduce
Yahoo Messenger – Instant messaging
software with voice chat.
http://messenger.yahoo.com/
Online Resources
Virtual-Presence.org is dedicated to all
aspects of virtual presence. The site
contains an extensive bibliography on the
topic, as well as news, history, and
descriptions of systems for virtual presence.
http://www.virtual-presence.org
Bibliography
Dreyfus, Hubert (2001). On the Internet.
London: Routledge.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415
228077/104-0312434-
8042331?v=glance&n=283155
Enlund, Nils (2000). The production of
presence – distance techniques in
education. In Soldek, J. and Pejas, J. (Eds.)
ACS 2000 Proceedings, 44-49.
http://www2.hig.no/at/nmm/enlund.acs.pd
f
Fontana, John (2004). Presence
applications poised for takeoff. Network
World, Sept. 6, 2004.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2004/
090604specialfocus.html
Goldberg, Ken (Ed.) (2000). The Robot in
the Garden: Telerobotics and
Telepistemology in the Age of the Internet.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
http://www.ieor.berkeley.edu/~goldberg/art
/tele/
Internet Society, Network Working Group
(2000). Instant Messaging/Presence
Protocol Requirements. Online memo.
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2779.txt
Knudsen, C. and Naeve, A. (2001).
Presence Production in a Distributed Shared
Virtual Environment for Exploring
Mathematics. In Proceedings of the 8th
International Conference on Advanced
Computer Systems (ACS 2001).
http://kmr.nada.kth.se/papers/TelePresenc
e/CJKPresenceProd.pdf
Knudsen, C., Naeve, A. and Handberg, L.
(2002). Video Mediated Communication:
producing a sense of presence between
individuals in a shared virtual reality.
Keynote address at the ISEC conference,
187
 Banff, Calgary, Alberta, June 1, 2002.
http://cid.nada.kth.se/pdf/CID-206.pdf
Lynn, Regina (2004). Ins and outs of
teledildonics. Wired News, September 24.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,650
64-0.html
Riva, G., Davide, F. and IJsselsteijn, W.
(Eds.) (2003). Being There:
Concepts, effects and measurements of
user presence in synthetic environments.
Amsterdam: IOS Press.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1586
033018/104-0312434-
8042331?v=glance&n=283155
Ross, S., Donnelly, M., Dobreva, M., Abbott,
D., McHugh, A. and Rusbridge, A. (2005).
DigiCULT: core technologies for the cultural
and scientific heritage sector. DigiCult
Technology Watch Report 3, January 2005.
http://www.digicult.info/downloads/TWR3-
lowres.pdf
Sponberg, H., Knudsen, C. and Handberg, L.
(2001). New learning modes in the
production of presence – distance
technique for education. In Hoyer, H. et al.
(Eds.) The Future of Learning – Learning for
the future: Shaping the Transition.
Germany: Hagen.
http://www.swedishlearninglab.org/docume
nts/Sponberg.Learning.modes.pdf
Udell, Jon (2005). When time-shifting and
telepresence collide. InfoWorld, Jan. 28.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/01/2
8/05OPstrategic_1.html

188 © Brandon Hall Research


Video and IPTV
Related terms
Internet television, IPTV, screencasting,
streaming video, telepresence, television, t-
learning, video blogging, videocasting,
vodcasting, vlog
Description
Video, in all its formats, is an essential part
of learning in today’s world. Video is used
everywhere in television and is common on
the Internet. A new version of television,
Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), is
emerging as a strong competitor to
broadcast and cable television. My first
report in this series, entitled Emerging E-
Learning: New Approaches to Delivering
Engaging Online Learning Content (Brandon
Hall Research, 2005), reviewed video as an
online content format. Now in this report I
look at the tools available for developing
educational video and IPTV.
Video is coming at us from all sides – from
Webcams, PDAs, cell phones, amateur and
professional video cameras, even a video
plug-in for Skype, the largest Internet
telephone service. Video blogging has
become common, and video publishing and
peer-to-peer sharing of videos are the norm.
IPTV introduces a level of flexibility
compared to traditional broadcasting.
Examples of the services IPTV can offer
include the following:
> Unlimited channels of digital TV and
music
> Personal video recording (PVR)
> Pay-per-view
> Caller ID on screen
> Video-on-demand (VOD)
> VOD by subscription (SVOD)
> E-mail
> Internet, games
> Tax payment
> Information services
> Shopping
Do not reproduce
> Interactive Advertising
> E-learning
Atwere and Bates (2003) say that the
technology needs sufficient flexibility to
address the following pedagogical
considerations:
> How to turn a passive viewer into an
active learner
> How to make learning opportunities
more accessible in the home
> How to bridge the gap between
‘edutainment’ and ‘engaged learning’
> How to integrate learning support
systems (human and electronic) to
enable engaged learning within a TV-
based learning environment
> The types of interactivity needed to
enhance the learning experience
through interactive digital TV
(interaction through a return channel)
Despite the high quality of many
productions, educational broadcasting has
generally failed to have a major impact on
the quality of learning experiences in
schools. However, making videos can be an
engaging and empowering form of
education (Goldfarb, 2002).
Once video goes on the Internet, bandwidth
becomes an issue. It is usually necessary to
keep the video window small and have just
acceptable image quality to accommodate
the huge files sizes needed by digital video
(although quality is rapidly improving).
Further, video on the Internet is not readily
searchable, although new tagging
technologies may soon solve this problem.
In spite of the limitations, according to
Foroohar (2006), sending television over
the Web (IPTV) is already big in Japan and
gaining steam in the rest of the world.
Britain's largest telecom firm, BT, recently
launched its own entertainment division to
send video content over phone lines.
Internet companies like Google and Yahoo
are developing video search engines.
As the following examples show, there is a
lot of movement in the field of online video,
with a great potential to impact e-learning in
the near future.
189
 Selected Examples
Media Logic’s iSee communications
technology enables organizations to deliver
live audio, video, and multimedia content to
customers, partners, employees, or
students through a high quality, low
bandwidth video stream.
http://www.medialogic.co.uk/index.htm
According to Axor Corporation of Argentina,
with IPTV, the “triple play” of video, voice,
and data services increases the profits by
subscriber, improves the satisfaction of the
client, and maintains loyalty.
http://www.axor.com.ar/iptv_en.htm
Google Video contains amateur videos as
well as offerings from the major television
networks. Recently Google signed a deal
with MTV to offer music video clips as part
of Google Ads.
http://video.google.com
Apple’s iTunes site is a major distributor of
downloadable video for playback on an iPod
or a computer screen.
http://www.apple.com/itunes/videos/
The Participatory Culture Foundation
released its “Democracy Internet TV
Platform,” which allows uploading of videos
to its Web site.
http://participatoryculture.org/
In 1999, DFILM launched the MovieMaker,
which allowed users to create a short
animated cartoon on a Web site and email it
to friends. It is still going strong at:
http://www.dfilm.com/index_about.html
Dialcom Networks, a Spanish specialist in
software applications for video communic-
ation solutions and remote team-working in
real time, has launched a plug-in providing
high-quality video capabilities for Skype, the
Internet telephone service.
http://www.dmeurope.com/default.asp?Arti
cleID=8104
On2 Technologies produces advanced video
compression tools that give great results on
the Web. See samples at:
http://www.on2.com/
Brightcove allows users to publish and
syndicate video content to the Web.
http://www.brightcove.com
190
For an example of a video blog, see
Rocketboom, a three-minute videoblog.
http://www.rocketboom.com
The Rocketboom creators describe all the
hardware and software tools needed to
produce their program.
http://www.rocketboom.com/extra/video_t
ools/
Addicting Clips allows a user to upload a
video clip for sharing with others. See
examples at:
http://www.addictingclips.com/
The XstreamEngine2 from Winnov is the
only encoding solution on the market to
process up to eight distinct video inputs in a
single unit and then simultaneously stream
multi-format broadcasts in real time at
various bit rates to thousands of users at
the most optimized resolution for their
device, whether dial-up, cellular, PDA,
desktop, or set-top box.
http://www.xstreamengine.com/pressrelea
ses.php
BitTorrent is popular peer-to-peer video
sharing software.
http://www.bittorrent.com/
BitTorrent.org is the site for BitTorrent
developers to meet and work on future
developments of this open source protocol.
http://www.bittorrent.org
Ourmedia calls itself a “global home for
grassroots media.” Users can upload video
clips for free.
http://www.ourmedia.org/
Google has started to digitize historically
significant video from the National Archives
of the USA. See the current selection at:
http://video.google.com/nara.html
VideoPaper Builder 3 is a multimedia
creation tool for users of any level of
technology skills.
http://vpb.concord.org/
At YouTube, users can tag their own videos
and post them to the Web, plus see
thousands of video clips posted by others.
http://www.youtube.com/
veotag allows users to upload videos, tag
them, and divide them into chapters or
segments.
http://www.veotag.com/
© Brandon Hall Research
Veoh allows individuals to broadcast their
own television shows on the Internet or
watch video posted by others.
http://www.veoh.com/
Online Resources
“Multimedia Seeds” is a Web site devoted
to audio, video, and visual resources.
http://eduscapes.com/seeds/index.html
The e-Learning Centre in the UK supplies a
major listing of online resources for
educational uses of streaming media.
http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/Resources/str
eaminglearning.htm
The US Navy’s Human Performance Center
Web site has an extensive listing of
resources on digital video.
https://www.spider.hpc.navy.mil/index.cfm?
RID=TTE_OT_1000021
DV Guru offers advice on all aspects of
digital video. For example, read “Ten video
sharing services compared.”
http://www.dvguru.com/2006/04/07/ten-
video-sharing-services-compared/
or http://dvguru.com
The Robin Good blog (by Luigi Canali De
Rossi) has a recent set of resources and
interviews on audio and video file
distribution with BitTorrent, through the
Prodigem peer-to-peer content site.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/video/vid
eo_publishing/video_distribution_via_p2p_
online_service_Prodigem_20050706.htm
The Robin Good blog (by Luigi Canali De
Rossi) also has an article on using video
taken with cell phones, termed “mobile
television.”
http://www.masternewmedia.org/mobile_te
levision/mobile_television_trends/mobile_t
elevision_coming_20051019.htm
A third useful article from the Robin Good
Blog on the impact of changes in television
and streaming video is entitled “Watch TV
Stations From The World Around: Online TV
Player.”
http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/20
05/03/26/watch_tv_stations_from_the.ht
m
EDUCAUSE has published a brochure
entitled “7 things you should know
about…Videoblogging.”
Do not reproduce
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI
7005.pdf
The IPTV Industry blog has vast resources
on this topic.
http://www.iptv-industry.com
David Woolley collects and posts links on
videoconferencing on his Web site.
http://www.thinkofit.com/webconf/video.ht
m
The elearnspace blog by George Siemens
has a page devoted to “Media.” Subtopics
include video and streaming media.
http://www.elearnspace.org/doing/media.h
tm
Mefeedia is a no frills portal devoted to
video blogger feeds. The site already
contains nearly 6,500 vlogs organized by
popularity, by alphabet, and by tags, which
users can submit.
www.mefeedia.com
Knowledge@Wharton has an article entitled
“Online Video: the market is hot, but
business models are fuzzy.”
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articl
e.cfm?articleid=1519
Bibliography
Atwere, D. and Bates, P. (2003). Interactive
TV: a learning platform with potential.
London: Learning and Skills Development
Agency.
http://www.lsda.org.uk/files/pdf/1443.pdf
Bardia, Pradeep (2004). Industry
Perspectives: emerging video apps need
programmability and flexibility. Online article
at:
http://www.streamingmedia.com/article.as
p?id=8954&c=6
Bates, Peter (2003). t-learning Study - A
study into TV-based interactive learning to
the home: Final Report.
http://www.pjb.co.uk/t-
learning/contents.htm
Canali De Rossi, Luigi (2005a). Beyond Wi-
Max: Wi-Bro Coming. Robin Good Blog, Dec.
1, 2005.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/20
05/12/01/beyond_wimax_wibro_coming.ht
m
Canali De Rossi, Luigi (2005b). Beyond
Wireless Broadband, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Wi-Bro:
191
 XMax Goes The Distance. Robin Good Blog, http://www.bcr.com/bcrmag/2005/02/p08
Dec. 2, 2005. .php
http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/20
Taplin, Jonathan. (2005). The IPTV
05/12/02/beyond_wireless_broadband_wif
Revolution. Online paper.
i_wimax.htm
http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~jtaplin/IPTV.pdf
Curtis, L. and Swenson, P. (2003).
Thornhill, S., Asensio, M. and Young, C.
Video/Audio Production for Internet-Based
(Eds.) (2002). Video Streaming: a guide for
Courses: An Overview of Technologies for
educational development. Manchester, UK:
Use on both Desktop and Handheld
JISC Click and Go Video Project.
Devices. In Richards, G. (Ed.), Proceedings
http://www2.umist.ac.uk/isd/lwt/clickgo/th
of E-Learn 2003 (pp. 417-419).
e_guide/Video_Streaming-The_Guide.pdf
http://www.aace.org/newdl/index.cfm?fuse
action=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=149
66
Foroohar, Rana (2005). Changing Channels.
Newsweek (International Ed.), June 6,
2005.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8018601/
site/newsweek/
Friedman, Matthew (2005). Telcos face
tough road deploying IPTV. Networking
Pipeline, April 26, 2005.
http://www.networkingpipeline.com/showAr
ticle.jhtml?articleID=161600153
Goldfarb, Brian (2002). Visual Pedagogy:
Media Cultures in and beyond the
Classroom. Durham, NC: Duke University.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0822
329646/104-0312434-
8042331?v=glance&n=283155
IBM (2006). The end of TV as we know it: a
future industry perspective. IBM Institute for
Business Value study.
http://www-
1.ibm.com/services/us/imc/pdf/ge510-
6248-end-of-tv-full.pdf
Klass, Brian (2005). Streaming Media in
Higher Education: Possibilities and Pitfalls.
Campus Technology, Mon. Nov. 7, 2005.
http://www.campus-
technology.com/article.asp?id=7769
Meng, Peter (2005). Podcasting and
VODcasting: definitions, discussions and
implications. University of Missouri, IAT
Services White Paper.
http://edmarketing.apple.com/adcinstitute/
wp-
content/Missouri_Podcasting_White_Paper.
pdf
Nolle, Tom (2005). What’s the real future of
video? Business Communications Review,
Feb. 2005, 8-9.

192 © Brandon Hall Research


Virtual Reality
Related terms
Augmented reality, augmented virtuality,
desktop virtual reality, distributed virtual
environments, mixed reality, simulation,
virtual environments
Description
Virtual reality allows worlds to be created
that simply do not exist except as computer
creations. Depending on the level of realism
achieved, and the aim of the virtual
experience, virtual reality can be a powerful
e-learning tool or a colossal waste of time.
Canali De Rossi (2004) lists 10 advantages
of collaborating or learning inside a 3-D
virtual immersive workspace:
> The space is persistent.
> Videoconferencing is not required.
> A user's learning experience can be
designed to fit specific task needs with
a flexibility and immediacy impossible in
real life.
> Exploration and discovery are enabled.
> Risks are reduced for dangerous and
unorthodox explorations of new spaces.
> Fantasy and imagination can be
unleashed.
> Virtual 3-D spaces allow full recording
of any activity, interaction, exchange
enabling, and re-experiencing or re-
using past events.
> Creed, skin color, and look do not count
much in virtual spaces.
> People with major physical handicaps
appear as capable and beautiful as
anyone else.
> The ability to inhabit any type of body
and to customize one's own look gives
many people the opportunity to express
themselves as they truly feel and not as
society forces them to.
Selected Examples
Solipsis is an open source peer-to-peer
system for a massively shared virtual world.
There are no central servers at all: it relies
Do not reproduce
only on end-users' machines.
http://solipsis.netofpeers.net/wiki2/index.p
hp/Main_Page
The Ancient Spaces Web site from the
University of British Columbia allows users
to reconstruct and play with historical prop-
erties. It aimed to bring experiential and
game-based learning to the highly tradi-
tional curricula of the Classical, Near East-
ern, and Religious Studies department.
http://ancient.arts.ubc.ca/index.html
Kahootz is a powerful set of 3-D multimedia
tools that allows students and teachers to
be creators, designers, inventors, and
storytellers.
http://www.kahootz.com
Savannah is a strategy-based adventure
game where a virtual space is mapped
directly onto a real space. Children ‘play’ at
being lions in a savannah. By using aspects
of game play, Savannah challenges children
to explore and survive in the augmented
space. To do this, they must successfully
adopt strategies used by lions.
http://www.futurelab.org.uk/showcase/sav
annah/savannah.htm
A collaborative project at Columbia
University between the Graphics and User
Interfaces Lab in the Computer Science
Department and the Building Technologies
Group in the Graduate School of
Architecture applies augmented reality in
the construction industry.
http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/graphics/proj
ects/arc/arc.html
Equator is a six-year interdisciplinary
research collaboration to explore the
integration of physical and digital realities.
http://www.equator.ac.uk/
In collaboration with the Equator project
(part of the EU's Disappearing Computer
initiative), Shape has developed the
augurscope, a portable mixed reality
interface for outdoor use. The augurscope
consists of a tripod-mounted display that
can be wheeled to different locations and
then rotated and tilted to view a virtual
environment that is aligned with the
physical background. Video from an
onboard camera is embedded into this
virtual environment.
http://www.shape-
dc.org/highlights/augur.html
193
 ErgoNetz is the Internet service of the
Virtual Reality laboratory at the Institute for
Occupa-tional Physiology at the University of
Dort-mund in Germany. The site includes
usability guidelines for developing virtual
reality and examples of how it is used in
training.
http://www.ergonetz.de
Second Life is a virtual reality environment
with many uses, including education. For
example, an island for people with
Asperger’s Syndrome teaches them to
socialize in the safety of a virtual
community.
> http://www.secondlife.com
> http://www.healthdatamanagement.co
m/html/current/CurrentIssueStory.cfm
?PostID=19660
Active Worlds is a virtual reality community
that is appealing to educators. Its Active
Worlds Educational Universe has been
designed for teachers and students.
http://www.activeworlds.com/edu/index.as
p Bouras, C., Hornig, G., Triantafillou, V. and
The CREATE tool provides the ability to
author training and performance
enhancement solutions that are scalable
from classrooms to mobile context aware
and mobile augmented reality
environments.
http://www.informationinplace.com
The Web site of the Virtual Reality Lab at the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology is an
outstanding place to learn more about
creating virtual reality.
http://vrlab.epfl.ch/About/about_index.html
Croquet is a new open source software
platform for creating deeply collaborative
multi-user online applications.
http://www.opencroquet.org/index.html
Online Resources
The Arts and Humanities Data Service has
two guides to good practice. One is called
“Creating and Using Virtual Reality: a guide
for the arts and humanities,” and the other
is called “Using Digital Resources in
Teaching, Learning and Research in the
Visual Arts” (see the case study of a Virtual
Reality Multi-User Environment).
> http://vads.ahds.ac.uk/guides/vr_guid
e/index.html
194
> http://vads.ahds.ac.uk/guides/using_g
uide/sect34.html
The U.S. Navy’s Human Performance Center
has a Web page of Virtual Reality
References and Links.
https://www.spider.hpc.navy.mil/index.cfm?
RID=POL_OT_1000274
INTUITION is a Network of Excellence
focused on virtual reality and virtual
environments applications for future
workspaces. The Network includes 58
partners and it is being coordinated by the
Institute of Communication and Computer
Systems of the National Technical University
of Athens in Greece.
http://www.intuition-eunetwork.net/
Virtual Reality and Education Laboratory of
the College of Education, East Carolina
University, maintains a list of links on using
virtual reality in educational settings.
http://vr.coe.ecu.edu/vrel.htm
Bibliography
Tsiatsos, T. (2001). Architectures
Supporting e-Learning Through
Collaborative Virtual Environments: the
Case of INVITE. Paper presented at ICALT
2001.
http://ru6.cti.gr/ru6/publications/9579523
.pdf
Bouras, C., Philopoulos, A. and Tsiatsos, T.
(2001). e-Learning through distributed
virtual environments. Journal of Network
and Computer Applications, 24, 175-199.
http://ru6.cti.gr/ru6/publications/8981624
.pdf
Bouras, C. and Tsiatsos, T. (2006).
Educational Virtual Environments: Design
Rationale and Architecture. Research
report.
http://ru6.cti.gr/ru6/publications/6168107
7.pdf
Campus Technology Magazine (2006).
Technology Area - Virtual and Immersive
Learning Innovators: Appalachian State
University & Purdue University, Campus
Technology, August 9, 2006.
http://www.campus-
technology.com/article.asp?id=18952
Canali De Rossi, Luigi (2004). 3D virtual
spaces for learning and collaboration. Robin
© Brandon Hall Research
Good Blog, Sept. 27, 2004. McArdle, G., Monahan, T., Bertolotto, M. and
http://www.masternewmedia.org/2004/09 Mangina, E. (2005). Conceptual Agent
/27/3d_virtual_spaces_for_learning.htm Models for a Virtual Reality and Multimedia
E-Learning Environment. Proceedings, Web
Dickey, Michelle (2003). 3D Virtual Worlds:
Based Education 2005 conference.
An Emerging Technology for Traditional and
http://www.actapress.com/PaperInfo.aspx?
Distance Learning. Paper presented at the
PaperID=19676
OLN 2003 conference.
For bibliography see:
http://www.oln.org/conferences/OLN2003/
http://www.actapress.com/Reference.aspx
papers/Dickey3DVirtualWorlds.pdf
?paperId=20697
Hoare, Stephen (2004). Virtual teaching
Monthienvichienchai, R., Conlan, O. and
aids become a reality. Guardian Unlimited,
Seyedarabi, F. (2005). Can Museum
Sept. 28, 2004.
Exhibits Support Personalised Learning in
http://education.guardian.co.uk/elearning/
Collaborative Classroom Activities By Using
story/0,10577,1314022,00.html
Augmented Reality? Paper presented at the
Jones, G. and Hicks, J. (2004). 3D Online CELDA 2005 conference.
Learning Environments for Emergency https://www.cs.tcd.ie/Owen.Conlan/public
Preparedness and Homeland Security ations/CELDA05_monthienvichienchai_B.p
Training. Paper presented at the eLearn df
2004 conference.
Prasolova-Førland, Ekaterina (2005). Place
http://courseweb.unt.edu/gjones/pdf/Jone
metaphors in educational CVEs: an
s_elearn04.pdf
extended characterization. Proceedings,
Kaplan-Leiserson, Eva (2004). Trend: Web-based Education 2005 conference.
augmented reality check. Learning Circuits, http://www.actapress.com/PaperInfo.aspx?
Dec. 2004. PaperID=19716
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2004/dec2
Queen, Gerard (2002). Rationale for the
004/0412_trends.htm
deployment of virtual reality technologies in
Katterfeld, C. and Sester, M. (2004). schools. Prometeus Journal of e-Learning,
Desktop virtual reality in e-learning No. 1.
environments. http://www.elearning.unibo.it/Journal/Pape
rs/Queen.pdf
International Archives of Photogrammetry,
Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Ross, S., Donnelly, M., Dobreva, M., Abbott,
Sciences, Vol. 35, ISPRS, Istanbul, 2004. D., McHugh, A. and Rusbridge, A. (2005).
http://www.ikg.uni- DigiCULT: core technologies for the cultural
hannover.de/publikationen/publikationen/ and scientific heritage sector. (Section on
2004/istanbul_Katterfeld.pdf Virtual Reality). DigiCult Technology Watch
Report 3, January 2005.
Katterfeld, C. & Sester, M. (2005). Virtual http://www.digicult.info/downloads/TWR3-
Landscapes: An Interactive E-Learning lowres.pdf
Environment Based On Xml Encoded
Geodata. Proceedings of 22nd International
Cartographic Conference, July 9-16, 2005,
La Coruna/Spain.
http://www.icc2005.org/html-
eng/english.html
Liarokapis, F., Petridis, P., Lister, P. and
White, M. (2002). Multimedia Augmented
Reality Interface for E-learning (MARIE).
World Transactions on Engineering and
Technology Education, 1(2).
http://www.eng.monash.edu.au/uicee/worl
dtransactions/WorldTransAbstractsVo1No2
/06_Liarokapis10.pdf

