ANGEL in the classroomE-learning tool that ‘breaks down walls of time and space’ developed at IUPUIBy Lyn Mettler | |
|
A new type of E-learning software is available for the first time for free to educational institutions in the United States, thanks to an ANGEL.
In this case, the ANGEL is A New Global Environment for Learning, a software program developed by IUPUI faculty members Ali Jafari and David Mills. ANGEL is the first enterprise course management and portal software program to be offered to K-12 and highe r educational institutions for free. It is a Web-based teaching and learning enterprise environment that allows schools to offer on-line courses that complement traditional classroom-based courses and to customize their campus Web sites to individual user s. “It allows teachers to finally break down the walls of time and space that have often separated them from the community they serve,” said Jana Tobbe Hickey, distance learning specialist for Jefferson County Schools in Louisville, Ky., a testing site for t he software. “Until now, creating a portal for K-12 or higher education institutions meant spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on in-house development or product licenses and outside consulting,” said Mills. “ANGEL changes all that. ANGEL provides a set of core components free to non-profit U.S. educational institutions that makes it possible for each to quickly and affordably develop a portal for teaching and learning.” The course management part of the software allows schools to create a Web environment for every course, as well as for campus groups or organizations. Professors can post grades, offer exams, hold discussions, and publish assignments and reading material. Each of these sites also contains a calendar, message boards, chat groups, statistics about student participation and more. Users can also post and respond to classified ads on the site. The software can be customized to meet the needs of each school and can include features that allow parents to check grades and see if their child arrived at school. For example, Jefferson County Public Schools created professional development communities for teachers where they discuss specific aspects of learning and participate in on-line training. Teachers now put their curricula on line and interact with parents and other community members. The IU Advanced Research and Technology Institute (ARTI) formed a new company called CyberLearning Labs, Inc. around this exciting technology. Jafari and Mills are founders and officers of the company which will market and sell the software. ARTI is a pri vate, not-for-profit corporation acting on behalf of IU to transfer technology and expertise from IU researchers to the world of business. ARTI provided financial support, business consultation and other resources to CyberLearning Labs, Inc. http://cyberlab.iupui.edu/ http://arti.indiana.edu/ | |
IU Home Pages
400 E. 7th Street. Bloomington, IN 47405
Phone: (812) 855-6494
Publication date: September 29, 2000
Comments: homepgs@indiana.edu
Copyright 2000, The
Trustees of Indiana University