Do not reproduce 195


Visualization
Technologies
Related terms
Cognitive maps, cognitive collage,
cybercartography, dynamic displays, Flash,
geographical information systems, GIS,
graphics, images, location based systems,
pattern recognition, mapping, Scalable
Vector Graphics (SVG)
Description
Visualization is the process of representing
abstract information in the form of images
that can assist in the understanding and
analysis of the data (Ross, et al. 2003). My
first report in this series, entitled Emerging
E-Learning: New Approaches to Delivering
Engaging Online Learning Content (Brandon
Hall Research, 2005), reviewed
visualization as an online content format.
Now in this report I look at the tools
available for developing visualizations.
As complexity theory develops as an
approach to education, new ways of
modeling complex phenomena are
emerging that will require tracking. The
ability to see and move through “the big
picture” will be a commonplace educational
objective in the near future. Mapping of
thoughts (“mind maps”) or pathways is one
example of this genre of educational
materials. Another is the category of
“artificial life simulators.”
There are four primary stages to creating
visualizations: data input, data filtering,
data mapping, and data rendering.
The educational advantages of visualization
are many. Humans analyze visual
information better than written text. A good
visualization can give an improved
understanding or “big picture” view of a
complex phenomenon. Seeing a picture
works with our unconscious in that the brain
processes pictures much faster than it
analyzes data. Finally, visualization can
represent alternative points of view,
allowing for innovation or new
understandings.
On the other hand, a bad visualization can
often be very confusing or misleading and
196
require a lot of explanation. Complex
visualizations and the tools that create
them can also cost a lot of money, so
purchase decisions in this field need to be
taken seriously.
Selected Examples
The Visual Geophysical Exploration
Environment (VGEE) addresses the needs of
data users, learners and educators by
providing a way to connect data with
curricula and tools to guide and facilitate
meaningful and appropriate use of the data.
The VGEE consists of four elements:
> An inquiry-based curriculum for guiding
student exploration
> A learner-centered interface to a
scientific visualization tool
> A collection of concept models
(interactive tools that help students
understand fundamental scientific
concepts)
> A suite of El Niño-related data sets
adapted for student use
(http://www.dpc.ucar.edu/vgee)
Vizserver is a product from Inxight that
shows visualizations using hyperbolic star-
tree maps. See some amazing demos at:
http://www.inxight.com/products/vizserver/
Semagix’s Freedom is one platform that
combines semantic representations with
visualization techniques.
http://www.semagix.com/solutions.html
“Tag Clouds” are clusters of social
bookmarks that relate to a specific site,
such as a blog. They are visual
representations of the relative frequencies
of various topics discussed. For an example,
see ZoomClouds.
http://www.zoomclouds.com/
Ontopia’s Omnigator 007 is a free topic
map navigator, which showcases their
potential.
http://www.ontopia.net/omnigator/models/
index.jsp
Unified Field shows examples of 4-D
dynamic data visualization for the financial
sector.
http://www.unifiedfield.com
© Brandon Hall Research
The European Space Agency’s EnviView
gateway has been introduced to facilitate
the visualization of satellite information,
allowing users to access complex
geophysical data in their preferred mode.
http://esapub.esrin.esa.it/eoq/eoq68/Envi
View_68.pdf
Dynamic Digital Depth provides expert
stereo 3-D solutions for 3-D content
creation, delivery, and display (without
glasses!).
http://www.ddd.com/
Numerous software visualization products
for the Visible Human Project that aims to
create complete 3-D representations of
male and female human bodies. These
include the NPAC/OLDA Visible Human
Viewer, Java applet tool that allows users to
select and view 2-D slices of bodies.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/vi
sible_human.html
The Texas Memorial Museum in Austin,
Texas uses VRCO Full Circle, Museum
Edition, a visualization system comprising
immersive 3-D display and dedicated
software, which allow models and
information from various sources to be
virtually exhibited.
http://www.tmm.utexas.edu/index.html
VRCO is a company specializing in
producing advanced visualizations.
http://www.vrco.com
“Type is an organism” with intelligence and
a life on the Web. Explore a series of
visualization experiments at:
http://www.typorganism.com/
Program 3-D graphics using the Alice v2.0
authoring system. See:
http://www.alice.org/
AutoStitch is the world's first fully automatic
2-D image stitcher. Capable of stitching full
view panoramas without any user input
whatsoever, AutoStitch can be used for
panoramic photography, VR, and
visualization applications. Free demo at:
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~mbrown/autostitch/
autostitch.html
The University of Birmingham has a Visual
and Spatial Technology Centre with many
examples of the use of visualization.
http://www.vista.bham.ac.uk/
Do not reproduce
A number of visualization techniques are
outlined and demonstrated by Eoin Brazil of
the University of Limerick in his presentation
“Information Visualisation in Information
Retrieval.”
http://richie.idc.ul.ie/eoin/presentations/In
formation%20Visualisation%20in%20Inform
ation%20Retreival.ppt
Visualize the conversations in a chat room
with “chat circles,” which use colors and
geometric forms to convey presence and
activity.
http://chatcircles.media.mit.edu/
Paul Nixon, a young graphic designer, has a
Weblog devoted to the visualization of
information. See his list of resources at:
http://www.nixlog.com/infographics/
Visualize the history of Manhattan through
the interactive time maps at the Manhattan
Timeformations project.
http://www.skyscraper.org/timeformations/
intro.html
Le Ceil Est Bleu Web site from France is an
amazing collection of visualizations and
animations. Be sure to explore the “zoo.”
http://www.lecielestbleu.com
Extraordinary visualizations come from
Marcos Weskamp and his marumushi.com
Web site in Tokyo. Especially take a look at
Newsmap as a fresh way to view the
headlines.
http://www.marumushi.com
A lot can be learned from a 3-D visualization
of the human body - in English or Spanish.
http://www.medtropolis.com/VBody.asp
NASA maintains a “Scientific Visualization
Studio” at the Goddard Space Flight Center.
It has images of space and the earth from
space. Sample the collection at:
http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html
For a practical application of visualization,
see ‘Scientists seek “map of science,”’ BBC
News, April 7th, 2004.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature
/3608385.stm
The visualization of scientific data is also
available from the Grok-It Science Web site.
http://www.medibolt.com
FeedTank is a collective of digital artists
using new technologies to create playful
interactive spectacles. Sample their efforts
197
 at:
http://www.feedtank.com/index.html
Semagix’s Freedom platform combines
semantics with visualization for knowledge
representation.
http://www.semagix.com/solutions.html
The Omnigator from Ontopia is a technology
showcase and teaching aid designed to
demonstrate the power of Topic Maps.
http://www.ontopia.net/omnigator/models/
index.jsp
VRVis is an Austrian company promoting the
use of visualization through virtual reality.
See their tool set and examples of their
work.
http://www.vrvis.at/home.html
Quaternions are the key tool for
understanding and manipulating
orientations and rotations in 3-D Cartesian
space. Professor Andrew Hanson does work
in this area and has written a book about
quaternions.
http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~hanson/
Check out the fascinating changes in the art
of map design described in the online article
Experiments with Territories: Post
Cartographic Map Design.
http://makingmaps.owu.edu/postcarto-
aag06.html
“Executive dashboards” that aggregate and
summarize large amounts of business data
from within a corporation are available from
several vendors, including the following:
Ambient Dashboard
http://www.ambientdevices.com/cat/dashb
oard/index.html
Top Tier
http://www.mccrackendesign.com/applicati
on.html
XCelsius
http://www.xcelsius.com
CenterView
http://www.corda.com
WorkPlace
http://www.ibm.com
Digital Dashboard
http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issu
es/0700/Dashboard/
iDashboard
http://www.idashboards.com/
198
OmniGlobe allows visual displays that are
best mapped onto a sphere. See this
technology in action.
http://www.arcscience.com/omni.htm
ClustrMaps locates all visitors to a Web site
and displays them on a world map.
http://clustrmaps.com/index.htm
How do users visualize very large data sets,
for example, one million items. Techniques
for solving this problem have been
developed at the University of Maryland.
http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/millionvis/
Using time as an added dimension, United
Field produces 4-D visualizations of
financial data.
http://www.unifiedfield.com/
The Visible Human Project is the creation of
complete, anatomically detailed, 3-
dimensional representations of the normal
male and female human bodies.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/vi
sible_human.html
Visualizations of developing weather
systems have been produced by NOAA, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, in the U.S.
http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/products/vis/gall
ery/
The objective of VICODI is to enhance
human comprehension of digital content on
the Internet. This objective is reached by
introducing a novel visualization and
contextualization environment for digital
content. The VICODI Contextualisation
Environment addresses how to manage
search, retrieval, and information
presentation.
http://www.vicodi.org/about.htm
The American Museum of Natural History
has produced interesting visualizations and
animations of a variety of natural objects.
http://research.amnh.org/mif/scivizgallery/
galleries.html
Spotfire DecisionSite is software to visualize
data to make decisions.
http://www.spotfire.com
TimeMap is a novel mapping applet that
generates complete interactive maps with a
few simple lines of HTML code. It provides a
way of easily enriching Web pages with
historical or contemporary information that
© Brandon Hall Research
goes far beyond static JPG map images.
http://www.timemap.net/
TopoZone is the Web's center for
professional and recreational map users.
They have worked with the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) to create the Web's first
interactive topographical map of the entire
United States.
http://www.topozone.com
VisualAnalytics’ product VisuaLinks is the
premier analytical tool for "connecting the
dots" by extracting and visually analyzing
data to uncover patterns, associations,
networks, trends, and anomalies in data.
http://www.visualanalytics.com/
Tangible Media Group is part of the MIT
Media Lab and focuses on the seamless
couplings between the physical world and
the virtual world.
http://tangible.media.mit.edu/
Intergraph is a world leader in delivering
software and services for managing and
visually representing complex information,
especially for displaying and analyzing
geospatial data.
http://www.intergraph.com/
ADVIZOR’s Visual Discovery software
enables people to make better decisions
from their business data.
http://www.advizorsolutions.com
Music Animation Machine turns music into
a set of visualizations.
http://www.musanim.com/mam/mam.html
Microsoft’s Visualization and Interaction for
Business and Entertainment (VIBE) team's
mission is to design elegant visualization
and interaction techniques that span the
full spectrum of devices and displays.
http://research.microsoft.com/vibe/
Visualization Tools:
ESRI is a leading geographical information
systems and mapping software company.
http://www.esri.com
Mapinfo gives business intelligence
information about a specific geographical
location.
http://www.mapinfo.com
Mapland has mapping software that is
based on data in Microsoft Excel.
http://www.softill.com
Do not reproduce
OziExplorer GPS Mapping Software runs on
a PC or laptop. It works with the leading
brands of Global Positioning System (GPS)
receivers.
http://www.oziexplorer.com
Golden Software produces and sells a
variety of mapping software packages,
including the following: Voxler, for 3-D data
visualization; MapViewer, for thematic and
analytical mapping; Didger, for digitizing and
coordinate conversion; Grapher, for 2-D and
3-D graphing; and, Strater, for well log and
borehole plotting.
http://www.golden.com
Accurender developed Raytrace and
radiosity rendering software for architectural
applications.
http://www.accurender.com
DAZ3D offers several visualization
packages, including the following: Bryce, for
3-D landscaping and animation; Carrara, for
3-D modeling, animation, and rendering;
and DAZ|Studio with pre-built 3-D
characters.
http://www.daz3d.com/
form·Z is an award winning general purpose
solid and surface modeler with an extensive
set of 2-D/3-D form manipulating and
sculpting capabilities, many of which are
unique.
http://www.formz.com
Pixologic is 2.5-D modeling and rendering
software.
http://www.pixologic.com
Okino makes visual simulation data
translation, modeling, and rendering
software.
http://www.okino.com
The Visual Thesaurus allows users to input a
word and then watch while the software
builds a set of dynamic visual links to
related terms. Clicking a related term
extends the process. Try a demo at:
http://www.visualthesaurus.com
Online Resources
Visualcomplexity.com links to several
hundred visualizations of complex data
sets. Over 30 are “knowledge networks.”
http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/index.
cfm
199
 The Pervasive Technology Labs at Indiana
University researches “visualization and
interactive spaces.” See their “Interactive
Visualization and Data Analysis Tools.”
http://vis.iu.edu/index.shtml?prim=lab_ove
rview
A section on visualization is regularly
updated on the Robin Good blog.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/informati
on_design_and_data_visualization.htm
The Encyclopedia of Educational Technology
has 11 articles on visualization techniques.
http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/
Ell, P., A Survey of Visualisation Tools in the
Social Sciences, is available online.
http://www.agocg.ac.uk/reports/visual/surv
ey/visurvey.pdf
Course outlines with links for several
different university courses on visualization
are available on the Web. Following are two:
> http://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/c
s448b-04-winter/
> http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~tmm/courses/i
nfovis/
LivePlasma links album covers and song
titles to each artist, together with their
estimated depth of influence. It is also a
visual discovery engine that searches for
favorite movies.
http://www.liveplasma.com/
Topic Maps is an XML-based technology for
visualizing large data sets. A comprehensive
list of Web resources on topic maps is found
at:
http://www.topicmap.com/
Topic Map developers will be interested in a
more technical site than the one above.
http://www.topicmaps.org/
Mechdyne Corporation has acquired VRCO
and Fakespace, both visualization
companies, to become one of the largest
companies in the visualization field.
> http://www.vrco.com/
> http://www.fakespace.com
The GVU Center at the Georgia Institute of
Technology in Atlanta carries out research
projects on visualization and graphics.
> http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/research/r
esearch.htm
200
> http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/gvu/softviz
/
Ben Fry’s Master’s thesis on “Organic
Information Design” applies dynamic
visualization techniques to understanding
complex systems.
http://acg.media.mit.edu/people/fry/thesis
/thesis-0522d.pdf
Some beautiful visualizations of the human
genome have been produced by Ben Fry, as
part of his doctoral work at MIT. He finished
his PhD. in June 2004 and now has his own
Web site.
> http://acg.media.mit.edu/people/fry/
> http://benfry.com/
Bibliography
Alpert, Sherman (2003). Abstraction in
Concept Map and Coupled Outline
Knowledge Representations. Journal of
Interactive Learning Research, 14(1), 31-49
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm?fuseactio
n=Reader.ViewAbstract&paper_id=17759
Anderson, K. and Woodill, G. (2005) Using
Information Visualization to Teach about
Complexity: support from the neurological
sciences. Proceedings, Conference on Com-
plexity Science and Educational Research.
http://www.complexityandeducation.ualbert
a.ca/conferences/2004/Documents/CSER
2_AndersonWoodill.pdf
Bergmann, J., Paier, M. and Resetarits, A.
(2003). Towards a Roadmap of Complexity
Research Using a Bibliometric Visualisation
Tool. Working Paper, EXYSTENCE network,
http://www.complexityscience.org/cs/NoE/
Roadmapworkingpaper_vfinal1.pdf
Bertin, Jacques (1967). Sémiologie
Graphique: les diagrammes, les réseaux, les
cartes. Paris: La Haye.
http://www.infovis.net/printRec.php?rec=lli
bre&lang=2#SemiologieGraphique
Bertin, Jacques (1983). The Semiology of
Graphics. Madison: University of Wisconsin.
http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-
and-a-fetch-
msg?msg_id=0000S0&topic_id=1
Card, J., Mackinlay, J. and Shneiderman, B.
(Eds.) (1999). Readings in Information
Visualization: using vision to think. San
© Brandon Hall Research
Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, pp. 1-34.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1558
605339/002-4609659-
0461665?v=glance&n=283155&n=50784
6&s=books&v=glance
Botturi, Luca (2003). E2ML: Educational
Environments Modeling Language.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Lugano,
Switzerland: University of Lugano.
http://www.istituti.usilu.net/botturil/web/e
2ml/
Botturi, Luca (2005). A framework for the
evaluation of visual languages for
instructional design: the case of E²ML.
Journal of Interactive Learning Research,
16(4), 329-351.
http://www.editlib.org/index.cfm/files/pape
r_5994.pdf?fuseaction=Reader.DownloadF
ullText&paper_id=5994
Clark, Ruth (2003). More than just eye
candy: graphics for e-learning. eLearning
Developers’ Journal, August 11.
http://www.elearningguild.com/articles/abs
tracts/index.cfm?action=viewonly2&id=29&
referer
Ell, P. (1998). Survey of Visualisation Tools
in the Social Sciences, available online at
http://www.agocg.ac.uk/reports/visual/surv
ey/visurvey.pdf
Goldfarb, Brian (2002). Visual Pedagogy:
Media Cultures in and beyond the
Classroom. Durham, NC: Duke University.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0822
329646/002-4609659-
0461665?v=glance&n=283155&n=50784
6&s=books&v=glance
Jones, J., Morales, C. and Knezek, G.
(2005). 3-Dimensional online learning
environments: examining attitudes toward
information technology between students in
Internet-based 3-dimensional and face-to-
face classroom instruction. Educational
Media International, Vol. 42, No. 3,
September.
http://created-
realities.com/publications.html
Madhavan, K., Arns, L. and Bertoline, G.
(2005). Inside Purdue’s Envision Center.
Campus Technology, June 1, 2005.
http://www.campus-
technology.com/article.asp?id=11222
Do not reproduce
Metros, S. and Woolsey, K. (2006). Visual
Literacy: an institutional imperative.
EDUCAUSE Review, 41(3), May/June.
http://www.educause.edu/apps/er/erm06/
erm0638.asp
Mittal, A. and Pagalthivarthi, K. (2005). Use
of relational and conceptual graphs in
supporting e-learning tasks. International
Journal on E-Learning, 4(1), 69-82.
http://www.aace.org/dl/index.cfm/fuseacti
on/ViewPaper/id/16951/toc/yes
Muirhead, Brent (2006). Creating Concept
Maps: Integrating Constructivism Principles
into Online Classes. International Journal of
Instructional Technology and Distance
Learning, 3(1), 17-30.
http://itdl.org/Journal/jan_06/article02.ht
m
O'Regan, J.K. (1992). Solving the "real"
mysteries of visual perception: the world as
an outside memory. Canadian Journal of
Psychology, 46: 461-488.
http://nivea.psycho.univ-
paris5.fr/CanJ/CanJ.html
Rhyne, Theresa (1998). Collaborative
Computing & Integrated Decision Support
Tools for Scientific Visualization. Siggraph.
http://www.siggraph.org/education/materia
ls/HyperVis/misc_topics/nsf2.html
Ross, S., Donnelly, M., Dobreva, M., Abbott,
D., McHugh, A. and Rusbridge, A. (2005).
DigiCULT: core technologies for the cultural
and scientific heritage sector. (Section on
Visualization). DigiCult Technology Watch
Report 3, January 2005.
http://www.digicult.info/downloads/TWR3-
lowres.pdf
Scaife, Mike and Rogers, Yvonne (1996).
External cognition: how do graphical
representations work? International Journal
of Human-Computer Studies, Vol. 45, No. 2,
August, pp. 185–213
http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/yrogers
/papers/externalcognition.pdf
Shneiderman, B. (2004). Designing the User
Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-
Computer Interaction. 4th Edition. Reading,
MA: Addison Wesley Longman.
Spence, Robert. (2001). Information
Visualization. Harlow, England: Addison-
Wesley.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0201
201
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0461665?v=glance&n=283155&n=50784
6&s=books&v=glance
Staley, David (2002). Computers,
Visualization, and History: How new
technology will transform our understanding
of the past. M.E. Sharpe.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0765
610957/002-4609659-
0461665?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&
v=glance
Staley, David (2005). From multimedia to
multisensory education. Threshold, Fall.
http://www.ciconline.org/threshold
Tufte, Edward (2001). The Visual Display of
Quantitative Information. 2nd Edition.
Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/index
Tufte, Edward (1997). Visual Explanations:
images and quantities, evidence and
narrative. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/index
Tufte, Edward (1990). Envisioning
Information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/index
Ware, Colin. (2004). Information
Visualization: perception for design. 2nd Ed.
Amsterdam: Elsevier.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1558
608192/002-4609659-
0461665?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&
v=glance
Woolman, Matt (2002). Digital Information
Graphics. New York: Watson-Guptill
Publications.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823
013537/sr=8-
3/qid=1149946826/ref=sr_1_3/104-
4406419-7257534?%5Fencoding=UTF8

202 © Brandon Hall Research


VoIP and Telephony
Related terms
Broadband phones, communications tools,
Internet telephony, Skype
Description
Conversation is usually a major part of most
learning experiences. While the telephone
has been around for well over 100 years,
the emerging technology of “voice over
internet protocols” (VoIP) has opened up a
new world of possibilities for using live voice
messaging as an e-learning activity.
The quality of Internet phone calls is
currently not as clear as with dial-up long-
distance telephone, but it is rapidly
improving. Consumers like VoIP because of
the low cost of long distance calls and the
flexibility of sending digital voice mail
messages to anywhere for later listening.
Internet telephony is relatively simple,
requiring an Internet hookup, headphones
or speakers, and a microphone. A high
speed Internet connection is recommended.
Schools have begun to use VoIP for teacher-
parent communications and for parents to
monitor their children’s progress at school.
VoIP is also extending access to education
in countries without adequate educational
facilities, in remote communities, and to
children who must remain at home or in a
hospital.
In the near future, Internet telephony will be
used for making intercultural connections
between schools around the world and will
greatly facilitate foreign language teaching
and practice. An electronic blackboard can
be used along with VoIP for synchronous
teaching, a practice known as audio-graphic
teleconferencing (Ottoson, 1996).
Selected Examples
Sony Ericsson has developed a “blogging
phone” that integrates with Google’s
Blogger software. Using VoIP, bloggers using
the equipment can see and hear each other
while they are blogging.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/02/2
8/75939_HNbloggingphone_1.html
Do not reproduce
See a set of case studies on how Avaya
Corporation has deployed its VoIP solutions
in education.
http://www.avaya.com/gcm/master-
usa/en-
us/resource/filter.htm&Filter=Pillar:IP%20T
elephony;Industry:Education
Envision offering online coaching using VoIP
with its “Click2Coach” software.
http://www.envisioninc.com/
Skype is the best known VoIP service, with
unlimited free computer to computer calling
and low charges for computer to phone
connections.
http://www.skype.com/
Jajah allows the user to make a free VoIP
call but uses a telephone handset at each
end. You go to the Jajah web site and have
it dial both your number and the number
you are trying to reach.
http://www.jajah.com
Online Resources
The e-Learning Centre in the UK maintains a
listing of online telephony applications in e-
learning.
http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/vendors/chat.
htm
The VoIP Weblog covers all aspects of VoIP
and Internet telephony. Join the discussion
at:
http://voip.weblogsinc.com/
VoIP Review has listings and consumer
reviews for over 180 Internet calling plans.
http://www.voipreview.org
Bibliography
Cherry, Steven (2005). Seven Myths about
Voice over IP. IEEE Spectrum Online, March
2005.
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/mar05/253
8
Fitzpatrick, Geraldine (2005). The Use of
VoIP in Online Game Playing: implications
for collaborative e-learning. Presentation at
the BT/PACCIT Conference.
http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/interact/paper
s/pdfs/Technology%20Mediated%20Comm
unication/PACCIT_05.pdf
203
 Ganchev, I., Stojanov, S. and O’Droma,
M. (2005). Mobile distributed e-learning
center. Paper presented at the 2005 ICALT
conference.
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.js
p?tp=&arnumber=1508764&isnumber=32
317
Godwin-Jones, Robert (2005). Skype and
Podcasting: Disruptive Technologies for
Language Learning. Language Learning and
Technology, 9(3), September, 9-12.
http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num3/pdf/emerging
.pdf
Ottoson, Meredith (1996). A Literacy
Practitioner’s Guide to Audiographic
Teleconferencing. Project Report – funded
by the National Literacy Secretariat.
http://www.nald.ca/fulltext/audiogfx/audio
gfx.pdf

204 © Brandon Hall Research


Wearable Computing
Related terms
Ambient computing, ubiquitous computing
Description
A wearable computer is a small portable
computer that is designed to be worn on the
body during use. Wearable computers are
usually either integrated into the user's
clothing or are attached to the body through
some other means, like a wristband or
jewelry.
Wearable computing pioneer Steve Mann at
the University of Toronto has identified six
informational flow paths associated with
this technology (Mann, 1998):
1. It is unmonopolizing of the user's
attention
2. It is unrestrictive to the user
3. It is observable by the user
4. It is controllable by the user
5. It is attentive to the surrounding
environment.
6. It is communicative to others
Wearable computing is used by workers who
need just-in-time information and training
while they are on the job. For example,
healthcare workers in training can wear tiny
earphones and microphones and cameras
hidden in glasses as they move about a
hospital, training to do their jobs.
Supervisors at a remote location can see
and listen to what they are doing, and give
advice in real time on how to handle a
situation as it arises. This can extend
professional training in to remote areas,
where local expertise on training in a
specific area is not available.
Selected Examples
In Europe, Giunti Labs is a leader in
researching and developing “ambient”
technologies, including wearable comput-
ing. Their voice and gaze controlled wear-
able computing technology is used in
industrial training situations.
Do not reproduce
> http://www.hubuska.com/Docs/worksh
op_hu/Cardinali_Towards_Ambient_Lea
rning.pdf
> http://www.learnexact.com/eXact_iTuto
r_MoMo/eXactiTutor.ppt
In January 2006, BBC News reported that
Levi was manufacturing jeans with iPods
already fitted into their pockets.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4601
690.stm
The Bristol Wearable Computing Project
explores the potential of computer devices
that are as unconsciously portable and
personal as clothes or jewelry.
http://wearables.cs.bris.ac.uk/
eXact Mobile is the first professional Mobile
Learning and Wearable Training Content
Management Solution for creating,
managing, and delivering SCORM content to
market-leading mobile devices and
wearable computers.
http://www.checkpoint-
elearning.com/?aID=2157
ION is a Walkman-sized wearable computer
that allows information to go anywhere,
anytime. In the same way that a Walkman
allowed stereo components to be portable,
the size of the computer and input and
output components has been reduced. The
entire system, including batteries, weighs
less than three pounds.
http://killer.ices.cmu.edu/design/Ion.html
The vu-man wearable computer was devel-
oped to improve the maintenance process
on complex machines, especially for comer-
cial airlines, the automotive industry, and
other organizations involved in inspecting,
training, or repairing complex machines.
http://killer.ices.cmu.edu/design/VuMan.ht
ml
SportBrain has a wearable device that
tracks physical activity, thereby promoting
weight loss and improved fitness.
http://www.sportbrain.com/Home/Home.cf
m
MIThril is a next-generation wearable re-
search platform developed at the MIT Media
Lab. The goal of the MIThril project involves
developing and prototyping new techniques
of human-computer interaction for body-
worn applications.
205
 http://www.media.mit.edu/wearables/mithr
il/index.html
The design of “smart clothing,” including
computers built into underwear, is
described by Mmoma Ejiofor in Wired News.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,704
81-0.html
Wear-IT Project at the University of
Birmingham is developing new applications
of wearable computing technologies.
http://www.eee.bham.ac.uk/wear-it
Online Resources
Professor Steve Mann of the University of
Toronto is a leading scholar in the field of
wearable computing, especially in the area
of wearable cameras. See:
> http://genesis.eecg.toronto.edu/
> http://wearcam.org/index_graphical.ht
ml
> http://www.eecg.toronto.edu/~mann/
The Wearable Computing Laboratory at the
University of Oregon has several projects on
wearable computing applied to learning.
http://www.cs.uoregon.edu/research/wear
ables/index.html
The Wearable Computing site from
Eyetap.org is a rich source of references.
http://about.eyetap.org/index.shtml
The Wearable Computing Laboratory at the
ETH Zurich has many research projects.
http://www.wearable.ethz.ch/
http://www.technologyreview.com/read_arti
cle.aspx?id=14008&ch=infotech
Graves, C. and Lupisella, M. (2004).
Applying a Wearable Voice-Activated
Computer to Instructional Applications in
Clean Room Environments. Proceedings of
the Knowledge Sharing and Collaborative
Engineering Conference (KSCE 2004).
http://isd.gsfc.nasa.gov/Papers/DOC/Lupis
ellaWVAC.pdf
Kharif, Olga (2005). Wearable computers
that you can slip into. Business Week
Online, March 8, 2005.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/
content/mar2005/tc2005038_5955_tc11
9.htm
Mann, S. and Niedzviecki, H. (2002).
Cyborg: digital destiny and human
possibility in the age of the wearable
computer. Toronto: Anchor Books.
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/
0385658257/702-2331721-7033653
Mann, Steve (1998). Wearable Computing
as a Means of Personal Empowerment.
Keynote address for the First International
Conference on Wearable Computing, ICWC-
98, May 12-13, Fairfax, VA.
http://wearcam.org/icwckeynote.html

Bibliography
de Freitas, S. and Levene, M. (2003).
Evaluating the development of wearable
devices, personal data assistants and the
use of other mobile devices in further and
higher education institutions. JISC
Technology and Standards Watch Report.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=tec
hwatch_report_0305
Ejiofor, Mmoma (2006). What you’ll wear in
10 years. Wired News, March 24, 2006.
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,704
81-0.html
Garfinkel, Simson (2004). Wearable
Computing for the Commons. Technology
Review (Online), Dec. 1, 2004.

206 © Brandon Hall Research


Web Feeds
Related terms
Atom, feeds, Really Simple Syndication
(RSS), syndication
Description
Instead of having items e-mailed to you,
with all the potential for viruses and spam,
Web feeds allow you to “subscribe” to a
Web site that then automatically sends an
alert and a short description to your
computer when the Web site has been
updated. When changes are made to a Web
site, information about that change is sent
to the desktop of everyone who subscribes
to the “feed” for that Web site. The content
of the Web site that sends the notice is said
to be “syndicated,” as its content is
changed by the author, and then “picked
up” by multiple subscribers. Many blogs
contain a Web feed button that allows users
to subscribe to their content.
This method of content syndication allows
users to poll a site that has a Web feed and
see if there are any updates since they last
visited. Because the content is entirely
controlled by the person who owns/
manages the feed enabled site, this method
of finding out what is new is spam free.
The most common form of Web feed is RSS
(“Rich Site Summary”), and Atom is the
second. (The development of Atom was
motivated by perceived deficiencies in the
RSS 2.0 format). Both RSS and Atom are
written in XML. To read content from a Web
feed, a user must have a Web feed reader
or “aggregator.” Aggregators connect with
multiple Web feeds.
Aggregators are programs that gather
favorite Web feed enabled Web sites and
present them in one, basic text format for
quick review. Only those sites that have RSS
or Atom feeds can be read by an aggregator.
Those sites usually have a small orange
XML graphic ( ) that links to the feed.
The URL associated with the orange graphic
is put into a user's Web feed aggregator,
enabling it to find the Web feed in the
future. The owner of the aggregator gets a
short description of all Web sites with feeds
that have changed.
Do not reproduce
Web feeds can send content to many kinds
of devices, including cell phones, PDAs, and
laptops. The most common types of sites
with Web feeds are news sources; blogs;
listings of the latest books, CDs, and
electronics; photo collections; social
bookmarking; job searches; TV guides;
podcasts; and course offerings.
MediaThink (2004) lists the following
benefits of Web feeds (specifically RSS):
> Fast updating
> Less time “surfing”
> Avoids extraneous information on a
company’s Web site
> No need to provide an e-mail address to
receive information (therefore, no
spam)
> Improved client relations for marketers
For learners and teachers, Web feeds are
an efficient way to keep abreast of a
changing topic and to have the latest
information available without going through
the trouble of searching.
Selected Examples
There are many Web feed aggregators, each
with its own features. Here is a list of 48:
1. Aggie
http://bitworking.org/Aggie.html
2. Amphetadesk
http://www.disobey.com/ampheta
desk
3. Attensa
http://www.attensa.com/
4. Awasu
http://www.awasu.com/
5. BlogExpress
http://usablelabs.com/productBlog
Express.html
6. Bloglet
http://www.bloglet.com/
7. BlogLines
http://www.bloglines.com/
8. Brightcove
http://www.brightcove.com
9. CompleteRSS
http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=2
207
 10. EaZy RSS reader 31. Project D.U. Reader
http://www.puremis.net/excel/soft http://www.projectdu.com
/EaZyRss.shtml
32. Protopage
11. Edu_RSS 0.2 http://www.protopage.com/v2
http://www.downes.ca/edurss02.h
33. PubSub
tm
http://www.pubsub.com/
12. feedbeep
34. PulpFiction
http://feedbeep.com/
http://freshlysqueezedsoftware.co
13. FeedBurner m/products/pulpfiction/
http://www.feedburner.com
35. Rojo
14. Feed-Directory http://www.rojo.com/today/
http://www.feed-directory.com/
36. RSS Bandit
15. FeedForAll http://www.rssbandit.org/
http://www.feedforall.com/
37. RSS2Exchange
16. FeedReader http://www.hexamail.com/rss2exc
http://www.feedreader.com/ hange/
17. Feedroll - http://www.feedroll.com 38. RSSCalendar
http://www.rsscalendar.com/rss/
18. FeedPublish
http://www.feedpublish.com/ 39. RSS-to-Javascript
http://www.rss-to-javascript.com
19. FeedScout
http://bytescout.com/feedscout.ht 40. RSS Orbit
ml http://www.blogplanet.net/index.sh
tml
20. Feedster
http://www.feedster.com/ 41. RSSReader -
http://www.rssreader.com/
21. Feedtier
http://feedtier.somee.com/ 42. RSS Software
http://www.rssreader.com/
22. Fuzzy Duck
http://www.fuzzyd.co.uk/rssreader 43. Sage
/ http://sage.mozdev.org/
23. Gregarius 44. SharpReader
http://gregarius.net/ http://www.sharpreader.net/
24. LearningFeeds 45. StepNewz
http://www.learningfeeds.com/ http://www.feedzilla.com/
25. Topix 46. Syndirella
http://www.topix.net/ http://yole.ru/projects/syndirella/
26. My RSS Toolbar 47. Thunderbird
http://www.bytescout.com/myrssto http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbir
olbar.html d/
27. Newsgator 48. Videora
http://www.newsgator.com http://www.videora.com/
28. NewsIsFree For a list of more aggregators, including
http://www.newsisfree.com/ listings for various electronic devices, see:
http://www.hebig.org/blogs/archives/main/
29. OnFolio
000877.php.
http://www.onfolio.com/
To have a blog aggregated, RSSify at
30. Pluck
Wytheville Community College currently
http://www.pluck.com/
offers the service for free. Just follow the

208 © Brandon Hall Research

instructions to add the appropriate
information to your blog template.
http://www.wcc.vccs.edu/services/rssify/rs
sify.php
Online Resources
Stephen Downes, senior research officer for
the National Research Council of Canada,
has been an early advocate and promoter of
the use of Web feeds in e-learning. Read his
article written specifically for educators.
http://www.downes.ca/files/RSS_Educ.htm
Stephen Downes has also set up Edu_RSS,
a Web site that aggregates Web feeds from
educational Web sites.
http://www.downes.ca/edu_rss.htm
Will Richardson provides RSS: A Quick Start
Guide for Educators.
http://www.lo.redjupiter.com/gems/weblog
ged/RSSFAQ2.doc
An excellent visual and audio presentation
on using RSS in education by Alan Levine,
Brian Lamb, and D’Arcy Norman is available
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/show/n
mc1003/
The Fuss, a blog by Alan Levine, Brian
Lamb, and D’Arcy Norman, maintains a long
list of RSS resources.
http://careo.elearning.ubc.ca/cgi-
bin/wiki.pl?TheFuss
An online tutorial on Webfeeds by Amy
Gahran entitled “What Are Webfeeds (RSS),
and Why Should You Care?”
http://blog.contentious.com/archives/2003
/10/18/what-are-webfeeds-rss-and-why-
should-you-care
Quentin D’Sousa has published an
electronic book on the variety of educational
uses of Web feeds.
http://www.teachinghacks.com/wp-
content/uploads/2006/01/RSS%20Ideas%
20for%20Educators111.pdf
Tim Yang has a large list in Wiki format of
things that can be done with RSS.
http://timyang.com/wiki/doku.php?id=lists:
thingsyoucandowithrss
Bibliography
Brandon, Bill (2003). Using RSS and
Weblogs for e-Learning: an overview.
eLearning Developers’ Journal, May 19,
Do not reproduce
2003.
http://www.elearningguild.com/pdf/2/051
903DEV-L.pdf
Canali De Rossi, Luigi (2004). The Personal
RSS NewsReader: Project DU And RSS
Publishing - Possible Future Evolution.
Robin Good Blog, Oct. 31, 2004.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/20
04/10/31/the_personal_rss_newsreader_p
roject.htm
David, Dan (2004). RSS could transform
online communications. eSchool News, Aug.
3, 2004.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showS
tory.cfm?ArticleID=5211
Downes, Stephen (2002). An Introduction to
RSS for Educators. Online paper.
http://www.downes.ca/files/RSS_Educ.htm
Downes, Stephen (2004). RSS: grassroots
support leads to mass appeal. Learning
Circuits, June 2004.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2004/jun2
004/downes.htm
D’Sousa, Quentin (2006). RSS Ideas for
Educators. Version 1.1. Online paper.
http://www.teachinghacks.com/wp-
content/uploads/2006/01/RSS%20Ideas%
20for%20Educators111.pdf
Gannett, Anh (2005). RSS feeds college
students’ diet for research. USA Today
(online), Aug. 1, 2005.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005
-08-01-rss-research_x.htm
Harrsch, Mary (2003). RSS: the next killer
app for education. The Technology Source
Archives, University of North Carolina,
July/August 2003.
http://technologysource.org/article/rss/
Kaplan-Leiserson, Eva (2004). RSS: a
learning technology. Learning Circuits, May
2004.
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2004/may
2004/0405_Trends.htm
Levine, A., Lamb, B. and Norman, D. (2003).
Syndicating Learning Objects with RSS and
Trackback. Presentation to the MERLOT
International Conference, Vancouver, BC,
Aug. 5-8, 2003.
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/show/m
erlot03/
209
 Levine, Jenny (2005). Why RSS and
Folksonomies are becoming so big. The
Shifted Librarian, June 18, 2005.
http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/archive
s/2005/06/18/why_rss_and_folksonomies
_are_becoming_so_big.html
MediaThink (2004). RSS: the next big thing
online. MediaThink White Paper.
http://www.mediathink.com/rss/mediathin
k_rss_white_paper.pdf
Parparita, Mihai (2006). Namespaced
extensions in feeds. Google Reader Blog,
Aug. 3, 2006.
http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2006/08
/namespaced-extensions-in-feeds.html
Powers, Shelly (2005). What are
Syndication Feeds? O’Reilly eDoc.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/syndicationf
eeds/index.html?CMP=ILC-
J04X34597568&ATT=http://www.xml.com/
pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html
Samuel, Alexandra (2005). 10 ways RSS
can help build online communities.
Otherwise Engaged, Sept. 13, 2005.
http://www.alexandrasamuel.com/200509
13/10-ways-rss-can-help-build-online-
communities-6
Stafford, T. and Webb, M. (2006). What Is a
Wiki (and How to Use One for Your Projects).
O’Reilly Network, July 7, 2006.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/
2006/07/07/what-is-a-wiki.html?page=1

Udell, Jon (2005). Using RSS for data

integration. InfoWorld, March 23, 2005.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/03/2
3/13OPstrategic_1.html

210 © Brandon Hall Research


Wiki Tools
Related terms
Collaboration tools, social networking
Description
Wikis are fully editable Web sites; anyone
can read or add content to a wiki site. Wikis
are great tools for online collaboration on
any topic. My first report in this series,
entitled Emerging E-Learning: New
Approaches to Delivering Engaging Online
Learning Content (Brandon Hall Research,
2005), reviewed wikis as a separate online
content format. Now in this report I look at
the tools available for developing wikis.
The term wiki (derived from the Hawaiian
word for “quick”) is applied to a diverse set
of systems, features, approaches, and
projects. Some fundamental principles
include the following:
> Anyone can change anything.
> Wikis use simplified hypertext mark-up.
> Content is ego-less, time-less, and
never finished.
Tomkins (2005) identifies four different
forms of educational wikis:
1. Single-user wiki: Allows a person to
collect and edit his or her own
thoughts using a Web-based
environment.
2. Lab book wiki: For students to keep
notes online. These can be shared
or peer reviewed and changed by
fellow students.
3. Collaborative writing wiki: With a
page locking system, can be used
by a team for joint writing.
4. Knowledge base wiki: A place to
collect all the knowledge within a
group.
For wikis to work, it is important to have
several contributors. With some basic
instructions, wikis can be important tools for
educational collaboration.
Do not reproduce
Selected Examples
The best known wiki is Wikipedia, the online
encyclopedia that has been built with tens
of thousands of volunteer contributors.
There are now over 1,300,000 articles in
English in Wikipedia.
http://www.wikipedia.org/
Wiki Tools:
MediaWiki, the software used to run
Wikipedia, is available for other
applications.
http://wikipedia.sourceforge.net/features.h
tml
SourceWatch is a wiki that tracks political
comments in the USA. Anyone can add to it.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title
=SourceWatch
Tiki for Education is a wiki being set up to
develop shared knowledge on all aspects of
education. See the progress at:
http://edu.tikiwiki.org/tiki-index.php
UseModWiki is the software used to set up
the first ever wiki.
http://www.usemod.com/cgi-
bin/wiki.pl?UseModWiki
Schtuff is a free wiki service that allows
tagging, custom permissions, an image
gallery, RSS, and email notification.
http://www.schtuff.com/
There are "wiki farms" (places where you
can set up a wiki without needing your own
server) such as SeedWiki.
http://www.seedwiki.com/
There are hundred of “wiki engines.” The
most complete listing is at the following site:
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiEngines
MeatballWiki is a community of active
practitioners striving to teach each other
how to organize people using online tools.
http://www.usemod.com/cgi-
bin/mb.pl?MeatballWiki
Frank Gilbane has an article on the
enterprise applications for blogs and wikis.
http://www.gilbane.com/artpdf/GR12.10.p
df
Jotspot is an “application wiki.” Essentially,
it is a platform for open collaborative
software development. See why it is
211
 different.
http://www.jot.com
Not all uses of wikis in education work well.
See the account of one educator’s “brilliant
failure” using wikis in his classroom.
http://kairosnews.org/node/view/3794
Wikiversity is a project “to build an
electronic institution of learning” based on
the wiki model.
http://flosse.dicole.org/?item=wikiversity-
time-to-vote
The South African Association of Science
and Technology Educators has developed a
set of free online electronic textbooks using
wiki technology.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/SA_NC_Saaste
:Technology
Elliott Masie has a LearningWiki devoted to
supporting his work with the e-learning
community and his annual conference.
http://www.learningwiki.com/
Jon Udell, a columnist for Infoworld
Magazine, gives an online talk on how a wiki
can change over time, using the example of
the “Heavy Metal Umlaut” article in
Wikipedia.
http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/u
mlaut.html
SocialText Wiki is designed for work groups
in corporate environments. A free trial is
available.
http://www.socialtext.com/
Online Resources
A huge source of links to wikis, as well as an
analysis of how they work, is provided by
David Mattison, an archivist with the British
Columbia Archives. His article, “Quickiwiki,
Swiki, Twiki, Zwiki and the Plone Wars Wiki
as a PIM and Collaborative Content Tool,” is
a rich source of information on wikis.
http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/apr03/
mattison.shtml
Brian Lamb, of the University of British
Columbia, maintains an extensive list of wiki
sites.
http://careo.elearning.ubc.ca/~blamb/wikir
adio/
James Farmer has a sample lesson plan
using a Wiki.
http://radio.Weblogs.com/0120501/catego
ries/wikis/2004/02/16.html
212
WritingWiki.org has lots of resources on
wikis. Especially useful is the article “For
Teachers New to Wikis.”
http://writingwiki.org
The e-Learning Centre in the UK maintains a
long list of Wiki Tools.
http://www.e-
learningcentre.co.uk/eclipse/vendors/wikis.
htm
The Learning Commons project at the
University of Calgary has a brochure for
faculty on “Supporting Student
Collaboration through the use of Wikis.”
http://tlc.ucalgary.ca/documents/ITBL_stud
entwikis.pdf
Teresa Almeida d'Eça in Portugal has posted
a list of various Web teaching tools,
including wikis, that she updates regularly.
http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/webheads/
online-learning-environments.htm#Wikis
Stewart Mader, an Instructional
Technologist for Sciences and Math at
Brown University, produces a blog devoted
to the use of wikis in education, including a
section on wiki tools.
http://www.ikiw.org/
Whiplash is a series of ten-minute
screencasts on various wikis.
http://whiplash.pbwiki.com/
WWWTools for Education has an extensive
list of resources for wikis in education.
http://m.fasfind.com/wwwtools/m/25242.
cfm?x=0&rid=25242
Bibliography
Aronsson, L. (2002). Operation of a Large
Scale, General Purpose Wiki Web site:
experience from susning.nu’s first nine
months in service. Paper presented at the
ELPUB 2002 conference.
http://aronsson.se/wikipaper.html
Augar, N., Raitman, R. and Zhou, W. (2004).
Teaching and learning online with wikis.
Proceedings of the 2004 ASCILITE
Conference, Perth, Australia, Dec. 5-8.
http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/per
th04/procs/augar.html
Ciffolilli, Andrea (2003). Phantom authority,
self–selective recruitment and retention of
members in virtual communities: The case
of Wikipedia. First Monday, 8(12), Dec.
© Brandon Hall Research
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_12/ci Stafford, T. and Webb, M. (2006). What is a
ffolilli Wiki (and How to Use One for Your Projects).
Online article, O’Reilly Network, July 7,
EDUCAUSE (2005). 7 Things you should
2006.
know about…Wikis. Online paper, July.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI
2006/07/07/what-is-a-wiki.html
7004.pdf
Tomkin, Emma (2005). Making the case for
Fountain, Renée (2005). Wiki pedagogy.
a wiki. Ariadne, Issue 42, January.
Profetic: dossiers pratiques.
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue42/
http://www.profetic.org:16080/dossiers/do
ssier_imprimer.php3?id_rubrique=110 Udell, Jon (2004). The wiki way. InfoWorld,
Oct. 19, 2004.
Glaser, Anja (2004). Towards Emancipatory
http://Weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2004/1
Use of a Medium: Wikis. International
0/19.html
Journal of Information Ethics, 2, Nov.
http://container.zkm.de/ijie/ijie/no002/ijie Wood, Lauren (2005). Blogs & Wikis:
_002_09_ebersbach.pdf Technologies for Enterprise Applications?
Gilbane Report, 12(10), 2005.
Kulisz, Richard (2003). Why Wikis Work Not.
http://gilbane.com/artpdf/GR12.10.pdf
Online article.
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WhyWikiWorksNot
Lamb, Brian (2004). Wide Open Spaces:
wikis ready or not. Educause Review, Sept.-
Oct., 36-48.
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ER
M0452.pdf
Leuf, Bo & Cunnin, W. (2001). The Wiki Way:
Collaboration and Sharing on the Internet.
Addison-Wesley Professional
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0201
71499X/103-2496940-
8161425?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&
v=glance
Mattison, David (2003). Quickiwiki, Swiki,
Twiki, Zwiki and the Plone Wars - Wiki as a
PIM and Collaborative Content Tool.
Searcher, April 2003.
http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/apr03/
mattison.shtml
Rubenking, Neil (2003). Wiki Tools. Online
article at PCMag.com.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,14
02872,00.asp
Schmitt, David (2004). UniversityWiki.
Online article at:
http://www.usemod.com/cgi-
bin/mb.pl?UniversityWiki
Schwartz, L., Clark, S., Cossarin, M., and
Rudolph, J. (2004). Educational wikis:
features and selection criteria. International
Review of Research in Open and Distance
Learning, April 2004.
http://www.irrodl.org/content/v5.1/technot
e_xxvii.html

Do not reproduce 213

 > Gesture and Facial Recognition
Part III: Innovation Technologies
> Haptics
in E-Learning – > Mashups and Web Services
Where We Are > Personal Learning Environments

Heading > Smart Labels and Tags

This research report demonstrates that the > Telepresence Technologies

field of e-learning technologies is rapidly > Wearable Computing
growing, with over 50 distinct tool sets
available to developers of online learning Ascending technologies
and teaching systems. These changes in Technologies that have been recently
available online technologies introduce new turned into products and are enjoying
possibilities not even considered a few increasing demand:
years ago.
> Social Networking Tools
The process of developing and deploying
technologies (sometimes called the > Web Feeds
technology adoption cycle) is part of a larger > Simulation Tools
operation – the knowledge life cycle.
Knowledge starts with new ideas and > Social Bookmarking
insights, which can then lead to inventions. > Personalization
Inventions may or may not be turned into
commercial products, which, in turn, may or > Semantic Web
may not be adopted by the significant
> Mobile Technologies
population. After a product has been
successfully launched, there are then spin- > Wiki Tools
offs and incremental changes until the
> Location Based Technologies
product either becomes absorbed into the
taken-for-granted landscape of everyday life > Gaming Design and Development Tools
or declines in use and disappears.
> Blogs
Because this report is about emerging e-
learning technologies, I have not described > Agents
declining e-learning technologies such as > Robotics
DVD-ROMs, CD-ROMS, floppy disks, and
computer-based training (CBT) using a time- Peaking technologies
sharing computer. However, adding them to Technologies that are dominating the
the 52 technologies described in this report market at the current time and in the next
allows me to divide the e-learning year:
technologies in this report into the following
five groups: > Collaboration Tools

Developing technologies > Search Engines

Technologies at the earliest stages of > Artificial Intelligence

experimentation and prototyping: > Visualization Technologies
> Affective Computing o Maturing technologies –
> Avatars Technologies that have
considerable history in the
> Classroom Response Systems market and are now only
> Data Mining ubject to incremental
changes:
> Decision Support Software
> Animation Software
> Assessment Tools

214 © Brandon Hall Research

> Audio and Podcasting Tools
> Authoring Tools
> Browsers
> Communications Tools
> Competency Tracking Software
> Content Management Systems
> Display Technologies
> E-Portfolio Tools
> Graphics Tools
> Learning Management Systems
> Learning Objects and Repositories
> Metadata, Ontologies, and Taxonomies
> Natural Language Processing
> Peer-to-Peer Technologies
> Portals
> Presentation Tools
> Rapid E-Learning Tools
> Video and IPTV
> Virtual Reality
> VoIP and Telephony
Declining technologies
Technologies that have significantly
dropped out of the marketplace:
> CAI – Computer Assisted Instruction
> CBT – Computer Based Training
> CD-ROM
> DVD-ROM
> Floppy Disks
In time, many of the technologies in the
developing phase will become products,
ascend the curve, peak, mature, and
decline. But not all technologies will travel
this road; some will never leave the
development stage, or may never become
commercially viable. Some will die quickly,
while others will last for decades.
In any field, it is next to impossible to
accurately predict patterns of change. This
is due, in part, to the complex, dynamic mix
of factors and influences that cause a
product to be a successful innovation or a
Do not reproduce
failure. However, change itself seems to be
inevitable.
Teaching in Western societies has generally
been carried out by a teacher (instructor,
professor) presenting materials from an
approved curriculum to a group of learners
(students) in a classroom. For a variety of
reasons, this approach is now rapidly
changing, both in classrooms and online.
There is a move away from a few “linear”
teaching formats to a rich variety of
“nonlinear” teaching strategies. This has
been accompanied by a move from
instructor led teaching to learner controlled
learning – again, in both formal and
informal settings. Further, learners have
gone from passively receiving content to
doing activities that lead them in many
different directions.
The trend is towards individualization in all
learning activities and in the pace of learn-
ing. This has been made possible by dyna-
mic databases and software that simply did
not exist twenty years ago. Not only has the
software evolved to manage each individ-
ual’s learning needs and desires, but the
types of software have exploded in terms of
variety and choice. We are living in a com-
plex multi-channel world of information
abundance, without clear guidelines on how
to proceed. The old models of teaching and
learning simply do not work.
Part of what drives change is the early
learning experiences of a younger
generation of media-savvy workers who
demand a different way of operating and
learning in the workplace. There does seem
to be a distinct difference in how the under-
40-year-old generation learns compared
with older adults. The experience of younger
learners with television, video games, and
computers, with a corresponding reduction
in the amount of time spent reading, means
that they actually think differently. The
technology of e-learning, because it
resembles the media familiar to younger
learners, demands that they get actively
involved in the learning experience. The
resulting shift is a change from receptive
learning to active learning (Raschke, 2003).
The pressure of networked digital
communications technology to move
learning from passive receptive modes of
learning to active inquiring modes of
learning opposes the tendency of formal
215
 schooling to convert “dynamic knowledge
into static information” (Beaugrande, 2002,
p. 28). Schooling is often about learning
“facts” and not about learning about “life”
or integrating all of one’s experiences into
an illuminating and generative world view.
Our early experiences orient us to ways of
thinking and to learning interests later in
life. In North America, people now over 80
were raised in much simpler material
conditions, generally went to work earlier,
and were impacted by such experiences as
the Depression and World War II. Their
children, the baby boomers, experienced
the growing gadgetry of the 1950s, the
space race, libraries, television, movie
theaters, mind-altering drugs, the civil rights
movement, and a sexual revolution brought
on by birth-control pills.
The children of the baby boomers, born in
the 1970s, were the first generation to be
raised with widespread access to personal
computers, video games, gaming consoles,
mobile phones, and personal digital
assistants. The last 35 years have also
brought AIDS, terrorism, ecological
disasters, global warming, and the
globalization of corporate capitalism. The
speed of change increases with each
passing year. This rapidly changing world
makes it necessary to obtain the ability to
both unlearn and relearn throughout one's
life.
Given the differences in the experiences
and environments of the three generations
described above, is not surprising that each
has its own interests and ways of learning.
The under-40 generation has been
described as “digital natives,” while those of
us who are over 40 and have ventured into
the computer world have been called
“digital immigrants.” Prensky (2001)
describes the younger generation as
operating at “twitch speed” because of its
training on video games and the
requirements of a high-speed world to
produce at a faster and faster pace.
Because of this, Prensky suggests that
“digital game-based learning” is most
appropriate for the under-40 group.
For the older generation, the ability to read
well is at the heart of a good education.
Once we master the art of reading, the
words on the page disappear as we enter a
216
world of reflection and imagination. Well-
written description can take us into a dream
world far away from where we are sitting
(Birkerts, 1994). In contrast, elec-tronic
media tends to be on the surface.
To keep our attention, designers of Sesame
Street, commercials, and video games use
quick animations and jump-cut editing to
revoke instinctual "orienting responses" to
movement and novelty. It works for a time,
until we become habituated. Then even
more movement, surprise, sex, or violence
is needed to keep our attention.
In approaching electronic educational
media, the under-40 generation has high
expectat-ions due to their experience with
video and computer games. But they are
usually disap-pointed. For example, much of
the hype gen-erated by e-learning providers
is about the amazing results of
“interactivity.” But much of what passes for
interactivity in e-learning is minimal
compared to what it could be, especially
when compared with the interact-ivity of
video games. Generally, interactivity in e-
learning consists of turning pages by click-
ing hyperlinks. True interactivity is based on
feedback loops, whereby the action of one
participant, the learner, results in an action
by the other participant, the computer, in a
back-and-forth exchange. With feedback,
learners reflect on what is happening by
seeing the results of their actions or decis-
ions. We also learn by being challenged or
questioned about our decisions. There is
little of this level of interactivity in today's e-
learning content.
However, that is all about to change. Within
the next five years, we will see the restruct-
uring of education and training, as we finally
realize the advantages of these new
technol-ogies. Networked computer
technology is emerging as a multi-sensory
learning environ-ment, with such
innovations as information visualization and
auralization; digitization of smell, touch and
taste; huge data wall displays; wearable
computers; and digital ink and electronic
paper.
Networked Computer Technology is now
able to simulate complexity in a way that
was never possible before in human hist-
ory. Witness the rise of the sophisticated
models of “artificial life,” the dynamic visu-
alization of chaos and complexity at the sub-
© Brandon Hall Research
atomic and cosmic levels of phenom-ena,
and the modeling of complex systems like
nuclear reactors or the human body.
In the next wave, networked computers will
mirror a form of collective intelligence that
is much more able than the problem-solv-
ing capabilities of any individual. With the
addition of the Semantic Web or similar
schemes, the entire Internet will reflect
group intelligence of the human race. It will
also be the ultimate library of ideas, port-
folios, creative products, and the mapping
of everything. It is already a place for mass-
ively multiple player games; shortly, it will be
a giant collaborative workspace. The
problem is that we have not figured out
what to do with that amount of power.
At the individual level, the result of all this
power and choice is that individual learners
either can be potentially freer to follow their
own goals because of the flexibility of learn-
ing paths, or can be more bound up by the
technologies, which have also greatly in-
creased the possibilities of surveillance and
control.
Two hundred years ago, you needed a guide
to take a wagon train from the East-ern
seaboard of North America to the “Wild
West.” Today we have multiple methods and
an infrastructure to get there, none of which
involve needing a guide (although guided
tours are still one option). Likewise, the
multitude of new technologies and on-line
content make it possible to take cont-rol of
one’s own learning journey. Guides are
optional.
Rushkoff, Douglas (2005). Get Back in the
Box: innovation from the inside out. New
York: Collins.
http://www.amazon.com/Get-Back-Box-
Innovation-
Inside/dp/B000IU3E50/ref=sr_11_1/104-
8608784-5591139?ie=UTF8
Seidensticker, Bob (2006). FutureHype: the
myths of technology change. San
Francisco:Berrett-Koehler.
http://www.amazon.com/Future-Hype-
Myths-Technology-
Change/dp/1576753700/ref=sr_11_1/10
4-8608784-5591139?ie=UTF8
Utterback, James (1994). Mastering the
Dynamics of Innovation. Boston: Harvard
Business School Press.
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Dynamics-Innovation-James-
Utterback/dp/0875847404/sr=1-
1/qid=1160624848/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-
8608784-5591139?ie=UTF8&s=books
Woodill, Gary (2006). Emerging e-Learning:
innovative content, technologies and
services for the next 5 years. Paper
presented at the American Society for
Training and Development (ASTD)
International Conference and Exhibition,
Dallas, Texas, May 2006.
http://www.operitel.com

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Christensen, Clayton (1997). The
Innovator’s Dilemma: when new
technologies cause great firms to fail.
Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
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Dilemma-Revolutionary-Business-
Essentials/dp/0060521996/sr=1-
1/qid=1160624690/ref=sr_1_1/104-
8608784-5591139?ie=UTF8&s=books
Prensky, Marc. (2001). Digital Game-based
Learning. New York: McGraw-Hill.
http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Game-
Based-Learning-Marc-
Prensky/dp/0071454004/sr=1-
1/qid=1160624770/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-
8608784-5591139?ie=UTF8&s=books

Do not reproduce 217

 SE-901 87 UMEÅ Sweden
Part IV: List of Tel: +46 90 786 6771
Fax: +46 90 786 6550
Companies and http://www.informatik.umu.se/~muse/hom
e.html
Organizations Special Interest Group on Computer-Human
Interaction (SIGCHI)
c/o Association for Computing Machinery
Affective Computing 1 Astor Plaza, 1515 Broadway, 17th Floor,
Affective Computing Group New York, New York 10036-5701 USA
c/o The Media Laboratory, MIT Tel: +1-212-869-7440
Building E15 Toll free: +1-800-342-6626
77 Massachusetts Avenue http://sigchi.org
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 USA
MYSELF Project
Tel: (617) 253-5960
c/o Massimo Balestra
Fax: (617) 258-6264
ACSE SPA, Via San Senatore 6/1
http://affect.media.mit.edu
Milan, Italy
Affective Computing Portal Tel: +39/02 88129731
Eindhoven University of Technology Fax: +39/02 88129752
Department of Industrial Design http://www.myself-proj.it
Room HG 2.51, Den Dolech 2
Nielsen Norman Group
P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven
48105 Warm Springs Boulevard
Tel: +31 (0)40 247 5175
Fremont, CA 94539-7498 USA
Fax: +31 (0)40 247 5376
Tel. +1 (415) 682-0688
http://www.bartneck.de/link/affective_port
http://www.nngroup.com/
al.html
WEBIST
Cognition and Affect Project
Av. D. Manuel I,
c/o School of Computer Science
27A 2º esq, 2910-595 Setúbal - Portugal
The University of Birmingham
Tel.: +351 265 520 184
Edgbaston, Birmingham
Fax: +351 265 520 186
B15 2TT United Kingdom
http://www.webist.org/
Tel: +44 121 414 3744
Fax: +44 121 414 4281
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~axs/cogaff/ Agents
Geneva Emotion Research Group Agentlink
c/o Sylvie Staehli, Administrative Secretary c/o Peter McBurney
Department of Psychology Department of Computer Science
University of Geneva University of Liverpool
40, Boulevard du Pont-d'Arve Liverpool , L69 7ZF, UK
CH-1205 Geneva Switzerland http://www.agentlink.org/
Tel: +41-22-379-9215
AiLive Inc.
Fax: +41-22-379-9219
3400 Hillview Avenue, Building 5,
http://www.unige.ch/fapse/emotion
Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA
Humaine Project http://www.ailive.net/
c/o Dr. Marc Schröder, DFKI GmbH
Auburn University
Forschungsbereich Sprachtechnologie
Auburn, Alabama 36849 USA
Stuhlsatzenhausweg 3 / Building 43.1
Tel: (334) 844-4000
D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
http://www.auburn.edu/
Tel: +49-681-302-5303
http://emotion-research.net Center for Advanced Research for
Technology in Education (CARTE)
Q-Life
c/o USC Information Sciences Institute
Department of Informatics
4676 Admiralty Way Suite 1001
Umeå University
Marina del Rey, CA 90292 USA

218 © Brandon Hall Research

Tel: (310) 822-1511 Teachable Agents Group
Fax: (310) 823-6714 c/o Vanderbilt University
http://www.isi.edu/isd/carte/ 2201 West End Avenue
Nashville, Tennessee 37235 USA
CodeBaby Corp.
Tel: (615) 322-7311
#1910, 10004-104 Avenue.
http://teachableagents.org/
Edmonton, AB T5J 0K1 Canada
Tel: (780) 432-522
http://www.codebaby.com Animation Software
Department of Computer Science Adobe Systems Incorporated
c/o Professor Michael Wooldridge 345 Park Avenue
University of Liverpool San Jose, CA 95110-2704
Liverpool, L69 7ZF, UK Tel: (408) 536-6000
Tel: (+44 151) 795 4272 Fax: (408) 537-6000
Fax: (+44 151) 794 3715 http://www.adobe.com
http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~mjw/
Alchemy Mindworks
Educause P.O. Box 5200,
4772 Walnut Street, Suite 206 Huntsville, Ontario P1H 2K6 Canada
Boulder, CO 80301-2538 USA Tel: 1 (705) 789-5238
Tel: (303) 449-4430 Fax: 1 (705) 789-7781
Fax: (303) 440-0461 http://www.mindworkshop.com/
http://www.educause.edu
Animation Factory
Extempo Systems, Inc. c/o Jupiterimages
P. O. Box 2124 2000 W. 42nd Street Suite C
Menlo Park, CA 94026-2124 USA Sioux Falls, SD 57105 USA
Tel: (650) 327-1106 Tel: 1 (605) 339-4722
Fax: (940) 234-6089 Fax: 1 (605) 335-1554
http://www.extempo.com http://www.animationfactory.com/en/
IEEE Computer Society Animats
1730 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. 999 Woodland Avenue
Washington, DC 20036-1992 USA Menlo Park, CA 94025 USA
Tel: +1-202-371-0101 Tel: (650) 326-9109
Fax: +1-202-728-0884 http://www.animats.com/
http://www.computer.org/portal/site/ieeec
Apple Computer, Inc
s/index.jsp
1 Infinite Loop
Indiana University School of Informatics Cupertino, CA 95014
c/o Filippo Menczer, 1900 East Tenth St. Tel: (408) 996-1010
Bloomington, IN 47406 USA http://www.apple.com
Tel: (812) 856-1377
Ascension Technology Corporation
Fax: (812) 856-1995
P.O. Box 527, Burlington, VT 05402 USA
http://www.informatics.indiana.edu/fil/
Tel: (802) 893-6657
Multi Agent Bio-Robotic Lab (MABL) Fax: (802) 893-6659
c/o Dr. Ferat Sahin http://www.ascension-tech.com/
79 Lomb Memorial Drive
Australian Society for Computers in
Rochester, NY 14623 USA
Learning In Tertiary Education (ASCILITE)
Tel: (585) 475-2175
c/o Robyn Debbes, Secretariat, CEDIR
Fax: (585) 475-5845
University of Wollongong NSW 2522
http://www.rit.edu/~mabl/dr_sahin.html
Tel: (612) 4221-4895
Redwood E-learning Systems Fax: (612) 4225-8312
479A Wellington St. W http://www.ascilite.org.au/index.php/Main_
Toronto, Ontario M5V 1E7 Canada Page
http://www.redwoodelearning.com
Autodesk, Inc.
111 McInnis Parkway

Do not reproduce 219

 San Rafael, CA 94903 USA
Tel: (415) 507-5000
Fax: (415) 507-5100
http://usa.autodesk.com/
Avid Technology, Inc.
Avid Technology Park, One Park West
Tewksbury, MA 01876 USA
Tel: (800) 00-2843
http://www.avid.com/
Character Animation Technologies Ltd.
PO Box 24478, 110 Cuba Mall,
Wellington, New Zealand
Tel: +64 4 384 7316
Fax: +64 4 384 7328
http://www.catoolkit.com/home.asp
EI Technology Group, LLC
20770 Hwy 281 North, Suite 108-414
San Antonio, Texas 78258-7500 USA
Tel: (210) 745-3104
Fax: (210) 579-1430
http://www.eitechnologygroup.com/
Hegarty Spatial Thinking Lab
c/o Department of Psychology
University of California,
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9660 USA
Tel: (805) 893-2791
Fax: (805) 893-4303
http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/~hegarty/hegar
tylab.htm
Macromedia, Inc.
601 Townsend Street
San Francisco, CA 94103 USA
Tel: (415) 832-2000
Fax: (415) 832-2020
http://www.macromedia.com
Massive Software
PO Box 5456
Auckland 1036 New Zealand
Tel: (310) 837-7878
http://www.massivesoftware.com/
NewTek, Inc.
5131 Beckwith Blvd.
San Antonio, TX 78249 USA
Tel: (210) 370-8000
Fax: (210) 370-8001
http://www.newtek.com/
SIGGRAPH
c/o Mark Haley, Walt Disney New
Technology & New Media U.S.A.
Tel: +1.818.460.6450
http://www.siggraph.org/
220
SWiSHzone.com Pty Ltd
The Basement, 33 Ewell Street
Balmain NSW 2041 AUSTRALIA
http://www.swishzone.com/index.php
Viewpoint Corporation
498 7th Avenue Suite 1810
New York, NY 10018 USA
Tel: (212) 201-0800
Fax: (212) 201-0801
http://www.viewpoint.com/pub/index.html
Ulead Systems
970 W. 190th Street, Suite #480
Torrance, CA 90502 USA
Tech Support: +1 (510) 979-7118
Fax: +1 (310) 512-6408
Artificial Intelligence
American Association for Artificial
Intelligence (AAAI)
445 Burgess Drive, Suite 100
Menlo Park, California 94025 USA
Tel: (650) 328-3123
Fax: (650) 321-4457
http://www.aaai.org/home.html
Association for Computational Linguistics
3 Landmark Center
East Stroudsburg, PA 18301 USA
Tel: +1 (570) 476-8006
Fax: +1 (570) 476-0860
http://www.aclweb.org
AutoTutor
c/o Dr. Art Graesser
University of Memphis
202 Psychology Building
Memphis , TN 38152 USA
http://www.autotutor.org
Cognitive Science Society
Department of Psychology, University of
Texas
1 University Station A8000
Austin, TX 78712 USA
Tel: (512) 471-2030
Fax: (512) 471-3053
http://www.cognitivesciencesociety.org
Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools
Human Computer Interaction Institute
School of Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3891
Tel: (412) 268-8808
Fax: (412) 268-1266
http://ctat.pact.cs.cmu.edu
© Brandon Hall Research
European Distance and E-Learning Network
Budapest University of Technology and
Economics, H-1111 Budapest,
Egry J. u. 1. Hungary
Tel: + 36 1 463 1628
Fax:+ 36 1 463 1858
http://www.eden-online.org/eden.php
Gemini Performance Systems
2nd Floor 683 - 10th Street S.W.
Calgary, Alberta Canada T2P 5G3 Canada
Tel: (403) 263-8649
Fax: (403) 261-4688
http://www.gemini.com
Illinois Institute of Technology
Computer Science Department
10 West 31st Street, Stuart Building 235
Chicago, IL 60616 USA
Tel: (312) 567-5150
Fax: (312) 567-5067
http://www.cs.iit.edu
Intelligent Tutoring Systems Research
School of Information Technologies
Madsen Building F09, University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia
Tel: +61 2 9351 3423
Fax: +61 2 9351 3838
http://www.it.usyd.edu.au/~netsys/researc
h/current_computer_science_education_re
search.htm
Knowledge Engineering
Suite 600, 303 Twin Dolphin Drive
Redwood City, CA 94065 USA
Tel: (650) 632-4388
Fax: ( 650) 632-4389
http://www.ke-corp.com/index.htm
Licef Research Centre
Télé-Université, 100 Sherbrooke St. West
Montreal, Quebec H2X 3P2 Canada
Tel : (514) 843-2015
Fax : (514) 843-2151
http://www.licef.teluq.uquebec.ca/eng/inde
x.htm
Pittsburgh Advanced Computer Tutoring
Project
Human Computer Interaction Institute
School of Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3891
Tel: (412) 268-8808
Fax: (412) 268-1266
http://pact.cs.cmu.edu
Quantum Simulations, Inc.
5275 Sardis Road
Do not reproduce
Murrysville, PA 15668 USA
Tel: (724) 733-8603
Fax: (724) 325-2062
http://quantumsimulations.com
Stottler Henke Associates
951 Mariner's Island Blvd., Suite 360
San Mateo, CA , 94404 USA
Tel: (650) 931-2700
Fax: (650) 931-2701
http://www.stottlerhenke.com
Tutor Research Group
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609-2280 USA
Tel: (508) 831-5000
http://web.cs.wpi.edu/Research/trg
University of Calgary
c/o Behrouz Homayoun Far
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
2500 University Drive N.W.
Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4 Canada
Tel: (403) 220-5806
Fax: (403) 282-6855
http://www2.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/far
University of South Australia
School of Computer and Information
Science
GPO Box 2471 Adelaide
South Australia 5001 Australia
Tel: +61 8 8302 6611
Fax: +61 8 8302 2466
http://www.cis.unisa.edu.au
Virtuel Age International (Main Office)
75 Queen Street, Suite 1500
Montreal, Quebec H3C 2N6 Canada
Tel: (514) 393-0880
Fax: (514) 393-0881
http://www.virtuelage.com
Assessment Tools
Assessment Resource Center
University of Maryland University College
3501 University Blvd. East
Adelphi, Maryland 20783 USA
Tel: (800) 888-8682
http://www.umuc.edu
Brainbench Employment Testing
14100 Parke Long Court, Suite K,
Chantilly, VA 20151 USA
Tel: (703) 437-4800
Fax: (703) 437-8003
http://www.brainbench.com
221
 Centre for the Study of Higher Education
The University of Melbourne
VIC 3010 Australia
Tel: +61 03 8344 4605
Fax: +61 03 8344 7576
http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au
Computer Based Assessment Project
Univ. of Wolverhampton Technology Centre
Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton
WV1 1SB UK
Tel: +44 1902 321402
Fax: +44 1902 321478
http://cba.scit.wlv.ac.uk/home.htm
CTI Computing Faculty of Informatics
University of Ulster at Jordanstown
Shore Road, Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim
BT37 OQB N. Ireland
Tel: +44 (0) 1232 368020
Fax: +44 (0) 1232 368206
http://www.ulster.ac.uk/cticomp/CAA.html
Diploma
c/o Horizon Wimba
520 8th Avenue, Suite 2300
New York, NY 10018 USA
Tel: +1 212 533 1775
Fax: +1 212 533 6041
http://www.horizonwimba.com
Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Rosedale Road
Princeton, NJ 08541 USA
Tel: (609) 921-9000
Fax: (609) 734-5410
http://www.ets.org
Latent Semantic Analysis @ UC Boulder
University of Colorado,
Boulder, Colorado 80309 USA
Tel: (303) 492-1411
http://lsa.colorado.edu
National Institute for Science Education
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1025 W. Johnson Street, Suite 753
Madison, WI 53706 USA
Tel: (608) 263-9250
Fax: (608) 262-7428
http://www.flaguide.org
Operitel Corporation
160 Charlotte Street, Suite 201
Peterborough, Ontario K9J 2T8 Canada
Tel: (705) 745-6605
Fax: (705) 745-1248
http://www.operitel.com
222
Pedagogue Testing
c/o Pedagogue Solutions
100 Thanet Circle, Suite 105
Princeton, NJ 08540-3674 USA
Tel: (609) 921-7585
http://www.pedagogue.com
Questionmark
535 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 100,
Norwalk, CT 06854 USA
Tel: (800) 863-3950
http://www.questionmark.com
Quintessential Careers
DeLand, FL 32720 USA
http://www.quintcareers.com
Red inQ
c/o Hurix Systems Private Limited
4064 N Lincoln Ave, Suite #282
Chicago IL 60618 USA
Tel: (773) 769 3100
Fax: (773) 409 5470
http://www.redinq.com/redinq/html/index.
html
Resource Management Services
The Old Vicarage
10 Church Street
Rickmansworth
Herts WD3 1BS England
Tel: +44 (0)1923 770077
http://nt.rmsuk.com/evaluator
Testcraft
c/o Ingenious Group LLC
P.O. Box 317
New Hartford, CT 06057 USA
Tel: (888) 541-4896
Outside the U.S.: (860) 738-2231
Fax: (860) 738-2241
http://www.ingeniousgroup.com
Texas Center of Educational Technology
P.O. Box 305280
Denton, TX 76203-5280
Tel: (940) 565-4433
http://www.tcet.unt.edu/home
University of Illinois’ Office of Instructional
Resources
c/o Kathy Duvall,
Measurement and Evaluation
Room 247 Armory, MC-528
505 East Armory Avenue
Champaign, IL 61820 USA
Tel: (217) 333-3490
http://www.oir.uiuc.edu/dme/exams/ITQ.ht
ml
© Brandon Hall Research
Vantage Learning Fax: (617) 423-9007
110 Terry Drive, Suite 100 http://www.cakewalk.com
Newtown, PA 18940
Educational Podcast Network
Tel: (800) 322-0848
c/o David Warlick
Fax: 215-579-8391
Raleigh, NC 27609 USA
http://www.vantagelearning.com
Tel: (919) 571-3292
XStream Software, Inc. Fax: (919) 571-2760
2280 St. Laurent Blvd., Suite 200 http://www.epnweb.org
Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 4K1 Canada
e-Learning Centre
Tel: (613) 731-9443
Learning Light Ltd.,
Fax: (613) 731-9615
Sheffield Technology Parks,
Products: Performance Analyzer
Cooper Buildings, Arundel Street,
http://www.xstreamsoftware.com
Sheffield, S1 2NS UK
http://www.e-learningcentre.co.uk
Audio and Podcasting Envision Center
Tools Purdue University
Adobe Systems Incorporated 128 Memorial Mall, Stewart Center
345 Park Avenue West Lafayette IN 47906 USA
San Jose, CA 95110-2704 Tel: (765) 496-7888
Tel: (408) 536-6000 http://www.envision.purdue.edu
Fax: (408) 537-6000 iTunes
http://www.adobe.com Apple Computer, Inc
AudioLink, Inc. 1 Infinite Loop
50 Hunt St., Watertown, MA 02472 USA Cupertino, CA 95014
Tel: (617) 926-9007 Tel: (408) 996-1010
http://www.audiolink.com/home.html http://www.apple.com

Automatic Synch Technologies Sonic Foundry

Tel: (510) 582-3437 222 West Washington Avenue
http://www.automaticsync.com/lipsync/ind Madison, WI 53703 USA
ex.html Tel: (608) 443-1600
Fax: (608) 443-1601
AVSMedia http://www.sonicfoundry.com
Online Media Technologies Ltd.
29 Harley Street
London W1G 9QR United Kingdom Authoring Tools
Fax: (44) 207 182 6722 Adobe Systems Incorporated
http://www.avsmedia.com/AudioTools/inde 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, CA 95110-
x.aspx 2704
BIAS, Inc Tel: (408) 536-6000
140 Keller Street Fax: (408) 537-6000
Petaluma, CA 94952 USA http://www.adobe.com
Tel: 1 (707) 782-1866 Accordent Technologies
Fax: 1 (707) 782-1874 300 N. Continental Blvd., Suite 200
http://www.bias-inc.com El Segundo, CA 90245 USA
Bremmers Audio Design Tel: (310) 374-7491
Vlamingstraat 71 Fax: (310) 374-7391
2611 KS Delft http://www.accordent.com/
The Netherlands AcroServices
http://www.multitrackstudio.com c/o L.A. Grime and Associates, Inc.
Cakewalk 860 Sandalwood Road, West Perrysburg,
268 Summer Street OH 43551-3225 USA
Boston, MA 02210 USA Tel: (419) 872-9999
Tel: (617) 423-9004

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 http://www.acroservices.com/newAS/files/ Strelley Hall, Nottingham, NG8 6PE, UK
products/acrotrain.htm Tel. +44 (0)115 9061375
Fax. +44 (0)115 9061251
Anark Corporate Headquarters
http://www.atlantic-
1434 Spruce Street, Suite 200
link.co.uk/contentpoint.htm
Boulder, CO 80302
Tel: (303) 545-2592 CopyCat
Fax: (303) 545-2575 Tel: +44(0)845 4900 228
http://www.anark.com Fax: +44(0)870 900 9098
http://www.copycatsoftware.com
AuthoLearn
c/o TrainVision CourseGenie
P.O.Box 1116 Ramat c/o Horizon Wimba
Yishai 30095, Israel 520 8th Avenue, Suite 2300
Tel: 972-4-993 0484 New York, NY 10018 USA
Fax: 972-4-983-1715 Tel: +1 (212) 533-1775
http://www.trainvision.com Fax: +1 (212) 533-6041
http://www.horizonwimba.com
Banshee
c/o McKinnon-Mulherin Inc. Coursemaker Studio
136 South Main Street, Suite A300 c/o Learn.com, Inc.
Salt Lake City, UT 84101 USA 14000 NW 4th Street
Tel: (801) 531-1631 Sunrise, FL 33325 USA
http://www.mckinnon- Tel: (954) 233-4000
mulherin.com/index.htm Fax: (954) 233-4001
http://www.learn.com
Bloki
c/o Zapatec Inc. CourseWare
1700 Martin Luther King Jr Way c/o Bridge
Berkeley, CA 94709-2114 USA Via Sangallo 32,
Tel: 1 (866) 522-7941 20100 Milan, Italy
http://www.bloki.com http://www.bridge-pt.com
Brainshark, Inc. Custom Learning Studio
Two University Office Park c/o MyKnowledgeMap Ltd
51 Sawyer Road, Waltham, MA 02453 USA 37a Micklegate
Tel: (781) 370-8000 York YO1 6JH UK
http://presentation.brainshark.com/powerp Tel: +44 (0)1904 659465
oint-presentations-index.asp Fax: +44 (0)1904 466081
http://www.customcourse.com
Camstasia Studio
c/o Lifeboat Distribution DazzlerMax
1157 Shrewsbury Avenue c/o MaxIT Corporation
Shrewsbury, NJ 07702-4321 USA 2771-29 Monument Road MS-355
Tel: (800) 847-7078 Jacksonville, FL 32225 USA
Fax: (732) 389-2066 Tel: (904) 998-9520
http://www.lifeboatdistribution.com/Index.p Fax: (904) 998-0221
asp http://www.maxit.com/
CLI Virtuoso Authoring System Designer’s Edge
c/o Cisco Learning Institute c/o Allen Communication Learning Services
1661 East Camelback Road Suite 300 175 W. 200 South, Ste. 100 Garden Level
Phoenix, AZ 85016 USA Salt Lake City, UT 84101 USA
Tel: (602) 343-1500 Tel: (801) 537-7800
Fax: (602) 343-1600 Fax: (801) 537-7805
http://www.ciscolearning.org/Products/CLI_ http://www.allencomm.com
Virtuoso/Index.html
Dynamic Power Trainer
Content Point c/o Dynamic Media
c/o Atlantic Link Straßganger Straße 287

224 © Brandon Hall Research

8053 Graz, Austria Fax: +47 97 32 37 08
http://www.dynamicpowertrainer.com http://www.mohive.com
EasyAuthor Experience Builders LLC
c/o Eclipsys Corporation 836 Custer Avenue
1750 Clint Moore Road Evanston, Illinois 60202 USA
Boca Raton, FL 33487 USA Tel: (847) 475-4400
Tel: (561) 322-4321 http://www.experiencebuilders.com
Fax: (561) 322-4320
ExpertAuthor, ExpressTrain
http://www.eclipsys.com/Solutions/Elearni
c/o Knowledge Quest
ng.asp
301 Forest Avenue
EasyProf Laguna Beach, CA 92651 USA
Rambla Brasil, 38-40, local 3 Tel: (949) 376-8150
E-08028 Barcelona, Spain http://www.knowledgequest.com
Tel: +34 93 490.64.10
Firefly Publisher
Fax: +34 93 490.64.68
c/o KnowledgePlanet
http://www.easyprof.com
5095 Ritter Road, Suite 112
Edufolio Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 USA
c/o Terra Dotta, LLC Tel: (717) 790-0400
501 West Franklin Street, Suite 105 Fax: (717) 790-0401
Chapel Hill, NC 27516 USA http://www.knowledgeplanet.com
Tel: (919) 929-8400
Flash Companion eLearning Studio
Fax: (919) 883-5093
Rapid Intake Inc.
http://www.edufolio.com
441 W Main St, Suite B
Eedo ForceTen Lehi, Utah 84043 USA
76 Northeastern Blvd ., Suite 29A Tel: (866) 231-5254
Nashua, NH 03062 USA Fax: (360) 838-0828
Tel: (603) 889-3784 http://www.rapidintake.com
Fax: (603) 595-7932
iLessons
http://www.eedo.com/products/forceten.ht
c/o Counterpoint MTC Ltd
ml
Unit 2 Timberlaine Trading Est., Decoy Rd.,
e-Learning Consulting Worthing, West Sussex, BN14 8ND, UK
1722 232 Avenue NE Tel: +44 (0)1903 538844
Sammamish, WA 98074 USA Fax: +44 (0)1903 536080
Tel: (425) 868-4841 http://www.ilessons.co.uk
http://www.e-learningconsulting.com
Impatica Inc.
E-Learning in a Box 1725 St. Laurent Blvd., Suite 205
c/o KnowledgeXtensions, Inc. Ottawa, Ontario K1G 3V4 Canada
500 Kenwood Avenue Tel: (613) 736-9982
Delmar, New York 12054 USA Fax: (613) 736-9084
Tel: (866) 532-7659) http://www.impatica.com
http://www.elearninginabox.com
Instant Demo
Elicitus Content Publisher c/o NetPlay Software
Harbinger Knowledge Products Tamarind Drive, Unanderra
P. O. Box 2827 Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
Redmond, WA 98073 USA Fax: +61 2 4272 1338
Tel: (425) 861-8400 http://www.instant-demo.com
http://www.elicitus.com
Intiva
Enterprise e-Learning Publishing System c/o Business Performance Technology
c/o Mohive, P.O. Box 9083 1224 Mill Street East, Berlin, CT
Grønland N-0133 Oslo Norway 06023 USA
Tel: +47 22 44 94 50 Tel: (860) 828-5650

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 Fax: (860) 828-3017 Tel: 1 (800) 616-5409
http://www.elearningpowertools.com/ Fax: (250) 361-9362
http://www.knowledgepresenter.com/
Intuition Publisher
IFSC House LEARNERLand
International Financial Services Centre c/o MEDIAmaker Ltd
Custom House Quay MEDIA HOUSE, Padge Road, Beeston
Dublin 1 Ireland Nottingham UK NG9 2RS
Tel: +353 1 605 4300 Tel: +44 (0)115 925 5440
Fax: +353 1 605 4301 http://www.learnerland.com
http://www.intuition.ie/software/publisher.
Learning Composer
shtml
c/o TEDS Inc.
iPerform Course Builder 235 Mountain Empire Road
Integrated Performance Systems, Inc. Atkins, VA 24311 USA
111 Water St. East Tel: (276) 783-6991
Dundee, IL 60118 USA http://www.teds.com
Tel: (847) 836-1800
Lectora
Fax: (847) 836-1818
c/o Travantis
http://www.ips-inc.com
311 Elm Street, Suite 200
Kallidus Authoring System Cincinnati, OH 45202 USA
c/o e2train Limited Tel: (877) 929-0188
1st Floor, 101/102 Cirencester Bus. Park http://trivantis.com
Love Lane, Cirencester, Gloucestershire,
Lecturnity
GL7 1XD, UK
c/o imc AG
Main Tel: +44 (01285) 883900
Altenkesseler Straße 17/ D3
Fax: +44 (01285)883901
66115 Saarbrücken Germany
http://www.e2train.com/products/products
Tel: +49 681/ 94 76 - 0
_Author.htm
http://www.lecturnity.de
KBridge
Lersus easyContent
c/o KnowledgeXtensions, Inc.
c/o Delfi Software
500 Kenwood Avenue
Lietzenburgerstr. 46
Delmar, New York 12054 USA
10789 Berlin Deutschland
Tel: (866) 532-7659)
Tel: +49 (30) 81298133
Fax: (518) 689-3095
http://www.lersus.de/content/enu/product-
http://www.knowledgextensions.com/prods
n-solutions/authoring-system/
erv.htm
MindOnSite – Integral Coaching SA
Knowledge Assembler
Soleil Levant 6
c/o Generation21 Learning Systems
1170 Aubonne, FRANCE
17301 W. Colfax Avenue
Tel: +41 21 807 01 31
Building 200, Suite 225
http://www.mindonsite.com/eLearning/EN/
Golden, CO 80401 USA
index.html
Tel: (303) 233-2100
Fax: (303) 462-8849 Microsoft Corporation
http://www.gen21.com/ka.htm One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA
KnowledgeHub Authoring Services
Tel: (800) 642-7676
c/o 500 Canal View Boulevard
Fax: (425) 936-7329
Rochester, NY 14623 USA
www.microsoft.com
Tel: (585) 240-7500
Fax: (585) 240-7760 MindIQ Corporation
http://www.elementk.com 7742 Spalding Drive, #205
Norcross, GA 30092-4207 USA
KnowledgePresenter
Tel: (770) 248-0442
GeoMetrix Data Systems
Fax: (770) 248-1949
240 Bay Street
http://www.mindiq.com/tbt/dac/index.php
Victoria, BC V9A 3K5 Canada

226 © Brandon Hall Research

Nuvvo Fax: (613) 731-9615
c/o Savvica Inc. http://www.xstreamsoftware.com
110 Fourth Ave.
RapidGuide
Courtice, ON, L1R 3K7 Canada
c/o XStream Software, Inc.
Tel: (416) 907-8618
2280 St. Laurent Blvd., Suite 200
http://nuvvo.com
Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 4K1 Canada
Opus Pro Tel: (613) 731-9443
c/o Digital Workshop http://www.xstreamsoftware.com
The Innovation Centre
ReadyGo!
Warwick Technology Park
1761 Pilgrim Avenue
Gallows Hill, Warwick, CV34 6UW UK
Mountain View, CA 94040 USA
Tel: +44 (0)870 120 2186
Tel: (650) 559-8990
Fax: +44 (0)870 120 2187
Fax: (650) 559-5950
http://www.digitalworkshop.com
http://www.readygo.com
podia Ltd
Respondus
6th Floor, World Trade Centre
17127 NE 83rd Ct.
Exchange Quay
Redmond, WA 98052 USA
Manchester M5 3EJ United Kingdom
Fax: (425) 881-3329
Tel: +44 (0) 8707 80 26 36
http://www.respondus.com
Fax: +44 (0) 8707 80 26 37
http://www.podia.net Reusable Objects
Richmond Forum
PointeCast Publisher Professional
Cnr. Cedar Ave & Napier Road,
355 South 520 West, Suite 150
Richmond, Johannesburg, South Africa
Lindon, Utah 84042-1911 USA
Tel: +27 11 482 7543
Tel: +1(801) 805-3600
Fax: +27 11 482 8447
http://www.pointecast.com
http://www.reusableobjects.com
Presentation Studio
SCOBuilder
c/o WebEx Communications, Inc.
c/o Westcliff Data Services Ltd
3979 Freedom Circle
PC House, 150 Hamlet Court Road
Santa Clara, CA 95054 USA
Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex SS0 7LN UK
Tel: (408) 435-7000
Tel: +44 (0)1702 436600
Fax: (408) 496-4353
Fax: +44 (0)1702 434888
http://www.webex.com/services/web-
http://www.westcliffdata.co.uk/index.php?c
presentation-svc.html
ontent=products/scobuilder
Presenter
SCORMxt
c/o Articulate
c/o Westcliff Data Services Ltd
244 5th Avenue Suite 2960
PC House, 150 Hamlet Court Road
New York, NY 10001 USA
Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex SS0 7LN UK
Tel: 1 (800) 861-4880
Tel: +44 (0)1702 436600
http://www.articulate.com
Fax: +44 (0)1702 434888
Quest http://www.westcliffdata.co.uk/index.php?c
c/o Allen Communication Learning Services ontent=products/scobuilder
175 W. 200 South, Ste. 100 Garden Level
ScreenWatch Producer
Salt Lake City, UT 84101 USA
15191 Humbug Rd. 3rd Floor
Tel: (801) 537-7800
Magalia, CA 95954
Fax: (801) 537-7805
Tel: (530) 852-7070 x103
http://www.allencomm.com
http://www.screenwatch.com
RapidBuilder
ScribeStudio
c/o XStream Software, Inc.
15 Maiden Lane, Suite 400
2280 St. Laurent Blvd., Suite 200
New York, NY 10038
Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 4K1 Canada
Tel: (212) 353-0022
Tel: (613) 731-9443
http://www.scribestudio.com

Do not reproduce 227

 Seminar Learning System Thinkingcap Studio
Burleigh House, 15 Newmarket Road c/o Agile, 250 The Esplanade
Cambridge CB5 8EG United Kingdom Toronto, ON M5A 1J2 Canada
Tel: +44 (0)1223 312227 Tel: 1 (416) 977-4675
Fax: +44 (0)1223 310200 Fax: 1 (416) 599-1441
http://www.seminar.co.uk http://www.thinkingcap.info
Sensa e-Learning ToolBook
4465 W. Gandy Blvd, Suite 200 1808 North Shoreline Boulevard
Tampa, FL 33611 USA Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
Tel: (813) 831-8181 Tel: +1 (650) 934-9500
Fax: (813) 831-8221 Fax: +1 (650) 962-9411
http://www.sensalearning.com http://www.toolbook.com
SmartBuilder Trainersoft
c/o Suddenly Smart FunEducation, Inc.
523 Encinitas Blvd. Ste 202 110 West C Street Suite 2200
Encinitas, CA 92024 San Diego, CA 92101 USA
Tel: (800) 690.4259 http://www.funeducation.com
Fax: (760) 635.5709
TurboDemo
http://www.suddenlysmart.com
c/o Bernard D&G, Birnenweg 15
Snap! Studio 72766 Reutlingen Germany
c/o Percepsys Tel: + 49 7121 1688-0
4686 Rosebush Road Fax: 212 937 5201
Mississauga ON L5M5H3 Canada http://www.turbodemo.com
Tel: 1 (877) 719-4789
ViewletBuilder
http://www.percepsys.com/coursegen.htm
c/o Qarbon, 55 South Market St., Suite
StudyMate 1550
c/o Respondus San Jose, CA 95113 USA
17127 NE 83rd Ct. Tel: (408) 907-4800
Redmond, WA 98052 USA Fax: (408) 907-4808
Fax: (425) 881-3329 http://www.qarbon.com
http://www.respondus.com/products/study
Visual Course Builder
mate.shtml
c/o MaxIT Corporation
SyberWorks Competency Management 2771-29 Monument Road MS-355
Module Jacksonville, FL 32225 USA
Tel: (888) 642-7078 Tel: (904) 998-9520
Fax: (781) 891-1994 Fax: (904) 998-0221
http://www.syberworks.com http://www.maxit.com
Thesis XplanaWorkbook
c/o HunterStone c/o Xplana, Inc., 323 Newbury Street
10628 C Broad River Rd Boston, Massachusetts 02115 USA
Irmo, SC, USA 29063-9688 USA Tel: (617) 262-0202
Tel: (803) 749-8980 http://www.xplana.com
Fax: (803) 781-7149
http://www.hunterstone.com
Avatars
time4you GmbH communication & learning
CodeBaby Corp.
Maximilianstr. 4, 76133 Karlsruhe,
#1910, 10004-104 Avenue.
Germany
Edmonton, AB T5J 0K1 Canada
Tel. +49(0)721.83 01 60
Tel: (780) 432-522
Fax +49(0)721.83 01 616
http://www.codebaby.com
http://www.time4you.de/ibt/main/en/site/t
ime4you/ibt/en/start.cxjsp?pos=ibtAuthorin DA Group
g The Lighthouse, 70 Mitchell Street
Glasgow G1 3LX UK

228 © Brandon Hall Research

Tel: +44 (0) 141 582 0600
http://www.tmmy.co.uk
Daden Chatbots
103 Oxford Rd, Moseley,
Birmingham, B13 9SG, United Kingdom
Tel: 0 (121) 247-3628
http://www.daden.co.uk/chatbots.html
Knowledge Environments, Inc.
Tel: (413) 458-5611
http://www.knowledgeenvironments.com
Oddcast
589 8th Ave., 11th Floor
New York, NY 10018 USA
Tel: (212) 375-6290
http://www.oddcast.com
Redwood E-learning Systems
479A Wellington St. W
Toronto, Ontario M5V 1E7 Canada
http://www.redwoodelearning.com
Second Life
Tel: (415) 243-9000
http://secondlife.com
TelSim Software Learning Technology
0012 N. Dale Mabry Hwy., Ste. 219
Tampa, FL 33618
Tel: (813) 868-1661
Fax: (813) 908-3559
http://www.telsim.com
Vcom 3d
3452 Lake Lynda Drive, Suite 260
Orlando, FL 32817 USA
Tel: (407) 737-7310
Fax: (407) 737-6821
http://www.vcom3d.com
Blogging
BlogBurst
c/o Pluck Corporation
720 Brazos St., Suite 900
Austin, TX 78701 USA
Tel: (512) 457-5220
http://www.blogburst.com
Blogpulse
c/o Nielsen Buzzmetrics
56 West 22nd Street Third Floor
New York, NY 10010 USA
Tel: (646) 253-1900
http://blogpulse.com
CramerSweeney Instructional Design
Moorestown Office Center
110 Marter Avenue, Suite 209
Do not reproduce
Moorestown, NJ 08057 USA
Tel: (856) 787-9100
Fax: (856) 787-0707
http://www.cramersweeney.com
WaveMarket, Inc.
5858 Horton Street Suite 250
Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
http://www.wavemarket.com
Browsers
Flock
100 View Street, Suite 100
Mountain View CA 94041, USA
http://www.flock.com
Mozilla Corporation
1981 Landings Drive
Building K
Mountain View, CA 94043-0801 USA
http://www.mozilla.com
OmniWeb
Omni Development, Inc.
2707 NE Blakeley Street
Seattle, WA 98105-3118 USA
Tel: (206) 523-4152 x0
Fax: (206) 523-5896
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/o
mniweb
Opera Software ASA
P.O. Box 2648 St Hanshaugen
NO-0131 Oslo NORWAY
Tel: +47 24 16 40 00
Fax: +47 24 16 40 0
http://www.opera.com
Qube
c/o Qelix Technologies
St. Mary Apts, 6th Flr.,
Nesbit Rd, Mazgaon, Mumbai 10, INDIA.
Tel: (022) 2371-2194
Fax: (022) 2372-9177
http://qube.qelix.com/v2/index.htm
Classroom Response
Systems
Active Learning Site
c/o Dr. Charles Bonwell
Active Learning Workshops, P.O. Box 407
Green Mountain Falls, CO 80819
Tel: (719) 684-9261
http://www.active-learning-site.com
GTCO CalComp, Inc.
7125 Riverwood Drive
229
 Columbia, MD 21046 Batipi
Tel: (410) 381-6688 11 St. Jospeh Street, Suite 103
Fax: (410) 290-9065 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
http://www.gtcocalcomp.com M4Y 3G4
Tel: (416) 840-3476
Open Technologies Interactive
http://www.batipi.com/
399 36th Street, SW, Orlando, FL 32811
Tel: (407) 872-3333 Blenks int bv
Fax: (407) 872-3330 Postbus 75310
http://www.optiontechnologies.com 1070 AH AMSTERDAM
Tel: 0900-468 326 48
Pearson Education Australia
Fax: (+31) 84-7161430
Tel: (02) 9454 2222
http://www.inteam.com
http://www.pearsoned.com.au/ELearning/A
udienceResponseSystems/Home.aspx BlueTie, Inc.
1050 Pittsford Victor Rd.
Qwizdom, Inc.
Pittsford, NY 14534 USA
12617 Meridian E,
Tel: (800) 258-3843
Puyallup, WA 98373 USA
http://www.bluetie.com
Tel: (253) 845-7738
http://www.qwizdom.com Breeze
c/o Macromedia, Inc.
Smartroom Learning Solutions, Inc.
601 Townsend Street
4631 Dandelion Circle
San Francisco, CA 94103 USA
Marietta, GA 30067 USA
Tel: (415) 832-2000
Tel: (404) 419-6060
Fax: (415) 832-2020
http://www.smartroom.com
http://www.adobe.com/products/breeze/
Univeristy of Massachusetts Physics
Brevient
Education Research Group
Tel: 414.944.0162
c/o Dr. Ian Beatty
http://www.brevient.com
Lederle Graduate Tower B-416
University of Massachusetts Bridgepoint
710 N. Pleasant St. c/o TelNetZ, 1192 East Draper Parkway,
Amherst, MA 01003-9305 USA Suite 522, Draper, UT 84020 USA
Tel: (413) 545-9483 Tel: (801) 303-2525
http://umperg.physics.umass.edu http://www.telnetz.com
Brightidea.com
Collaboration Tools 404 Fifth Avenue, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10018 USA
aveComm
Tel: (212) 594-4500
c/o Atinav
http://www.brightidea.com
100 Franklin Square Drive, Suite# 401,
Somerset, NJ - 08873 USA Caucus Care
Tel: (732) 412-3000 2630 Lillian Road
Fax: (732) 412-2145 Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA
http://www.avecomm.com Fax: (734) 973-6915
http://care.caucus.com
Backpack
c/o 37 Signals Centra
400 North May Street #301, c/o Saba, 2400 Bridge Parkway
Chicago IL 60622 USA Redwood Shores, CA 94065-1166 USA
http://www.backpackit.com Tel: (650) 581-2500
Fax: (650) 581-2581
Bantu
http://www.saba.com/centra-saba
8110 Gatehouse Rd. Suite 101E
Falls Church, VA 22042 Central Desktop, Inc.
Tel: (703) 766-4577 100 North Lake Avenue, #205
http://www.bantu.com Pasadena, CA 91101

230 © Brandon Hall Research

Tel: (626) 593-7007 Digi-Net Technologies, Inc.
http://www.centraldesktop.com 1034 N.W. 57th Street
Gainesville, FL 32605 USA
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Tel: (352) 333-3042
170 West Tasman Dr.
Fax: (352) 333-1117
San Jose, CA 95134 USA
http://www.digi-net.com
Tel: (408) 526-4000
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/ Digité, Inc.
ps5664/ps5669/index.html 82 Pioneer Way, Suite # 102
Mountain View CA 94041 USA
Citrix Systems, Inc.
Tel: (650) 210-3900
851 West Cypress Creek Road
Fax: (650) 210-3901
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309 USA
http://www.digite.com
Tel: (954) 267-3000
Fax: (954) 267-9319 Edufolio
http://www.citrix.com c/o Terra Dotta, LLC
501 West Franklin Street, Suite 105
Collaboration Loop
Chapel Hill, NC 27516 USA
CMP Media LLC, 795 Folsom Street, 6th
Tel: (919) 929-8400
Floor
Fax: (919) 883-5093
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA
http://www.edufolio.com
Tel: (415) 905-2300
http://www.collaborationloop.com Elluminate USA
6301 NW 5th Way Suite 3600
Communique
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33309-6197 USA
8280 Greensboro Dr.
Tel: (954) 229-2622
Suite 630
Fax: (954) 337-0330
McLean, VA 22102 USA
http://www.elluminate.com
Tel: (202) 266-0058
Fax: (703) 471-1621 EMC Corporation
http://www.communiqueconferencing.com 176 South Street
Hopkinton, MA 01748 USA
Community Zero
Tel: (508) 435-1000
c/o Ramius
http://software.emc.com
294 Albert Street, Suite 600
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6E6 Canada Engineering.com
Tel: 13-230-3808 ext. 232 40 Village Centre Place
http://www.communityzero.com Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
L4Z 1V9
Comotiv Systems
Tel: (905) 273-9991
111 SW Columbia St. Suite 950
Fax: (905) 273-6691
Portland, OR 97201 USA
http://collaboration.engineering.com/
Tel: (503) 224-7496
Fax: (503) 222-0185 EPAM Systems
http://www.comotivsystems.com Princeton Pike Corporate Center
989 Lenox Dr., Suite 305
CourseForum Technologies
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 USA
67 King Street
Tel: (609) 844-0400
Guelph, Ontario
http://www.epam-pmc.com
Canada N1E 4P5
Fax: (519) 837-8017 eStudio
http://www.courseforum.com/ c/o Same-Page.com LLP
PO Box 325, Sanibel FL, 33957 USA
Covenos
Tel: (239) 395-7655
100 Enterprise Way
http://www.same-page.com
Mod A-1
Scotts Valley, CA 95066 Exact Software
Tel: +1 (831) 600-1400 300 Brickstone Square
Fax: +1 (831) 600-1405 Andover, MA 01810 USA
http://www.convenos.com

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 Tel: (978) 474-4900
http://www.exactamerica.com
eZmeeting
Tel: (318) 449-9900
http://www.ezmeeting.com
Facilitate
4323 23rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94114 USA
Tel: (805) 682-6939
http://www.facilitate.com
Flypaper
c/o Marq Systems
1140 Whitemarsh Court
San Jose, CA 95120
Tel: 1 (408) 333-9368
http://www.flypaper.com
Forum One Communications
2200 Mount Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301 USA
Tel: (703) 548-1855
Fax: (703) 995-4937
http://www.forumone.com
Genesys Conferencing
Immeuble L’Acropole
954-980, avenue Jean Mermoz
34000 Montpellier, France
Tel: +33 (0) 4 99 13 27 67
Fax: +33 (0) 4 99 13 27 50
http://www.genesys.com
Glance Networks, Inc.
1167 Massachusetts Avenue
Arlington, MA 02476 USA
Tel: (781) 646-8505
Fax: (781) 646-8508
http://www.glance.net
Global School Net
132 N. El Camino Real, Ste. 395
Encinitas, CA 92024 USA
Tel: (760) 635-0001
Fax: (760) 635-0003
http://www.globalschoolnet.org
Gordano
18 Kenn Road,
Clevedon, North Somerset BS21 6EL UK
Tel: +44 (0)1275 345100
Fax: +44 (0)1275 345132
http://www.gordano.com
GoToMeeting.com
c/o Citrix Systems, Inc.
851 West Cypress Creek Road
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309 USA
Tel: (954) 267-3000
232
Fax: (954) 267-9319
https://www.gotomeeting.com
Grapevine Software
33532 Atlantic Ave.
Dana Point lCA 92629 USA
Tel: (949) 697-.4517
http://www.grapevinesoftware.net
Groove Networks, Inc.
100 Cummings Center
Suite 535Q
Beverly, MA 01915
Tel: (978) 720-2000
Fax: (978) 720-2001
http://www.groove.net
GroupSupport.com B.V.
PO Box 340
5500 AH Veldhoven
Tel: +31 (0) 40 258 21 60
Fax: +31 (0) 40 258 21 61
http://www.groupsupport.com
Groupwise
c/o Novell, 3100 Steeles Avenue East, Suite
500
Markham, ON, L3R 8T3 Canada
Tel: (905) 940-2670
Fax: (905) 940-2688
http://www.novell.com/products/groupwise
hotComm
c/o 1stWorks Corporation
30 Noon Hill Avenue
Norfolk, MA 02056 USA
Tel: (508) 541-6781
http://www.hotcomm.com
HP Virtual Classroom
Tel: (919) 595-4243
http://education.hp.com
Horizon Wimba
520 8th Avenue, Suite 2300
New York, NY 10018 USA
Tel: +1 (212) 533-1775
Fax: +1 (212) 533-6041
http://www.horizonwimba.com
HyperOffice
6101 Executive Blvd. #115
Rockville, Maryland 20852 USA
Tel: (301) 255-0018
http://www.hyperoffice.com
Lotus QuickPlace
c/o IBM
1133 Westchester Avenue
White Plains, New York 10604 USA
Tel: (800) 426-4968
© Brandon Hall Research
http://www- Fax: (520) 670-7101
03.ibm.com/servers/eserver/iseries/quickp http://www.linktivity.com
lace
LiveMeeting
IceWeb c/o Microsoft Corporation
205 Van Buren St. Suite #150 One Microsoft Way
Herndon, VA 20170 USA Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA
Tel: (703) 964-8000 Tel: (800) 642-7676
Fax: (703) 964-0160 Fax: (425) 936-7329
http://www.iceweb.com http://www.microsoft.com/uc/livemeeting/
default.mspx
iLinc Communications
2999 N. 44th St. LiveOffice, Corp
Phoenix, AZ 85018 2780 Skypark Drive, Suite 300
Tel: (602) 952-1200 Torrance, CA 90505 USA
Fax: (602) 952-0544 Tel: (800) 251-3863
http://www.ilinc.com http://www.liveoffice.com
Interwoven Mayetic
803 11th Avenue. 249 rue Saint-Martin
Sunnyvale, CA 94089 USA 75003 – Paris, France
Tel: + 1 (408) 774-2000 Tel : +33 1 46 22 07 00
Fax: +1 (408) 774-2002 http://www.mayeticvillage.com
http://www.interwoven.com
MeetingOne
inQuest Technologies 999 Eighteenth Street
144 Turnpike Road North Tower, Suite 1401
Southborough, MA 01772 USA Denver, CO 80202 USA
Tel: (508) 787-1090 Toll Free: 1-866-523-1137
Fax: (508) 787-1097 http://www.meetingone.com
http://www.inquesttechnologies.com
MITRE
Interwise, Inc. 202 Burlington Road
25 First Street, Suite 412 Bedford, MA 01730-1420 USA
Cambridge, MA 02141 USA Tel: (781) 271-2000
Tel: +1 (617) 475-2200 http://collaboration.mitre.org/tools.htm
Fax: +1 (617) 621-3922
MyWorldChat/Raissa Publishing
http://www.interwise.com
PO Box 295
IntraLinks Port Angeles, WA 98362 USA
1372 Broadway, 11th floor Tel: (360) 460-3093
New York, NY 10018 USA http://myworldchat.com
Tel: (212) 543-7700
Near-Time, Inc.
Fax: (212) 543-7978
1289 N. Fordham Blvd., Suite A-410
http://www.intralinks.com
Chapel Hill, NC 27514 USA
ivocalize Tel: (919) 360-7343
Tel: 206-388-3706 http://www.near-time.com
http://www.ivocalize.com
Netspoke
JDH Technologies 600 West Cummings Park, Suite 6500
Suite 302 12388 Warwick Boulevard Woburn, MA 01801 USA
Newport News, Virginia 23606 USA Tel: (781) 438-6611
Tel: (757) 873-4747 http://www.netspoke.com
Fax: (757) 873-8484
onProject, Inc.
http://www.jdhtech.com
3 Wing Drive, Suite 225
Linktivity Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927 USA
3760 North Commerce Drive, Suite 100 Tel: (973) 971-9970
Tucson, AZ 85705 USA http://www.onproject.com
Tel: (520) 670-7100

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 Open Text Corporation Projistics
275 Frank Tompa Drive c/o Nagarro
Waterloo, ON N2L 0A1 Canada 226 Airport Parkway, Suite 440
Tel: (519) 888-7111 San Jose, CA 95110 USA
http://www.opentext.com Tel: (408) 436-6170
Fax: (408) 436-7508
OPM Creator Limited
http://www.nagarro.com
Mayfair House
14-18 Heddon Street Q2Learning LLC
Mayfair, London W1B 4DA England 2686 Hillsman Street
Tel: +44 (0)870 760 5521 Falls Church, VA 22043
http://www.opmcreator.com Tel: (877) 751-2200
Fax: (877) 751-2200
Oracle Collaboration Suite
http://www.q2learning.com
500 Oracle Parkway
Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA RADVISION Inc.
Tel: (650) 506-0024 17-17 State Highway 208, Suite 300
http://www.oracle.com/collabsuite/index.ht Fair Lawn, NJ 07410-2819 USA
ml Tel: (201) 689-6300
http://www.radvision.com
Parlano
10 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 1450 Raindance Communications, Inc.
Chicago, IL 60606 USA 1157 Century Drive
Tel: (312) 655-8330 Louisville, CO 80027 USA
http://www.parlano.com Tel: (303) 928-2400
http://www.raindance.com
PeopleCube Corporate Headquarters
411 Waverley Oaks Road Selden Integrated Systems, Inc.
Waltham, MA 02452 USA 1175 58th Avenue, Suite 200
Tel: (781) 530-2600 Greeley, CO 80634 USA
http://www.peoplecube.com Tel: (970) 336-5960
http://www.seldensystems.com
Performance Solutions Technology
PO Box 2157, Harbor, OR 97415 USA ShareMethods
Tel: (877) 487-3001 Tel: 1 (877) 742-7366
http://www.performancesolutionstech.com http://www.sharemethods.com
Photon Infotech Inc. SharePoint
New No. 35, Suite B, First Main Road c/o Microsoft Corporation
Gandhi Nagar,Adyar One Microsoft Way
Chennai,TamilNadu Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA
India – 600020 Tel: (800) 642-7676
Tel: +91 44 – 39181110 http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2
http://www.photoninfotech.com 003/technologies/sharepoint/default.mspx
ProjectDox SiteScape
c/o Informative Graphics Corporation 12 Clock Tower Place, Suite 210
4835 E. Cactus Rd, Suite 445 Maynard, MA 01754 USA
Scottsdale, Arizona 85254 Tel: (978) 450-2200
Tel: (602) 971-6061 http://www.sitescape.com
Fax: (602) 971-1714
SpiderWeb Communications, Inc.
http://www.projectdox.com
3679 Concord Road, P.O. Box 3325
project-open York, PA 17402 US
Ronda de Sant Antoní, 51, 1o 2a Tel: (717) 757-2679
E-08011 Barcelona http://www.cyber-grad.com
Tel: +34 (933) 250-914
Stalker Software
Fax: +34 (932) 890-729
c/o CommuniGate Systems
http://www.project-open.com
655 Redwood Hwy, Ste 275
Mill Valley, Ca 94941 USA

234 © Brandon Hall Research

Tel: (415) 383-7164 Vignette
http://www.stalker.com/content/default.ht 1301 South MoPac Expressway, Suite 100
ml Austin, TX 78746 USA
Tel: (5 2) 741-4300
SumTotal
Fax: (512) 741-1537
1808 North Shoreline Boulevard
http://www.vignette.com
Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
Tel: +1 (650) 934-9500 Vodium
Fax: +1 (650) 962-9411 1629 K Street NW, Suite 950
http://www.sumtotalsystems.com Washington, DC 20006 USA
Tel: (202) 223-1800
Tacit
Fax: (202) 223-5890
2100 Geng Road
http://www.vodium.com
Palo Alto, CA 94303 USA
Tel: (650) 251-2000 Wave3
http://www.tacit.com c/o wireless logix group
2755 E Oakland Park Blvd Fort
TeamDynamix
Lauderdale, FL 33306-1637 USA
Tel: (877) 752-6196
Tel: (954) 566-0992
http://www.teamdynamix.com
http://www.wave3software.com
Teamspace
WebOffice
c/o 5 POINT AG
c/o L & W InterLab
Heidelberger Straße 55-61
77 Finch Avenue East, Suite 810
64285 Darmstadt, Germany
Toronto, Ontario M2N 6H8, Canada
Tel: +49 (0) 6151 13097-0
http://www.webofficepoint.com
http://www.teamspace.com
Web Crossing, Inc.
Teamware
P.O.Box 2900
P.O. Box 135
Alameda, CA 94001 USA
FIN-00381 Helsinki, Finland
Tel: (415) 771-7099
Tel: +358 (0)207 515 300
http://www.webcrossing.com
http://www.teamware.net
WebAsyst
Tomoye
PO Box 25331, 1100 Lovering Avenue
86 Promenade du Portage
Wilmington, Delaware 19899 USA
Gatineau, Quebec J8X 2K1 Canada
Tel: +1 (302) 351-4649
Tel: +1 (819) 246-9007
http://www.webasyst.net
http://www.tomoye.com
WebEx Communications, Inc.
Trichys WorkZone
3979 Freedom Circle
701 East Elm Street
Santa Clara, CA 95054 USA
Conshohocken, PA 19428
Tel: (408) 435-7000
Tel: (610) 828-2877
http://www.webex.com
http://www.trichys.com
Usability First WebTrain Communications
c/o Foraker Design 475 West Georgia Street, Suite 1050
5277 Manhattan Circle Suite 210 Vancouver, BC V6B 4M9 Canada
Boulder, CO 80303 USA Tel: (604) 408-0027
Tel: (303) 449-0202 http://www.webtrain.com
Fax: (303) 265-9286
Writeboard
http://www.usabilityfirst.com/groupware/in
c/o 37 Signals
dex.txl
400 North May Street #301,
Viack Chicago IL 60622 USA
14811 N. Kierland Blvd., Suite 100 http://www.backpackit.com
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
Xcolla
Tel: (480) 735-5900
c/o Axista
Fax: (480) 735-5901
Tel: (917) 438-7087
http://www.viack.com
http://www.axista.com

Do not reproduce 235

 Zoho Virtual Office SyberWorks Competency Management
c/o AdventNet, Inc., Module
5200 Franklin Dr, Suite 115 Tel: (888) 642-7078
Pleasanton, CA 94588, USA Fax: (781) 891-1994
Tel: (925) 924-9500 http://www.syberworks.com
http://www.zoho.com
Content Management
Communications Tools Systems
The Learning Place ATutor
c/o Department of Education and the Arts c/o Adaptive Technology Resource Centre
PO Box 15033, City East J.P. Robarts Library, First Floor
QLD 4002 Australia University of Toronto,
Tel: 61-7-3237-0111 130 St. George St.
http://education.qld.gov.au/learningplace/ Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A5 Canada
Live Video Tel: (416) 978-4360
Santa Cruz Networks, Inc. http://www.atutor.ca
1684 Dell Avenue AuthorIT Software Corporation
Campbell, CA 95008 USA PO Box 300-273
Tel: (408) 871-1713 Albany 0752, Auckland
http://www.santacruznetworks.com NEW ZEALAND
Tel: +64 (9) 915 5070
Competency Tracking http://www.author-it.com
Carr Performance Group e-Learning Centre
Tel: (281) 798-3791 Learning Light Ltd.,
http://www.cpgvision.com Sheffield Technology Parks, Cooper
Buildings. Arundel Street,
Desire2Learn Inc. Sheffield, S1 2NS UK
72 Victoria Street South http://www.e-learningcentre.co.uk
Suite 401, Kitchener-Waterloo
Ontario, Canada Plone Foundation
N2G 4Y9 4617 Montrose Blvd, Suite C215
Tel: (519) 772-0325 Houston, TX. 77006 USA
Fax: (519) 772-0324 Tel: (302) 397-2132
http://www.desire2learn.com http://plone.org
HRSG
402-1355 Bank Street Data Mining
Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8K7 CANADA Convera
Tel: (613) 745-6605 1921 Gallows Road Suite 200
Fax: (613) 745-4019 Vienna, VA 22182
http://www.hrsg.ca Tel: (703) 761-3700
LearnFlex Fax: (703) 761-1990
c/o Operitel Corporation http://www.convera.com
160 Charlotte St, Suite 201 KDNuggets
Peterborough, Ontario K9J 2T8 Canada Tel: (617) 264-9914
Tel: (866) 849-3630 Fax: (325) 204-7702
Fax: (866) 279-1248 http://www.kdnuggets.com
http://www.learnflex.com
Oracle Decision Support Software
500 Oracle Parkway
Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA BNH Expert Software Inc.
Tel: (650) 506-0024 4000 Steinberg Street
http://www.oracle.com St. Laurent, QC, Canada H4R 2G7

236 © Brandon Hall Research

Tel: (514) 745-4010
http://www.bnhexpertsoft.com
Facilitate
4323 23rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94114 USA
Tel: (805) 682-6939
http://www.facilitate.com
GrassGro
c/o Assoc. Prof. Jim Scott
Decision Support Systems
Agronomy and Soil Science
UNE NSW 2351 Australia
http://www.une.edu.au/dss/grassgro/index
.html
Meetingworks
46 Village Way PMB 107
Port Ludlow, WA. 98365 USA
Tel: (206) 467-1234
Fax: (206) 467-1238
http://www.meetingworks.com
Display Technologies
FogScreen Inc., Helsinki
Tammasaarenkatu 1
00180 Helsinki, Finland
Tel: +358 (0) 20 7118 610
http://www.fogscreen.com
IO2Technology
310 Shaw Road
S. San Francisco, CA 94080 USA
Tel: (650) 583-5230
http://www.io2technology.com
NTERA
100 Four Falls Corporate Center
1001 Conshohocken State Rd, Suite 606,
West Conshohocken, PA 19428 USA
Tel: (484) 534-2150
http://www.ntera.com
ProVision
9253 Eton Avenue
Chatsworth, CA 91311 USA
Tel: (818) 775-1624
http://www.provisionentertainment.com
Silicon Light Machines
3939 North First Street
San Jose, CA 95134-1506 USA
Tel: (408) 240-4700
Fax: (408) 456-0708
http://www.siliconlight.com
ePortfolio Tools
ANGEL Learning
7601 Interactive Way, Suite 100
Indianapolis, IN 46278
Tel: (317) 333-7300
http://www.angellearning.com
Chalk and Wire
19 Leawood Avenue
St. Catherines, ON L2T 3R5 Canada
Tel: 1 (877) 252-2201
http://www.chalkandwire.com
FolioTek
c/o LANIT Consulting, Inc.
5900-B North Tower Drive
Columbia, MO 65202 USA
Tel: 1 (888) 365-4639
http://www.foliotek.com/
LiveText
1 S. La Grange Road, Second Floor
La Grange, Illinois 60525-2455 USA
Tel: 1 (866) 548-3839
edu-solutions@livetext.com
Nuventive
3996 Mount Royal Blvd
Allison Park, PA 15101-3518 USA
Tel: (412) 487-8700
http://www.nuventive.com
Pebble Learning
e-Innovation Centre
University of Wolverhampton
Shifnal Road, Telford, TF2 9NT UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1952 288300
http://www.pebblepad.co.uk/
Gaming Design and
Development Tools
Clickteam France
69 rue Ampère
75017 Paris France
Tel: +33 472 39 94 59
http://www.clickteam.com
Freescale Semiconductor Inc
6501 William Cannon Drive West
Austin, Texas 78735 USA
Tel: 1 (800) 521-6274
http://www.freescale.com
Magnetar Games
5775 Toronto Road PH4
Vancouver B.C. V6T-1X4 Canada
Tel: (604) 224-4620
http://www.magnetargames.com

Do not reproduce 237

 Microsoft XNA Fax: (781) 890-828
c/o Microsoft Corporation http://www.avs.com
One Microsoft Way
Autodesk, Inc.
Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA
111 McInnis Parkway
Tel: (800) 642-7676
San Rafael, CA 94903 USA
http://www.microsoft.com/xna/
Tel: (415) 507-5000
Programmers Heaven http://usa.autodesk.com
Synchron Data
AUTO-TROL Technology Corporation
Av. Clemente Diaz Ruiz
12500 N. Washington Street
Urb. Puebla Lucia local 7, 12-20
Denver, CO 80241-2400 USA
296 40 Fuengirola Spain
Tel: (303) 452-4919
http://www.programmersheaven.com
http://www.tech-illustrator.com
The Serious Games Initiative
Blender
Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars
c/o Stichting Blender Foundation
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Frederiksstraat 12-2
Washington, DC 20004-3027 USA
1054 LC Amsterdam Netherlands
Tel: 1 (888) 286-3541
http://www.blender3d.org
http://www.seriousgames.org
Broderbund
Softimage Solutions
c/o Riverdeep, Inc.
c/o Avid Technology, Inc
100 Pine Street, Suite 1900
Avid Technology Park, One Park West
San Francisco, CA 94111
Tewksbury, MA 01876 USA
Tel: (415) 659-2000
Tel: (800) 800-2843
http://www.broderbund.com
http://www.softimage.com/solutions/game
s/default.aspx Corel Corporation
1600 Carling Avenue
Thinking Worlds
Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 8R7 Canada
Caspian Learning, St Peter's Gate
Tel: (800) 772-6735
Sunderland Science Park
http://www.corel.com
Charles Street, Sunderland
Tyne and Wear, SR6 0AN UK IBM Corporation
http://www.thinkingworlds.com 1133 Westchester Avenue
White Plains, New York 10604 USA
Gesture and Facial Tel: (800) 426-4968
http://www.ibm.com/us/
Recognition Technologies
ITEDO Software LLC
Machine Perception Laboratory SeaBreeze Plaza
University of California, San Diego 111 Anza Boulevard, Suite 300
9500 Gilman Drive, Dept. 0445 Burlingame, CA 94010 USA
La Jolla, CA 92093-0445 USA Tel: (650) 558-3840
http://mplab.ucsd.edu http://www.itedo.com
Microsoft Corporation
Graphics Tools One Microsoft Way
Adobe Systems Incorporated Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA
345 Park Avenue Tel: (800) 642-7676
San Jose, CA 95110-2704 www.microsoft.com
Tel: (408) 536-6000 SmartDraw.com
Fax: (408) 537-6000 9909 Mira Mesa Blvd., Suite 300
http://www.adobe.com San Diego, CA 92131
Advanced Visual Systems Inc. Tel: (858) 225-3300
300 Fifth Avenue http://www.smartdraw.com
Waltham, MA 02451 USA
Tel: (781) 890-4300

238 © Brandon Hall Research

Haptics E Ink Corporation
733 Concord Avenue
Force Dimension Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
PSE-C Tel: (617) 499-6000
CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland http://www.eink.com
Tel: +41 21 693-1911
http://www.forcedimension.com Fujitsu Limited
Shiodome City Center
HandshakeVR 1-5-2 Higashi-Shimbashi
564 Weber Street North, Unit 9 Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-7123 Japan
Waterloo, Ontario Tel: 81-3-6252-2220
Canada N2L 5C6 http://www.fujitsu.com
Tel: (519) 747-3969 Logitech Inc.
http://www.handshakeinteractive.com 6505 Kaiser Drive
Fremont, CA 94555 USA
Immersion
Tel: (510) 795-8500
801 Fox Lane
http://www.logitech.com
San Jose, California 95131 USA
Tel: +1 (408) 467-1900 National Clearinghouse for Educational
http://www.immersion.com Facilities
National Institute of Building Sciences
MIRALab
1090 Vermont Ave., NW Suite 700,
Centre Universitaire d'Informatique
Washington, D.C. 20005 USA
24 rue du General Dufour
Tel: (202) 289-7800
CH-1211, Geneve-4 Switzerland
http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/interactive_w
http://haptex.miralab.unige.ch
hiteboards.cfm
MPB Technologies Inc.
SMART Technologies Inc.
Tel: (514) 694-8751
1207 – 11 Avenue SW, Suite 300
http://www.mpb-technologies.ca
Calgary, AB T3C 0M5 CANADA
Robotics Group of the University of Pisa Tel: (403) 245-0333
Facoltà di Ingegneria, Università di Pisa http://www.smarttech.com
Via Diotisalvi, 2-56126 Pisa, Italy
Wacom Technology Corporation
Tel: +39 050 2217050
1311 SE Cardinal Court
Fax: +39 050 2217051
Vancouver, WA 98683 USA
http://www.piaggio.ccii.unipi.it
Tel: (360) 896-9833 (Dial 4)
SenseGraphics AB http://www.wacom.com
Electrum Q. Office
Isafjordsgatan 22 C5
16440 Kista, SWEDEN
Learning Management
Tel: +46-8 750 8070 Systems and Virtual
http://www.sensegraphics.se Learning Environments
SensAble Technologies, Inc. Allen Communication Learning Services
15 Constitution Way 175 W. 200 South, Ste. 100 Garden Level
Woburn, MA 01801 Salt Lake City, UT 84101 USA
Tel: +1 (781) 937-8315 Tel: (801) 537-7800
Fax: +1 (781) 937-8325 Fax: (801) 537-7805
http://www.sensable.com http://www.allencomm.com
Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc.
Interface Devices 1601 Cloverfield Blvd. Suite #620
Anoto Inc. Santa Monica, CA 90404 USA
7677 Oakport Street, 12th Floor Tel: (310) 752-0200
Oakland, CA 94612 USA http://www.cornerstoneondemand.com
Tel: (510) 777-0071 CourseMill LMS
http://www.anotogroup.com c/o Trivantis Corporation
311 Elm Street, Suite 200

Do not reproduce 239

 Cincinnati, OH 45202 USA iPerform
Tel: (513) 929-0188 c/o Integrated Performance Systems, Inc.
http://www.trivantis.com 111 Water St., East Dundee, IL 60118 USA
Tel: (847) 836-1800
DOTS - Dynamic Online Training System
http://www.ips-inc.com
WebRaven Pty Ltd
Suite 404 Intellinex LMS
303 Adelaide St c/o Intellinex LLC, Huntington Building,
Brisbane QLD 4000 925 Euclid Avenue
Australia Cleveland, OH 44115-1476 USA
Tel: +61 7 3220 2229 Tel: (216) 685-6000
http://www.webraven.com http://www.intellinex.com
intraLearn XE
Ed Training Platform
c/o IntraLearn Software Corporation
c/o Strategia
276 West Main Street
1010 de Serigny, Suite 660
Northboro, MA 01532
Longueuil, Quebec, J4K 5G7 Canada
Tel: (508) 393-2277
Tel: (450) 679-8239
http://www.intralearn.com
http://www.strategia.ca
KnowledgePlanet Enterprise Learning Suite
element k
c/o Knowledge Planet
c/o 500 Canal View Boulevard
5095 Ritter Road, Suite 112
Rochester, NY 14623 USA
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 USA
Tel: (585) 240-7500
Tel: (717) 790-0400
http://www.elementk.com
http://www.knowledgeplanet.com
Enterprise Knowledge Platform (EKP)
KnowledgeBridge
c/o NetDimensions
Websoft Systems Inc.
10/F, Siu On Centre
1 West Front Street
188 Lockhart Road
Red Bank, NJ 07701
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Tel: (732) 212-1933
Tel: +852 2122 4500
http://www.websoft.com
http://www.netdimensions.com
Learn Enterprise LMS
Generation21 Learning Systems
Compendium Corporation
17301 W. Colfax Avenue
10890 Nesbitt Avenue South
Building 200, Suite 225
Minneapolis, MN 55437
Golden, CO 80401
Tel: (952) 881-1608
Tel: (888) 601-1300
http://www.compendiumcorp.com
http://www.gen21.com
LearnCenter
GeoMaestro
c/o Learn.com, Inc.
GeoLearning, Inc.
14000 NW 4th Street
4600 Westown Parkway, Suite 301
Sunrise, FL 33325 USA
West Des Moines, IA 50266 USA
Tel: (954) 233-4000
Tel: (515) 222-9903
http://www.learn.com
http://www.geolearning.com
LearnFlex
IBM Workplace Collaborative Learning
c/o Operitel Corporation
c/o IBM, 1133 Westchester Avenue
160 Charlotte St, Suite 201
White Plains, New York 10604 USA
Peterborough, Ontario K9J 2T8 Canada
Tel: (800) 426-4968
Tel: (866) 849-3630
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks.ns
http://www.learnflex.com
f/RedpieceAbstracts/sg247254.html?Open
Isoph Blue
InfoSource, Inc.
c/o LearnSomething Inc.
6947 University Blvd.
2457 Care Drive
Winter Park, FL 32792
Tallahassee, FL 32308 USA
Tel: (407) 677-0300
Tel: (850) 385-7915
http://www.howtomaster.com
http://www.learnsomething.com

240 © Brandon Hall Research

LearnerWeb 671 N. Glebe Road, Suite 700
MaxIT Corporation Arlington, VA 22203-2110 USA
2771-29 Monument Road MS-355 Tel: (703) 292-0200
Jacksonville, FL 32225 USA http://www.plateau.com
Tel: (904) 998-9520
Saba Enterprise Learning Suite
http://www.maxit.com
c/o Saba
LMSLive 2400 Bridge Parkway
Wizdom Systems Inc. Redwood Shores, CA 94065-1166 USA
1300 Iroquois Avenue Tel: (650) 581-2500
Naperville, IL 60563 USA http://www.saba.com/products/saba/learni
Tel: (630) 357-3000 ng/index.htm
http://www.wizdom.com
SAP Learning Solution
Meridian KSI Knowledge Centre SAP America Inc
c/o Meridian Knowledge Solutions, Inc. 3999 West Chester Pike
4465 Brookfield Corporate Drive Newtown Square, PA 19073 USA
Suite 201, Chantilly, VA 20151 USA Tel: +1 (610) 661-1000
Tel:1 (703) 322-9565 http://www.sap.com/solutions/business-
Fax: 1 (703) 322-9568 suite/erp/hcm/learningsolution/index.epx
http://www.meridianksi.com
SSA Learning Management
mGen Enterprise c/o SSA Global Technologies Inc.
mGen, Inc. 500 West Madison, Suite 2200
100 Foxborough Blvd. Suite 260 Chicago, IL 60661 USA
Foxborough, MA 02035 USA Tel: (312) 258-6000
Tel: (508) 549-0970 http://www.ssaglobal.com
Fax: (508) 549-0979
SSElearn Portal
http://www.mgen.com
c/o SSE, 77 West Port Plaza
On-Tracker LMS Suite 500, St. Louis, MO 63146
c/o Interactive Solutions New Media Inc. Tel: (314) 439-4700
550 Queen St. East ,Suite 350 http://www.sselearn.com
Toronto, Ontario M5A 1V2 Canada
Syntrio Enterprise LMS
Tel: (416) 364-5390
Syntrio
http://www.isnewmedia.com
33 New Montgomery Street, Suite 1280
Oracle Learning San Francisco, CA 94105 USA
500 Oracle Parkway Tel: (415) 951-7913
Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA http://www.syntrio.com
Tel: (650) 506-0024
TEDS Inc.
http://www.oracle.com/applications/huma
Tel: (276) 783-6991
n_resources/learning.html
http://www.teds.com
Outstart Evolution
TeraLearn LCMS
c/o Outstart Studios
c/o TeraLearn.com, Inc.
3 Bunhill Row
PO Box 100
London EC1Y 8YZ UK
Fair Oaks, CA 95628 USA
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7847 4087
Tel: (916) 536-1279
http://www.outstart.com
http://www.teralearn.com
PeopleSoft Learning Management
TM SIGAL
500 Oracle Parkway
c/o Technomedia Training Inc.
Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
1001 De Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Fifth
Tel: (650) 506-0024
Floor
http://www.oracle.com/applications/people
Montreal, Quebec H3A 3C8 Canada
soft/hcm/ent/module/learning_mgmt.html
Tel: (514) 287-1561
Plateau Learning Management System http://www.technomedia.ca
Plateau Systems, LTD

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 Total LMS
c/o SumTotal, 1808 North Shoreline Blvd
Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
Tel: (650) 934-9500
http://www.sumtotalsystems.com
Training Mine
c/o Frontline Data Solutions, Inc.
122 West Way, Suite 401A
Lake Jackson, Texas 77566 USA
Tel: (979) 285-3650
http://www.fldata.com
Training Partner
c/o Geometrix Data Systems, Inc.
240 Bay Street,
Victoria, BC V9A 3K5 Canada
Tel: (250) 361-9300
http://www.trainingpartner.com
Training Wizard MX/SST
c/o Gyrus, 563 Southlake Boulevard
Richmond, Virginia 23236 USA
Tel: (804) 320-1414
http://www.gyrus.com
TRACCESS
c/o TTG Systems Incorporated
#2100, 10130-103 Street
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3N9 Canada
Tel: (780) 462-6365
http://www.ttg-inc.com
Tracker.Net
Platte Canyon Multimedia Software
Corporation 8870 Edgefield Drive
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80920 USA
Tel: (719) 548-1110
http://www.vbtrain.net
Virtual Training Assistant
c/o RISC, Inc.
17041 El Camino Real, Suite 101
Houston, Texas 77058 USA
Tel: (281) 480-7910
http://www.risc-inc.com
Vuepoint Learning System
Vuepoint Corp.
4 Expressway Plaza, Suite 200
Roslyn Heights, NY. 11577 USA
Tel: (888) 883-7646
http://www.vuepoint.com
WBT TopClass LMS
Horizon Technology Group plc
14 Joyce Way, Park West Business Park
Nangor Road Dublin 12 Ireland
Tel: + 353 (0)1 620 4900
http://www.wbtsystems.com
242
WebMentor LMS
Avilar Technologies, Inc.
6760 Alexander Bell Drive, Suite # 105
Columbia, MD 21046 USA
Tel: (410) 290-0008
http://www.avilar.com
Western Cooperative For Educational
Telecommunications (WCET)
P.O. Box 9752
Boulder, CO 80301-9752 USA
Tel: (303) 541-0231
http://www.edutools.info/index.jsp?pj=1
XStream RapidShare LMS
XStream Software Inc.
2280 St. Laurent Blvd., Suite 200
Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 4K1 Canada
Tel: (613) 731-9443
http://www.xstreamsoftware.com
Xtention Learning Management System
c/o Xtention Inc.
1619 Sumter Street
Columbia , SC 29201 USA
Tel: (803) 732-3080
http://www.xtention.com
Learning Objects and
Repositories
California Digital Library
University of California
Office of the President
415 20th Street, 4th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612-2901 USA
Tel: (510) 987-0425
http://www.cdlib.org
Digital Library of Information Science and
Technology
c/o School of Information Resources &
Library Science,
The University of Arizona
1515 East First Street
Tucson, Arizona 85719 USA
Tel: (520) 621-3565
http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu
Center for International Education
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
2441 East Hartford Avenue
Garland Hall 138
Milwaukee, WI 53211 USA
Tel: (414) 229-3757
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CIE/AOP
eduSource
c/o Netera
© Brandon Hall Research
University of Calgary Tempe, AZ 85250 USA
BI 530 2500 University Drive http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/mix
Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 Canada
MERLOT
Tel: (403) 220-6778
CSU Long Beach
http://edusource.netera.ca
1250 Bellflower Boulevard Psy-100
ENC Learning Inc. Long Beach CA 90840-0901 USA
1275 Kinnear Road Tel: (562) 985-2348
Columbus, OH 43212 USA http://taste.merlot.org
Tel: (800) 471-1045
National Science Digital Library (NSDL)
http://www.goenc.com
P.O. Box 3000
Gateway to 21st Century Skills Boulder, CO 80307 USA
Administered by the GEM Exchange Tel: (303) 497-2940
c/o JES & Co. http://nsdl.org
5151 East Broadway, Suite 1600
Public Library of Science
Tucson, AZ, 85711 USA
185 Berry Street, Suite 3100
Tel: (520) 881-3317
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA
http://www.thegateway.org
Tel: (415) 624-1200
Language Learning Environment and http://www.plos.org
Resource Network (LLEARN)
Suite 2301 - 4464 Markham Street
Victoria, British Columbia V8Z 7X8 Canada
Location Based
Tel: (250) 658-8238 Technologies
Toll Free: (866) 479-7627 Cadcorp Ltd.
http://www.llearn.net Sterling Court, Norton Road,
LESTER Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG1 2JY, UK
c/o Lisa Spiro, ETRAC, Fondren Library, MS Tel: +44 (0) 1438 747996
44, Rice University, P.O. Box 1892, http://www.cadcorp.com
Houston, TX 77005-1892USA Clark Labs
Tel: (713) 348-2954 Clark University
http://lester.rice.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx? 950 Main Street
tabindex=0&tabid=1 Worcester, MA 01610-1477 USA
LoLa Exchange Tel: (508) 793-7526
c/o Wesleyan University http://www.clarklabs.org
Wesleyan Station Earth Observation System
Middletown, CT 06459 USA University of Montana
http://www.lolaexchange.org c/o Jeff Crews
LORNET Research Network Tel: (406) 243 2644
TÉLUQ http://www.eoscenter.com/gis4mt/index.cf
100 Sherbrooke West, m
Montreal (Quebec) H2X 3P2 Canada ESRI
Tel: (514) 843-2015 Suite 300, 1 Corporate Place
http://www.lornet.org/eng/scientifiques.ht 55 Ferncroft Road
m Danvers, MA 01923 USA
LRC project Tel: (978) 777-4543
University of New South Wales http://www.esri.com
Sydney NSW 2052 Australia GeoCommunity
Tel: +61 2 9385 1000 c/o Qlinks Media Group
http://www.lrc3.unsw.edu.au:8010 1161 John Sims Pkwy E
Maricopa Center for Learning & Instruction Niceville, FL 32578
Maricopa Community Colleges Tel: (850) 897-1002
2411 West 14th Street http://www.geocomm.com

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 Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Tel: (614) 764-6000
Applications for Schools http://dublincore.org
c/o Mr. Tino Johansson
IMS
University of Helsinki, Dept. of Geography,
801 International Parkway
P.O. BOX 64 (Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2)
5th Floor, PMB #112
FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
Lake Mary, FL 32746 USA
Tel: +358 9 191 51045
Tel: 1 (407) 362-7783
http://www.edu.fi/english/page.asp?path=
Fax: 1 (407) 284-1265
500,5372,30670
http://www.imsglobal.org
Intergraph Corporation
P.O. Box 240000
Huntsville, AL 35824 USA
Mobile Technologies
Tel: (256) 730-2000 HandLeR Project
http://www.intergraph.com Education Technology Research Group
Electronic, Electrical and Computer
MapInfo
Engineering, University of Birmingham
One Global View
B15 2TT United Kingdom
Troy, NY 12180 USA
http://www.eee.bham.ac.uk/handler/defaul
Tel: (518) 285-6000
t.asp
http://www.mapinfo.com
KLIV project
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
c/o Stockholm Challenge
3101 Valley Life Sciences Building
DSV, Forum 100
University of California
SE 164 40 Kista Sweden
Berkeley, CA 94720-3160 USA
http://www.stockholmchallenge.se
http://mvz.berkeley.edu
Knowledge Pulse
PanGo Networks, Inc.
Leopoldskronstraße 30
959 Concord Street, Suite 100
5020 Salzburg, Austria
Framingham, MA 01701 USA
http://www.knowledgepulse.com
Tel: (508) 626-8900
http://www.pangonetworks.com MOBILearn
c/o Dr. Giancarlo Bo
Science Museum of Minnesota
GIUNTI Interactive Labs
120 West Kellogg Boulevard
Tel: +39-0185-42123
Saint Paul, MN 55102 USA
http://www.mobilearn.org/
Tel: (651) 221-9423
http://www.smm.org Spotlight Mobile, Inc.
17 SE 3rd Avenue, Suite 501
Portland, Oregon 97214 USA
Metadata, Ontologies and Tel: (503) 224-1630
Taxonomies Fax: (503) 231-8425
Cancore http://spotlight-mobile.com
Norm Friesen, Director
14083 Blackburn Ave Natural Language
White Rock BC, V4B 2Z6 Canada
Tel: (604) 535-6243
Processing
http://www.cancore.ca American Association for Artificial
Intelligence (AAAI)
CETIS Metadata and Digital Repositories
445 Burgess Drive, Suite 100
University of Bolton
Menlo Park, California 94025 USA
Deane Road
Tel: (650) 328-3123
Bolton , BL3 5AB UK
http://www.aaai.org/aitopics/html/natlang.
http://metadata.cetis.ac.uk/guides
html
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative
ELSNET
OCLC Online Computer Library Center,
Trans 10, 3512 JK UTRECHT
6565 Frantz Road
The Netherlands
Dublin, Ohio 43017-3395 USA

244 © Brandon Hall Research

Tel: +31 30 253 6050 Victoria, British Columbia V8Z 7X8 Canada
http://www.elsnet.org Tel: (250) 658-8238
Toll Free: (866) 479-7627
Lexxe Pty Ltd
http://www.llearn.net
PO Box 235, Concord NSW 2137 Australia
Tel: +61 2 8765 1108 LOCKSS
http://www.lexxe.com c/o Victoria Reich, Director
Tel: (650) 725-1134
Linguistic Data Consortium
http://www.lockss.org/lockss/Home
3600 Market Street
Overnet
Suite 810
45 W 21th St #6D
Philadelphia, PA, 19104-2653, USA
New York, NY, 10010 USA
Tel: (215) 898-0464
http://www.overnet.com
http://www.ldc.upenn.edu
MoveDigital, Inc.
TCC Division Cognitive and Communication
947 Ilima Way
Technologies
Palo Alto, CA 94306 USA
Via Sommarive, 18 I-38050
Tel: (650) 331-0244
Povo-Trento, Italy
Fax: (650) 384-0002
http://tcc.itc.it
http://www.movedigital.com
Seti@Home
Peer-to-Peer Technologies SETI Institute
Advanced Reality Inc. 515 N. Whisman Road
3000 Richmond Rive Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
Houston, TX 77098 USA Tel: (650) 961-6633
Tel: (713) 333-1724 http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9M
http://www.advancedreality.com MIsE&b=179086
Groove Networks, Inc.
100 Cummings Center Personal Learning
Suite 535Q Environments
Beverly, MA 01915
Tel: (978) 720-2000 CETIS
Fax: (978) 720-2001 c/o Prof. Oleg Liber
http://www.groove.net University of Bolton, Deane Rd,
Bolton BL3 5AB UK
internet2.edu Tel: 01204 903660
1000 Oakbrook Drive, Suite 300, http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/ple
Ann Arbor MI 48104 USA
Tel: (734) 913-4250
http://p2p.internet2.edu Personalization
jxta Asian Art Museum
c/o Sun Microsystems, Inc. 200 Larkin Street
4150 Network Circle San Francisco, CA 94102 USA
Santa Clara, CA 95054 Tel: (415) 581-3500
Tel: (650) 960-1300 http://www.asianart.org
http://www.sun.com/software/jxta ELENA
KLIV c/o Barbara Kieslinger - Project Coordinator
c/o Stockholm Challenge CSI - Centre for Social Innovation
DSV, Forum 100 Linke Wienzeile 246, 1st Floor
SE 164 40 Kista Sweden A - 1150 Wien
Fax: +46 8 594 400 06 Tel: +43 1 495 04 42 31
http://www.stockholmchallenge.se http://www.elena-project.org
Language Learning Environment and National Museum of Ethnology
Resource Network (LLEARN) Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde
Suite 2301 - 4464 Markham Street Postbus 212, 2300 AE Leiden
The Netherlands

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 Tel: +31 (0)71-5168800 Slate Hill, New York 10973 USA
http://www.rmv.nl http://www.teach-nology.com
Virtual Museum of Canada The Training Registry
15 Eddy Street, 15-4-A Tel: (919) 847-0331
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0M5 Canada http://www.trainingregistry.com
Tel: 1 (819) 994-1200
World Wide Learn
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca
Suite 100, Box 172
1039 - 17th Avenue SW
Portals Calgary, Alberta, T2T 0B2 Canada
Tel: (403) 802-6116
CyberU, Inc.
http://www.worldwidelearn.com
2850 Ocean Park Boulevard, Suite 225
Santa Monica, CA 90405 USA
Tel: (310) 752-0200 Presentation Tools
Fax: (310) 752-0199
Anystream Apreso
http://www.cyberu.com
Tel: (703) 450-7030
Elearningeuropa http://www.apreso.com
c/o Pau Education
Centra
Muntaner 262, 3º
c/o Saba
08021 Barcelona, ES
2400 Bridge Parkway
Tel: +34 93 367 04 00
Redwood Shores, CA 94065-1166 USA
http://www.elearningeuropa.info
Tel: (650) 581-2500
Element K http://www.saba.com
500 Canal View Boulevard
Elluminate Canada
Rochester, NY 14623 USA
Suite 304, 3016 5th Ave. NE
Tel: (585) 240-7500
Calgary, Alberta, T2A 6K4 Canada
http://www.elementk.com
Tel: (403) 204-7896
ExecuTrain
http://www.elluminate.com
2500 Northwinds Parkway, Suite 600
Alpharetta, Georgia 30004 USA Genesys Conferencing
Tel: (770) 667-7700 Tel: (303) 267-1059
http://www.executrain.com http://www.genesys.com
ProQuest iCampus
789 E. Eisenhower Parkway Tel : (617) 253-5856
P.O. Box 1346 http://icampus.mit.edu
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 USA
Tel: 34 761-4700 ext. 3333 Liberty Science Center
http://www.proquest.com 251 Phillip Street
Liberty State Park
SharePoint Jersey City, NJ 07305 USA
c/o Microsoft Corporation Tel: (201) 200-1000
One Microsoft Way http://www.lsc.org
Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA
Tel: (800) 642-7676 Macromedia, Inc.
www.microsoft.com 601 Townsend Street
San Francisco, CA 94103 USA
Saba Tel: (415) 832-2000
2400 Bridge Parkway Fax: (415) 832-2020
Redwood Shores, CA 94065-1166 USA http://www.macromedia.com
Tel: (650) 581-2500
http://www.saba.com Presentations.com
50 S. Ninth St.
Teachnology, Incorporated: Consulting Minneapolis, MN 55402 USA
Services Tel: 612.333.6526
County Route 93 http://www.presentations.com/presentatio
ns/index.jsp

246 © Brandon Hall Research

Virtual Classroom Norman, OK 73069 USA
c/o Hewlett-Packard Company Tel: (405) 579-4609
3000 Hanover Street http://www.botball.org
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1185 USA
Euron
Tel: (650) 857-1501
c/o Prof. Henrik I Christensen,
Fax: (650) 857-5518
Centre for Autonmous Systems,
http://www.hp.com/halo/index.html
Numerical Analysis and Computer Science,
Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan,
Rapid e-learning Tools SE-100 44 Stockholm, SWEDEN.
Tel: (+46) 8 790 6792
Articulate
http://www.euron.org
244 5th Avenue Suite 2960
New York, NY 10001 Evolution Robotics, Inc.
Tel: 1 (800) 861-4880 130 W. Union St.
www.articulate.com Pasadena, CA 91103 USA
Tel: (626) 229-3199
Raptivity
http://www.evolution.com
P. O. Box 2827, Redmond, WA 98073 USA
Tel: (425) 861-8400 General Robotics Corporation
http://www.raptivity.com 760 South Youngfield Court
Lakewood, Colorado 80228-2813 USA
ReadyGo Inc.
Tel: 1 (303) 988-5636
1761 Pilgrim Avenue
http://www.generalrobotics.com
Mountain View, CA 94040, USA
Tel: (650) 559-8990 Intelligent Robotics Laboratory
Fax: (650) 559-5950 2-1 Yamada-oka Suita
http://www.readygo.com Osaka 565-0871 Japan
Tel: +81-6-6879-4180
Scate Technologies
http://www.ed.ams.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
40 Engelwood Dr., Suite B
Orion, Michigan, USA 48359 Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration
Tel: 248-371-0315 55 Coogan Blvd
http://www.scate.com Mystic, CT 06355-1997 USA
Tel: (860) 572-5955
Robotics Fax: (860) 572-5969
http://www.ife.org
Active Robots Limited
10A New Rock Industrial Estate NASA Robotics Alliance Project
New Rock, Chilcompton, Radstock c/o Cassie Bowman, Deputy Coordinator
Somerset, BA3 4JE United Kingdom Tel: (650) 269-2787
Tel: +44 (0)1761 239 267 http://robotics.nasa.gov
http://www.active-robots.com Robotics Academy
ATR Intelligent Robotics and The National Robotics Engineering
Communication Laboratories Consortium
2-2-2 Hikaridai Keihanna Science City Carnegie Mellon University, Ten 40th Street
Kyoto 619-0288 JAPAN Pittsburgh, PA 15201 USA
Tel: +81-774-95-1405 Tel: (412) 681-7160
http://www.irc.atr.jp Fax: (412) 681-696
http://www-education.rec.ri.cmu.edu
Australian Antarctic Division
Channel Highway, Kingston Tasmania 7050 Woods Hole Marine Systems, Inc. (WHMSI)
Australia PO Box 164 Woods Hole
Tel: +61 3 6232 3209 Massachusetts 02543 USA
http://www.aad.gov.au Tel: (508) 548-6665
Fax: (508) 540-1036
Botball http://www.whmsi.com
c/o KISS Institute for Practical Robotics
1818 W. Lindsey Bldg. D, Ste. 100

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 Search Engines
About.com
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036 USA
Tel: (212) 204-4000
http://www.about.com/
Alexa Internet
Presidio of San Francisco
Building 37 P.O. Box 29141
San Francisco, CA 94129-0141
Tel: (415) 561-6900
http://www.alexa.com
Ask.com Headquarters
555 12th Street, Suite 500
Oakland, CA 94607
Tel: (510) 985-7400
http://about.ask.com
Copernic
360 Franquet Street, Suite 60
Quebec, QC G1P 4N3 Canada
http://www.copernic.com
dmoz
AOL LLC
22000 AOL Way
Dulles, VA 20166 USA
Tel: (703) 265-1000
http://dmoz.org/
Dogpile
c/o InfoSpace, Inc.
601 108th Avenue NE
Suite 1200
Bellevue, WA 98004 USA
Tel: (425) 201.6100
http://www.dogpile.com
Exaclibur
c/o Convera
1921 Gallows Road Suite 200
Vienna, VA 22182
Tel: (703) 761-3700
http://www.convera.com
excite.com
IAC/InterActiveCorp
152 West 57th Street, 42nd Floor
New York, NY 10019 USA
Tel: (212) 314-7300
http://www.excite.com
FindLaw
610 Opperman Drive
Eagan, MN 55123 USA
Tel: (651) 687-7000
http://lawcrawler.findlaw.com
248
Google (including Froogle, Google, Google
Book Store and Google Scholar)
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
Tel: (650) 253-0000
http://www.google.com
Gada.be
6433 Topanga Canyon Blvd #210
Canoga Park, CA 91303 USA
Tel: (888) 472-0604
http://tagjag.com
Gigablast
Tel: (505) 797-3913
http://www.gigablast.com
Gnod, Gnoosic
c/o Marek Gibney, Scheideweg 39b
20253 Hamburg, Germany
Tel: 040-200 45 36
http://www.gnod.net/
Healthfinder
P.O. Box 1133
Washington, DC 20013-1133
http://www.healthfinder.gov
Ice Rocket
Tel: (214) 658-7161
http://www.icerocket.com
Info.com
150 North Michigan Avenue
Suite 2800, Chicago, Illinois 60601 USA
Tel: (312) 624-7727
http://www.info.com
Intute
MIMAS
Manchester Computing
The University of Manchester
Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL UK
Tel: 0161 275 0620
http://www.intute.ac.uk
Ixquick
Tel: +31 23 5325888
http://www.ixquick.com/
KartOO
Tel: +33 4 73 44 56 21
http://www.kartoo.net
Koders Inc.
831 3rd St #101
Santa Monica, CA 90403 USA
Tel: (800) 653-1423
http://www.koders.com
Krugle
Tel: (650) 853-1986
© Brandon Hall Research
http://www.krugle.com PubSub Concepts, Inc.
Lalisio GmbH 64 Fulton Street, Seventh Floor
Puschkinstraße 1 New York, NY 10038
99084 Erfurt Germany Tel: (212) 227-4101
http://www.lalisio.com http://www.pubsub.com
Lexxe Pty Ltd QBIC
PO Box 235, Concord NSW 2137 Australia c/o IBM
Tel: +61 2 8765 1108 1133 Westchester Avenue
http://www.lexxe.com White Plains, New York 10604 USA
Tel: (800) 426-4968
LitLinker
http://wwwqbic.almaden.ibm.com
c/o ACM, One Astor Plaza
1515 Broadway, 17th Floor Qube
New York, New York 10036-5701 USA c/o Qelix Technologies
Tel: (212) 869-7440 St. Mary Apts, 6th Flr.,
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=10 Nesbit Rd, Mazgaon,, Mumbai 10, INDIA.
56808.1057022 Tel: (022) 2371-2194
http://qube.qelix.com/v2/index.htm
LookSmart, Ltd.
625 Second Street Raw Sugar
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA 1900 Embarcadero Road, Suite 211
Tel: (415) 348-7000 Palo Alto , CA 94303 USA
http://search.looksmart.com Tel: (650) 354-1360
http://www.rawsugar.com
Metacrawler
c/o InfoSpace, Inc. RetrievalWare
601 108th Avenue NE, Suite 1200 c/o Convera
Bellevue, WA 98004 USA 1921 Gallows Road Suite 200
Tel: (425) 201-6100 Vienna, VA 22182
http://www.metacrawler.com Tel: (703) 761-3700
http://www.convera.com
Mooter Media Limited
PO Box 5159, West Chatswood SearchKing, Inc.
NSW 1515 Australia 2400 N.W. 23rd
Tel: +61 2 9325 5900 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73107 USA
http://www.mooter.com/ Tell: (405) 231-1911
http://www.searchking.com
MSN Search
One Microsoft Way Seekport Internet Technologies GmbH
Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA Fraunhoferstraße 17
Tel: (800) 642-7676 D - 82152 Martinsried
http://search.msn.com/ http://www.seekport.biz
Netscape
Truveo, Inc.
AOL LLC, 22000 AOL Way
An AOL Company
Dulles, VA 20166 USA
333 Bush Street, 23rd Floor
Tel: (703) 265-1000
San Francisco, CA 94104
http://www.netscape.com
Tel: (415) 844-9000
Pandora Media, Inc. http://www.truveo.com
360 22nd Street, Suite 390
Technorati
Oakland CA 94612 USA
665 3rd Street, Suite 207
Tel: (510) 451-4100
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA
http://www.pandora.com
Tel: (415) 896-3000
Proteus Project http://www.technorati.com
715 Broadway, 7th floor,
VisualSEEK
New York, NY 10003, USA
Department of Electrical Engineering
Tel: (212) 998-3497
Columbia University
http://nlp.cs.nyu.edu/
1312 S.W. Mudd 500 West 120th Street

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 New York, NY 10027 Assima Ltd.
Tel: (212) 854-3105 10 Old Bailey, EC4M 7NG
http://www.ee.columbia.edu/dvmm/resear London, United Kingdom
chProjects/MultimediaIndexing/VisualSEEk Tel: +44 (0)207 038 1702
/VisualSEEk.htm http://www.assima.net
Yahoo! Inc. Biographix
701 First Avenue 1st Canadian Place
Sunnyvale, CA 94089 USA 100 King Street West
Tel: (408) 349-3300 Toronto, Ontario, M5X 1C9 Canada
Products: Altavista, Yahoo Tel: (416) 516-0071
http://www.yahoo.com http://www.biographix.com
Zoom Information Inc. Captivate
307 Waverley Oaks Road c/o Macromedia, Inc.
Waltham, MA 02452 USA 601 Townsend Street
Tel: (781) 693-7500 San Francisco, CA 94103USA
http://www.zoominfo.com Tel: (415) 832-2000
http://www.macromedia.com
Semantic Web Experience Builders LLC
836 Custer Avenue
ELENA
Evanston, Illinois 60202 USA
c/o Barbara Kieslinger - Project Coordinator
Tel: (847) 475-4400
CSI - Centre for Social Innovation
http://www.experiencebuilders.com
Linke Wienzeile 246, 1st Floor
A - 1150 Vienna Flash
Tel: +43 1 495 04 42 31 c/o Macromedia, Inc.
http://www.elena-project.org 601 Townsend Street
San Francisco, CA 94103 USA
IBM Integrated Ontology Development
Tel: (415) 832-2000
Toolkit
http://www.macromedia.com
1133 Westchester Avenue
White Plains, New York 10604 USA Forio Business Simulations
Tel: (800) 426-4968 365 Brannan Street
http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/sem San Francisco, CA 94107 USA
anticstk Tel: (415) 440-7500
http://www.forio.com
Personal Reader
c/o Nicola Henze Intermezzon
ISI - AG Semantic Web Box 173 SE-402 26
Appelstrasse 4 G öteborg, Sweden
30167 Germany Tel: +46 (0) 31-40 84 50
Tel: +49-511-762-19716 http://www.intermezzon.com
http://www.personal-reader.de
Kaplan IT Learning
Semantic Computing Research Group 250 South Oak Way, GreenPark
c/o Docent, Professor Reading, Berkshire RG2 6UG
Tel: +358 9 451 3362 United Kingdom
http://www.seco.tkk.fi Tel: +44 (0) 118 921 2070
http://www.stt-global.com/
Simulation Tools Knowledge Quest
Access Technologies Group 301 Forest Avenue
P.O. Box 1558 Laguna Beach, CA 92651
New Canaan, CT 0684 USA Tel: (949) 376-8150
Tel: (203) 966-8572 http://www.knowledgequest.com
http://www.atghome.com Knowledge Planet
5095 Ritter Road, Suite 112
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 USA

250 © Brandon Hall Research

Tel: (717) 790-0400 SimCorder
http://www.knowledgeplanet.com c/o TEDS Inc.
Tel: (276) 783-6991
KnowledgePresenter
http://www.teds.com
c/o GeoMetrix Data Systems
240 Bay Street Softsim
Victoria, BC V9A 3K5 Canada Outstart Studio, 3 Bunhill Row
Tel: (250) 361-9497 London EC1Y 8YZ UK
http://www.knowledgepresenter.com Tel: +44 (0) 20 7847 4087
http://www.outstart.com
Knowledge Director Pte Ltd
88 Joo Chiat Road Levels 3 and 4 Stagecast Software, Inc.
Singapore 427382 1325 Howard Avenue #705
Main Line: +65 63444 765 / 63444 903 Burlingame, CA 94010-4212 USA
http://www.knowledge-director.com Tel: (650) 599-0399
http://www.stagecast.com
MASIE Center, Inc.
PO Box 397 STT Trainer
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 – USA c/o Kaplan IT Learning
Tel: (518) 350-2216 500 Northridge Road, Suite 240
http://www.learning2005.com/learnland Atlanta, GA 30350 USA
Tel : (678) 277-3231
Muzzy Lane Software
http://www.stt-global.com
44 Merrimac St.
Newburyport, MA 01950 USA Tactic!
Tel: (978) 499-9099 c/o EDU-PERFORMANCE CANADA
http://www.muzzylane.com 7900 Boul. Taschereau Ouest, Suite A-207
Brossard, Québec, J4X 1C2 Canada
NexLearn, LLC
Tel: (450) 466-7275
100 South Main Street, Suite 300
http://www.eduperformance.com/English/t
Wichita, Kansas 67202 USA
6essai.html
Tel: (316) 265-2170
http://www.nexlearn.com Viewlet Builder
c/o Qarbon, 55 South Market St., Suite
NOAA/ESRL
1550
325 Broadway
San Jose, CA 95113 USA
Boulder, CO 80305-3328 USA
Tel: (408) 907-4800
Tel: (303) 497-5487
http://www.qarbon.com
http://www.fsl.noaa.gov
Visual Course Builder
RapidBuilder
c/o MaxIT Corporation
c/o XStream Software, Inc.
2771-29 Monument Road MS-355
2280 St. Laurent Blvd., Suite 200
Jacksonville, FL 32225 USA
Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 4K1 Canada
Tel: (904) 998-9520
Tel: (613) 731-9443
http://www.maxit.com
http://www.xstreamsoftware.com
Virtual Control Room
SimAgent TOOLKIT
c/o Jørgen Bøegh, ASH Project Manager
School of Computer Science,
DELTA Danish Electronics, Light &
The University of Birmingham
Acoustics, Venlighedsvej 4 DK-2970
Birmingham, B15 2TT, England
Hørsholm, Denmark
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projec
Tel: +45 72 19 43 97
ts/poplog/packages/simagent.html
http://www.virtualcontrolroom.org
SimBionic
Wizard Training Suite
c/o Stottler Henke
c/o Assima, 1821 Walden Office Square,
951 Mariner's Island Blvd., Suite 360
Suite 400, Schaumburg, IL 60173 USA
San Mateo, CA , 94404 USA
Tel: (800) 608-5373
Tel: +1 (650) 931-2700
http://www.assima.net
http://www.stottlerhenke.com/products

Do not reproduce 251

 Smart Labels and Tags San Francisco, CA 94107 USA
Tel: (415) 848-2468
Checkpoint Systems, Inc. http://www.rojo.com
101 Wolf Drive, Thorofare, NJ 08086
Tel: (856) 848-1800 Shadows
http://www.checkpointsystems.com c/o Pluck Corporation
720 Brazos St., Suite 900
Visualization and Interactive Spaces Lab Austin, TX 78701 USA
c/o Pervasive Technology Labs Tel: (512) 457-5220
501 N. Morton Street, Suite 224 http://www.shadows.com
Bloomington, IN 47404 USA Spurl ehf.
Tel: (812) 855-4810 Klapparstigur 28
http://vis.iu.edu/index.shtml?prim=lab_ove IS-101 Reykjavik, Iceland
rview Tel: +354 860 3800
http://www.spurl.net
Social Bookmarking Tabblo
del.icio.us c/o Yahoo! Inc. 810 Memorial Dr
701 First Ave Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
Sunnyvale, CA 94089 USA http://tabblo.com
http://del.icio.us Tagzania
Eventful c/o CodeSyntax
c/o EVDB, Inc Azitaingo Industrialdea 3K
9191 Towne Centre Drive, Suite 125 E-20600 EIBAR
San Diego, California 92122 USA Tel: (+34) 943 82 17 80
Tel: (858) 964-0697 http://www.tagzania.com
http://eventful.com Zvents
FURL 2108 Sand Hill Rd.
c/o LookSmart, Ltd., 625 Second Street Menlo Park, CA, 94025 USA
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA Tel: (650) 234-9629
Tel: (415) 348-7000 http://www.zvents.com
http://www.furl.net
Jots Social Networking Tools
c/o VPOP Technologies, Inc.
1772J Avenida de los Arboles PMB #374 Analytic Technologies
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362 USA P.O. Box 920089
Tel: (805) 529-9374 Needham, MA 02492 USA
http://jots.com/ Tel: +1 (781) 453-7372
http://www.analytictech.com
mag.nolia
Tel: (415) 364-0070 Classmates Online, Inc.
http://ma.gnolia.com 2001 Lind Ave. SW, Suite 500
Renton, WA 98055 USA
Netscape http://www.classmates.com
c/o AOL LLC
22000 AOL Way Friendster, Inc.
Dulles, VA 20166 USA 568 Howard Street
Tel: (703) 265-1000 San Francisco, CA 94105 USA
http://www.netscape.com http://www.friendster.com
Social Software Alliance
Network c/o Social Text, 655 High Street
c/o The TechnoCentre, Puma Way Palo Alto, California 94301
Coventry CV1 2TT United Kingdom Tel: (650) 323-0800
Tel: (+44) 024 7623 6891 http://www.socialtext.net/ssa
http://www.networkltd.eu
SocioSite
Rojo Networks, Inc. c/o Albert Benschop
795 Folsom St., First Floor Nieuwe Jonkerstraat 16

252 © Brandon Hall Research

1011 CM Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0) 612120759
http://www.sociosite.net
Sparta Social Networks, LLC
15 Skehan Street
Somerville, MA 02143 USA
Tel: (617) 921-0185
http://www.spartasocialnetworks.com
Telepresence Technologies
Advanced Network & Services
2600 South Road, Suite 44-193
Poughkeepsie , New York, 12601 USA
Tel: (845) 795-2090
http://www.advanced.org
Fakespace
11 E. Church Street, 4th Floor
Marshalltown, Iowa 50158-5011 USA
Tel: (641) 754-4649
http://www.fakespace.com
Halo
c/o Hewlett-Packard Company
3000 Hanover Street
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1185 USA
Tel: (650) 857-1501
http://www.hp.com/halo/index.html
Jabber Software Foundation
P.O. Box 1641
Denver, CO 80201-1641 USA
http://www.jabber.org
PERCRO
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
Via Rinaldo Piaggio, 34
56025 Pontedera (PI) - Italy
Tel: +39 050 883 287
http://www.percro.org
Video
DFILM
7095 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 1001
Los Angeles, CA 90028 USA
http://www.dfilm.com
BitTorrent
201 Mission Street, Suite 900
San Francisco, CA 94105 USA
http://www.bittorrent.com
Brightcove, Inc.
One Cambridge Center
Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
Tel: (617) 500-4947
http://www.brightcove.com
Do not reproduce
iTunes
Apple Computer, Inc
1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA 95014
Tel: (408) 996-1010
http://www.apple.com
Jabber Software Foundation
P.O. Box 1641
Denver, CO 80201-1641 USA
http://www.jabber.org
PERCRO
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
Via Rinaldo Piaggio, 34
56025 Pontedera (PI) - Italy
Tel: +39 050 883 287
http://www.percro.org
Veoh Networks, Inc.
7220 Trade Street, Suite 115
San Diego, CA 92121 USA
http://www.veoh.com
XstreamEngine2
c/o Winnov L.P
3285 Scott Boulevard
Santa Clara, CA 95054-3014 USA
Tel: (408) 207-4400
http://www.xstreamengine.com
Virtual Reality
Activeworlds Inc.
95 Parker Street
Newburyport, MA 01950 USA
Tel: (978) 499-0222
http://www.activeworlds.com
Erg Netz
Institut für Arbeitsphysiologie
an der Universität Dortmund (IfADo)
Ardeystrasse 67, D-44139
Dortmund Germany
Tel: +49 (231) 1084-303
http://www.ergonetz.de
Futurelab
1 Canons Road
Harbourside, Bristol BS1 5UH
Tel: 44 (0)117 915 8200
http://www.futurelab.org.uk
Human Performance Center (HPC) Spider
Commanding Officer: CAPT Matt Peters
2025 Tartar Avenue
Virginia Beach, VA 23461-1924
https://www.spider.hpc.navy.mil
Information in Place
Indiana University Research Park
253
 501 North Morton Street, Suite 206 Tel: 1 (801) 495-1777
Bloomington, IN 47404 USA http://www.daz3d.com
Tel: (812) 856-4202
ESRI
http://www.informationinplace.com
Suite 300, 1 Corporate Place
Intuition 55 Ferncroft Road, Danvers, MA 01923 USA
9, Irron Politechniou str Tel: (978) 777-4543
GR-157 73 Zografou, Athens-Greece http://www.esri.com
Tel: +30 210 7721663
FeedTank
http://www.intuition-eunetwork.net
590 Grand St., Suite 3
Virtual Reality Lab Brooklyn, NY 11211 USA
EPFL, IC ISIM VRLAB, Station 14 Tel: (718) 384-2202
CH-1015 LAUSANNE, Switzerland http://www.feedtank.com
Tel: +41-21-693-5215 Formz
http://vrlab.epfl.ch 2011 Riverside Drive,
Columbus, OH 43221 USA
Virtual Reality and Education Laboratory
Tel: (614) 488-8838
College of Education, East Carolina
http://www.formz.com
University
Tel: (252) 328-6621 Golden Software, Inc.
http://vr.coe.ecu.edu/vrel.htm 809 14th Street, Golden,
Colorado 80401-1866 USA
Tel: (303) 279-1021
Visualization Technologies http://www.golden.com
Accurender
HCIL/UMIACS
c/o Robert McNeel & Associates
University of Maryland
3670 Woodland Park Ave N
A.V. Williams Building
Seattle, WA 98103 USA
College Park, MD 20742 USA
Sales Tel: (206) 545-7000
Tel: (301) 405-2769
http://www.accurender.com/
http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/millionvis/
ADVIZOR Solutions, Inc.
HP Visual and Spatial Technology Centre
1333 Butterfield Rd. Suite 280
Metallurgy and Materials Building
Downers Grove, IL 60515 USA
University of Birmingham
Tel: (630) 971-5250
Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT
http://www.advizorsolutions.com
Tel: +44 (0)121 414 5513
Ambient Devices http://www.vista.bham.ac.uk/
One Broadway 14th Floor
iDashboards
Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
5750 New King Street, Suite 110
Tel: (617) 758-4129
Troy, MI 48098 USA
http://www.ambientdevices.com
Tel: (248) 952-0840
CenterView http://www.idashboards.com/
c/o CORDA Technologies, Inc.
Intergraph Corporation
350 South 400 West, Suite 100
P.O. Box 240000
Lindon, UT 84042
Huntsville, AL 35824
Tel: (801) 805-9400
Tel: (256) 730-2000
http://www.corda.com
http://www.intergraph.com/
CSXcelsius
MapInfo
10509 Vista Sorrento Parkway, Suite 317
One Global View, Troy, NY 12180 USA
San Diego, CA 92121 USA
Tel: (518) 285-6000
Tel: (866) 437-2171
http://www.mapinfo.com
http://www.xcelsius.com
Mapland
DAZ3D
c/o Software Illustrated
12637 South 265 West #300,
P.O. Box 884, Tracy, CA 95378 USA
Draper, UT 84020 USA

254 © Brandon Hall Research

Tel: (209) 832-7353
http://www.softill.com
Music Animation Machine
Post Office Box 13622
Berkeley, CA 94712 USA
http://www.musanim.com
Okino Computer Graphics
3397 American Drive, Unit # 1
Mississauga, Ontario L4V 1T8, Canada
Tel: (905) 672-9328
http://www.okino.com
Ontopia AS
Waldemar Thranes gate 98
N-0175 Oslo, Norway
Tel: +47 23 23 30 80
http://www.ontopia.net
Pixologic, Inc.
320 West 31st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90007 USA
Tel: (888) 748-5967
http://www.pixologic.com
Spotfire, U.S.
212 Elm Street
Somerville, MA 02144
Tel: +1 (617) 702-1600
http://www.spotfire.com
Top Tier
Tel: (415) 225-5840
http://www.mccrackendesign.com
Topzone
c/o Maps a la carte, Inc.
73 Princeton Street, Suite 305
North Chelmsford, MA 01863 USA
http://www.topozone.com
Unified Field, Inc.
3 East 28th St, 9th floor
New York, NY 10016 USA
Tel: (212) 532-9595
http://www.unifiedfield.com
VIBE
c/o Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA
Tel: (800) 642-7676
http://research.microsoft.com
Vicodi
Edvins Snore, RIDemo
Brivibas 183, Riga, LV-1012 LATVIA
Tel: +371-7-378155
http://www.vicodi.org
Do not reproduce
Visual Analytics Inc.
20010 Fisher Avenue, 2nd Floor
Poolesville, MD 20837
Tel: (301) 407-2200
http://www.visualanalytics.com
Visible Human Project
c/o Reference and Web Services
National Library of Medicine
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20894 USA
Tel: (301) 594-5983
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/vi
sible_human.html
Visual Thesaurus
c/o THINKMAP, Inc.
155 Spring Street, Suite 3A
New York, NY 10012 USA
http://www.visualthesaurus.com
VRVis Research Center for Virtual Reality
and Visualization, Ltd.
Donau-City-Strasse 1, A-1220 Vienna,
Austria
Tel: +43(1)20501 30100
http://www.vrvis.at
Vizserver
c/o Inxight Software, Inc.
500 Macara Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94085 USA
Tel: (408) 738-6200
Fax: (408) 738-6203
http://www.inxight.com
VoIP and Telephony
Skype Technologies
2 Stephen Street
London, W1T 1AN United Kingdom
http://www.skype.com
JAJAH Inc.
2513 Charleston Road, Suite 102
Mountain View, California, 94043 USA
http://www.jajah.com
Wearable Computing
SportBrain Holdings Inc.
869 97th Ave N, Unit A2
Naples, FL 34108 USA
http://www.sportbrain.com
Wearable Cumputing Lab
ETH Zentrum, ETZ H
Electronics Lab, Gloriastrasse 35
CH-8092 Zurich
255
 Fax: +41-1-632 12 10
http://www.wearable.ethz.ch
Web Feeds
Attensa, Inc.
111 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 2260
Portland, OR 97204 USA
Tel: (503) 973-6060
http://www.attensa.com
Bloglines
655 Technology Parkway, Suite 100
Campbell, CA 95008 USA
http://www.bloglines.com
Brightcove, Inc.
One Cambridge Center
Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
Tel: (617) 500-4947
http://www.brightcove.com
FeedBeep
c/o Santa Cruz Tech, 303 Potrero #40E
Santa Cruz CA 95060 USA
Tel: (877) 742-7786
http://feedbeep.com
FeedBurner World Headquarters
549 W Randolph, 6th Floor
Chicago IL 60661 USA
Tel: (312) 756-0022
http://www.feedburner.com
FeedForAll
PO Box 296, Hanover, MA 02339 USA
Tel: (781) 829-0500
http://www.feedforall.com
Feedreader / i-Systems Inc.
Valdeku 100, Tallinn,
11211, Estonia
http://www.feedreader.com
Feedscoute
c/o Bytescout, Pacific Business Centre
#101 - 1001 W. Broadway, Suite 381
Vancouver, BC V6H 4E4 Canada
http://bytescout.com
Feedster, Inc.
116 New Montgomery Street, Suite 605
San Francisco, CA 94105 USA
Tel: (415) 348-9119
http://www.feedster.com
Onfolio
Four Cambridge Center, 3rd Floor
Cambridge, MA 02142-1406 USA
Tel: (617) 679-0909
http://www.onfolio.com
256
Pluck Corporation
720 Brazos St., Suite 900
Austin, TX 78701 USA
Tel: (512) 457-5220
http://www.pluck.com
PubSub Concepts, Inc.
64 Fulton Street, Seventh Floor
New York, NY 10038 USA
Tel: (212) 227-4101
http://www.pubsub.com
Rojo Networks, Inc.
795 Folsom St., First Floor, San Francisco,
CA 94107
Tel: (415) 848-2468
http://www.rojo.com
RSS Reader
c/o Ykoon B.V., Kruisstraat 2
2312 BH Leiden, Nederland
Tel: +31.715135858
http://www.rssreader.com
StepNewz
c/o Feedzilla, Coldbrook Business Corp.
Rue Guillaume-Tell 10, P.O Box 1909
CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland
http://www.feedzilla.com
Thunderlizard
c/o Mozilla Corporation
1981 Landings Drive, Building K
Mountain View, CA 94043-0801 USA
http://www.mozilla.com
Windows Live
c/o Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA
Tel: (800) 642-7676
http://research.microsoft.com
Wiki Tools
Wikimedia Foundation Inc.
200 2nd Ave. South #358
St. Petersburg, FL 33701-431 USA
Tel: (727) 231-0101
http://wikimediafoundation.org
JotSpot, Inc.
167 Hamilton Ave, 2nd Floor
Palo Alto, CA 94301 USA
Tel: (650) 323-3225
http://www.jot.com
Socialtext
655 High Street
Palo Alto, California 94301 USA
© Brandon Hall Research
Tel: +1 (650) 323-0800
http://www.socialtext.com

Do not reproduce 257

258 © Brandon Hall Research
Index
3-D graphics, 20, 21, 22, 46, 47, 52, 57,
89, 93, 100, 101, 103, 109, 110, 121,
169, 170, 171, 193, 197, 198, 199, 201
Adaptive systems, 15, 16, 27, 29, 36, 39,
50, 84
Adobe, 21, 44, 45, 46, 69, 100, 170, 219,
223, 238
Advantages of e-learning, 4, 5, 35, 59, 137,
174, 180, 193, 196, 216
Affective computing, 11, 12, 13, 35, 97,
218
Agents, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, 25, 28, 85, 165
Air display, 88
Aircraft Industry CBT Committee (AICC), 6,
49
AJAX, 122
Ambient computing, 7, 121, 127, 141, 205
Animation, 20, 21, 22, 47, 52, 100, 101,
171, 199
Architectures, 4, 5, 8, 34, 63, 65, 109, 127,
128, 140, 180
Artificial Intelligence, 15, 18, 23, 24, 25,
26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 85, 97, 132,
139
assessment, 90
Assessment, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 48,
78, 91, 95, 127, 145, 156, 172
Audio, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 50, 65, 66,
67, 69, 70, 116, 128, 146, 148, 159,
161, 162, 178, 181, 190, 191, 203, 209
Augmented reality, 144, 184, 193, 194,
195
Authoring tools, 21, 26, 27, 36, 45, 46, 47,
48, 49, 50, 80, 93, 94, 170, 171, 197,
226
Authorware, 45
Avatars, 15, 52, 53
barcodes, 174
Bayesian probability, 18, 23, 26, 29, 85
Blogs, educational, 27, 43, 50, 54, 55, 56,
57, 65, 74, 80, 81, 89, 91, 112, 116,
117, 118, 123, 125, 129, 130, 137,
Do not reproduce
138, 146, 159, 160, 176, 177, 180,
181, 184, 189, 190, 191, 196, 200,
203, 207, 208, 209, 211, 212
Boolean searches, 158
Brandon Hall Research, 2, 45, 50, 51, 90,
110, 112, 149, 153, 169, 180, 189,
196, 209, 211
Broadband, 42, 192
Browsers, 21, 46, 48, 50, 57, 58, 64, 66,
67, 70, 74, 139, 170, 176
Cell phones, 74, 93, 119, 127, 174, 189,
191, 207
Classroom response systems, 59, 60
Clickers, 59, 60
Cognition, 23, 24, 27, 28, 35, 93, 94, 114,
140, 196, 201
cognitive collage, 196
cognitive maps, 196
collaboration, 24, 63, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71,
72, 74, 84, 93, 113, 122, 125, 127,
136, 145, 159, 160, 165, 176, 177,
193, 194, 203, 211, 217
Collaboration, 4, 46, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67,
68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 85, 91, 109, 122,
135, 137, 146, 149, 150, 158, 160,
165, 177, 179, 180, 193, 194, 211,
231, 233
Collaborative writing wiki, 211
Communications Tools, 39, 63, 66, 67, 74,
75, 122, 165, 190, 203, 209, 215
Communities of practice, 145, 180
Competency Tracking, 77, 78, 79
Complexity theory, 83, 128, 170, 196, 216
Computer based assessment, 35
Content management, 69, 80, 81, 112, 145
Conversational learning, 16, 74, 127
Cooperation, 18, 72, 88
cybercartography, 196
Dashboards, 198
Data mining, 23, 24, 82, 83, 84, 86, 158
259
 Decision support systems, 26, 84, 85, 86 Geocaching, 119
Deep Web, 158 Geographic Information System (GIS), 119,
120, 121, 196, 243
Design, 4, 6, 11, 13, 17, 26, 27, 34, 37, 45,
47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 58, 70, 74, 80, 88, Geographic Positioning System (GPS), 119,
94, 100, 106, 114, 116, 125, 137, 146, 199
152, 154, 173, 198, 199, 200, 201,
Gesture recogntion, 11, 16, 25, 89, 97, 98
202, 205, 206
GIF graphic format, 20, 49
Digital Ink and Paper, 88, 89, 106, 107,
108, 216 Google, 54, 64, 74, 101, 119, 120, 158,
159, 160, 163, 164, 189, 190, 203,
Director, 45
210, 248
Displays, 5, 59, 60, 69, 88, 89, 106, 107,
graphics, 196
120, 151, 158, 162, 169, 176, 178,
180, 183, 193, 196, 197, 198, 199, 216 Graphics, 3, 20, 47, 48, 68, 100, 101, 103,
107, 110, 152, 193, 196, 197, 200, 201
Distributed systems, 5, 8, 63, 70, 80, 93,
109, 122, 123, 124, 127, 134, 141, Grid computing, 5, 9, 19, 80, 134, 165
176, 193, 194, 204
Handwriting recognition, 106
Dreamweaver, 45
Haptics, 97, 103, 104, 106
dynamic displays, 196
Head mounted displays, 88, 106
e-Commerce, 26
Healthcare applications, 37, 161, 162
Emotional design, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 24
History, 3, 42, 57, 86, 121, 139, 155, 158,
e-Portfolios, 7, 9, 35, 90, 91, 137, 184 162, 170, 187, 197, 214
e-Science, 167 Human-centered computing, 23
evaluation, 35, 90 Human-computer interaction (HCI), 13, 106,
205
Experiential learning, 169
Hybrid systems, 9, 25, 66, 80, 81, 122, 123
Expert systems, 23, 25, 85
Hype in e-learning, 166, 217
Extreme learning, 152, 153
images, 196
Facial recognition, 11, 16, 25, 97, 170
Immersive environments, 88, 103, 169,
Federated searches, 163
187, 193, 197, 239
Findability, 119
Individualization, 215
FireFox, 57
Informal learning, 9, 91, 158
Flash, 20, 21, 22, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52,
Informatics, 18, 23, 27, 184, 219
100, 149, 152, 154, 170, 196, 225, 250
Infrared tags, 59, 174, 175
Folksonomies, 124, 125, 179, 210
Innovation in e-Learning, 7, 57, 60, 63, 71,
formative assessment, 35
94, 109, 122, 175, 178, 196, 215, 217
Frameworks, e-learning, 4, 5, 8, 26, 33, 72,
Instant messaging, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69,
75, 78, 79, 93, 109, 110, 134, 156,
70, 74, 75, 127, 134, 146, 149, 186,
166, 201
187
FrontPage, 45
Intelligent tutoring, 11, 15, 16, 23, 24, 25,
Fuzzy Logic, 30, 83, 191 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 84,
85, 86, 114, 131, 132, 133, 139
Games, 4, 26, 49, 52, 88, 93, 94, 95, 119,
134, 153, 162, 169, 170, 172, 174,
180, 189, 193, 215, 216, 217, 238

260 © Brandon Hall Research

Interface devices, 21, 23, 47, 53, 54, 65, Meta-search engines, 158, 162, 163
70, 97, 98, 100, 106, 107, 109, 131,
Microformats, 165
134, 145, 161, 171, 174, 193, 196
Microlearning, 152, 153
Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), 189,
190, 191, 192, 215 Microsoft, 43, 45, 46, 47, 49, 57, 60, 63,
64, 65, 66, 68, 80, 93, 101, 107, 108,
Interoperability, 6, 35, 90, 114, 122, 124
120, 134, 145, 146, 199, 226, 233,
iPod, 42, 43, 190 234, 237, 238, 246, 249, 255, 256
Knowledge base wiki, 211 Microworlds, 95, 155, 156, 169, 171
Knowledge management, 54, 58, 125 M-learning, 127, 129, 130
Lab book wiki, 211 Mobile computing, 7, 107, 119, 121, 127,
128, 129, 130, 174, 191, 194, 205,
latent semantic analysis, 35
206, 216, 244
Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), 26, 34, 35,
Motion Graphics, 20
36, 133
Museums, 119, 120, 139, 140, 141, 144
Learning Content Management Systems,
45, 80, 81, 109, 111, 112, 241 Navigation, 48, 68, 119, 139, 152
Learning Management Systems, 18, 36, 45, Networks, 4, 6, 7, 8, 25, 26, 34, 42, 65, 85,
46, 48, 77, 78, 79, 80, 93, 109, 110, 134, 140, 160, 180, 181, 182, 183,
111, 112, 113, 122, 123, 127, 137, 190, 199
138, 145, 183, 239, 240, 241, 242
Neural networks, 23, 25, 97
learning object model, 114
Ontologies, 26, 30, 32, 40, 124, 125, 165,
learning object repository, 114 166, 176, 178, 179
Learning Objects, 6, 26, 45, 49, 80, 114, Optical tags, 174
115, 116, 124, 139, 143, 152
OWL – Web Ontology Language, 165
Lecturing, 42, 47, 48, 59, 69, 116, 140,
pattern recognition, 196
148, 149, 150, 156
Pedagogy, 2, 6, 15, 16, 17, 74, 81, 114,
Legacy materials, 77, 152
153, 172, 189, 213
Libraries, 17, 26, 29, 60, 65, 78, 91, 113,
Peer to peer technologies (P2P), 62, 65, 76,
115, 124, 129, 130, 135, 137, 143,
110, 128, 134, 135, 136, 146, 180,
146, 147, 159, 172, 178, 180, 191,
189, 190, 191, 193, 211
213, 216, 217
Personal digital assistants (PDAs), 119,
Live Presentations and Webinars, 246
127, 139, 174, 189, 207
Location based tools, 5, 54, 63, 119, 120,
Personal learning environments (PLE), 137,
121, 127, 128, 135, 165, 174, 175,
138, 139
176, 178, 180, 186, 187, 196, 199, 205
Personalization, 4, 7, 15, 23, 24, 26, 27,
Macromedia, 20, 21, 22, 45, 47, 69, 80,
42, 66, 82, 90, 114, 122, 125, 127,
100, 148, 149, 150, 154, 170, 220,
137, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144,
230, 246, 250
145, 166
mapping, 196
Pervasive computing, 7, 11, 89, 124, 127
Mashups, 4, 80, 122, 123
Podcasting, 42, 43, 44, 128, 192, 204,
Medical applications, 31, 85, 86, 103, 116, 215, 223
148, 149, 160, 161, 171
Portals, 109, 145, 146, 166
Metacognition, 26
PowerPoint, 45
Metadata, 6, 62, 114, 124, 125, 134, 135,
165, 176, 244

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 Presentation tools, 9, 40, 50, 71, 72, 83,
84, 110, 125, 138, 141, 148, 150, 156,
166, 183, 203, 209, 215, 227, 246
Privacy, 11, 82, 119, 174
Project management, 54, 64, 68, 152
Projectors, 88, 106
Proximity tools, 119
quizzes, 35
Quizzes, 35, 36, 46, 47, 48, 69, 70
Radio, 42, 54, 55, 59, 134, 174, 175, 212
Radio frequency identification tags (RFID),
141, 174, 175
Rapid e-learning, 22, 47, 48, 49, 150, 152,
153, 154, 215, 225, 247
rapid learning, 114
Repositories, 7, 9, 80, 91, 114, 115, 116,
184
Resource Description Framework (RDF),
165, 167, 168
résumés, 90
Reusability, 46, 114, 116, 117, 118, 154,
167
reusable learning objects, 114
Robotics, 97, 155, 156, 247
Role-playing, 47, 52, 93, 169, 170, 171
Scenarios, 26, 169, 171
Science, 26, 27, 86, 87, 112, 115, 120,
129, 134, 141, 155, 170, 172, 197, 221
SCORM, 114
Screencasting, 54, 148, 149, 150, 189
Search engines, 54, 57, 83, 110, 124, 131,
137, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163,
177, 189
Security, 11, 65, 119, 122, 174
self-evaluation, 35
Semantic Web, 26, 30, 34, 35, 36, 40, 125,
133, 135, 163, 165, 166, 168, 196
Serious games, 93, 94, 95
Service oriented architectures (SOA), 5, 8,
39, 109, 122
sharable content objects, 114
262
Shareable Content Object Reference Model
(SCORM), 6, 9, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 114,
116, 205
Shockwave, 20, 21
Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), 9,
81, 122, 123
Simulations, 4, 11, 15, 16, 21, 26, 35, 36,
45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 74, 88, 93,
94, 95, 153, 155, 169, 170, 171, 172,
173, 193, 199
Single-user wiki, 211
Skypecasting, 148
Smart labels and tags, 141, 174
Social bookmarking, 57, 62, 124, 137, 158,
176, 177, 178, 179, 207
Social networking, 62, 91, 160, 180, 181,
182, 184, 185, 211
Social networking analysis (SNA), 180, 181
Speech recognition, 131, 132
Streaming video, 189, 191
summative assessment, 35
Symbology tags, 174, 175
Tag clouds, 122
Tagging, 125, 159, 174, 176, 177, 178,
179, 180, 189, 211
Tags, 66, 89, 119, 124, 161, 174, 175,
176, 177, 178, 179, 191
Tangible computing, 106, 199
Taxonomies, 5, 35, 37, 38, 124, 125, 165,
176
Team management, 64
Telephony, 74, 75, 203
Telepresence, 74, 186, 188, 189
Television, 189, 190, 191, 215, 216
Tests, 4, 27, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 47, 48, 77,
109, 139, 152
Thin clients, 57
T-Learning, 189, 191
Tours (online), 119, 144, 217
Translation, 131, 134, 199
Turing Test, 23
© Brandon Hall Research
Ubiquitous computing, 9, 11, 91, 121, 205 Wearable computing, 7, 106, 119, 127,
205, 206, 216, 255
Usability, 13, 56, 90, 108, 109, 194
Web conferencing, 148, 150
Video, 22, 44, 49, 98, 106, 150, 160, 187,
189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 215, 236, 253 Web feeds (Atom and RSS), 57, 74, 164,
177, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 256
Videocasting, 189
Webcasting, 148, 150
virtual classroom, 148
Webinars, 148
Virtual classrooms, 148, 149, 154
Whiteboards, 64, 66, 68, 69, 74, 88, 89,
Virtual learning environments, 112, 113,
106, 107, 108, 137, 145, 239
137
Wikipedia, 57, 123, 182, 211, 212
Virtual reality, 130, 193
Wikis, 60, 65, 182, 209, 210, 211, 212,
Visualization, 3, 5, 43, 46, 100, 124, 159,
213, 214, 256
174, 176, 177, 187, 196, 197, 198,
199, 200, 216 Woodill, Gary, 4, 9, 40, 45, 51, 79, 80, 81,
123, 200, 217
Vlogs, 189
Word, 45
Vodcasting, 189
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), 62,
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), 67, 74,
131, 165, 168
203, 215, 255

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