Software provides on-demand e-learning architecture.July 13, 2006 -
Leveraging Microsoft's .NET technology, eCollege.NExT enables customers to tailor eCollege system to their unique needs. Browser- and platform-independent content display controls let students and instructors post content without needing to know HTML. Users can access content from PC or other device without being on Internet. Customers operating programs in foreign languages can access courses in multiple languages and time zones based on browser or course settings.
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Original Press release
Ecollege.com
1 North LaSalle Street
Chicago, IL, 60610
USA
eCollege.NExT Provides Enhanced Customization, Interoperability and Multiple Language Support
New On-Demand eLearning System Builds Upon eCollege's Tradition of Unparalleled System Reliability and Stability
DENVER, June 8 -- eCollege(R) (NASDAQ:ECLG), a leading provider of value-added information services to the post-secondary education industry, is introducing eCollege.NExT, the next generation of eCollege's eLearning platform. eCollege.NExT builds upon eCollege's tradition of a single-instance, on-demand eLearning architecture, and will provide significantly enhanced customization, interoperability and multiple language support. The advancements will be implemented in a series of releases scheduled over the next 18 months.
"Our .NExT platform demonstrates our commitment to improving our customers' ability to efficiently customize and differentiate their online programs," said Oakleigh Thorne, chairman and CEO of eCollege. "This new system will be delivered from our highly available and highly scaleable data centers, which customers have come to expect as a critical component of their online success. In addition, the .NExT advancements will be made available through seamless upgrades that will enable customers to avoid the lengthy downtimes, workflow interruptions and content migration issues often associated with traditional software company system upgrades."
In developing eCollege.NExT, eCollege worked closely with its customers, which include many of the largest and most successful online education programs in the country, and conducted a thorough analysis of industry and technology trends. eCollege.NExT leverages Microsoft's .NET technology and is designed using the enterprise architecture principles necessary to deliver an on-demand software application adaptable to evolving customer needs. eCollege.NExT incorporates enhanced customization, flexibility, interoperability, analytics and globalization.
Customization
eCollege.NExT gives customers additional means to tailor the eCollege System to their unique needs. The eCollege.NExT Style Manager supports the full power and range of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), an Internet standard that facilitates rich and intricate customization of the user interface. eCollege customers will have greater ability to communicate their brands and differentiate the look and feel of their programs.
Flexibility
Modularity within the eCollege System will provide additional feature flexibility to support diverse customer needs. Through the containment and isolation of individual components and subsystems, the base units achieve both logical and physical independence. This design benefits customers by allowing them to extend internal processes or products directly into the eCollege system while eCollege can maintain centralized control of the .NExT system code. In addition, eCollege.NExT incorporates a variety of user interface and functionality enhancements that offer users flexible control and display options intended to make administration, teaching and learning in the eCollege System more efficient and effective. These features include:
o Student Visual Editor -- new browser and platform independent content display controls enable students and instructors to post rich content without needing to know any HTML.
o Off-line Capabilities -- eCollege.NExT allows students and instructors to access content from a personal computer or other device without being on the Internet.
Interoperability
The .NET architecture incorporated in eCollege.NExT extends application interoperability using standards-based APIs. This design allows customers to easily and reliably tie other applications and in-house systems to the eCollege System.
Analytics
eCollege.NExT builds on eCollege's reporting system to provide customers with unparalleled insight into their online education programs. By centralizing and optimizing the current eCollege reporting infrastructure into Microsoft's .NET framework at the level of data architecture, application and user interface, eCollege.NExT offers customers more robust and flexible reporting systems that provide critical insight into their eLearning data and the drivers of program success.
Globalization
International customers and domestic customers operating programs in a foreign language will be able to access courses in multiple languages and time zones based on browser or course settings. eCollege's approach is to internationalize the platform at a code level, which will allow customers to quickly localize the eCollege System as they enter specific foreign language markets. eCollege.NExT will include the following globalization features:
o Student-facing text within a defined portion of the platform can be configured to be displayed in the language of the user, the language associated with the program or the language assigned by the instructor.
o Date/time data displayed to the user will be converted into the user's time zone. All data entered by a user will be entered in the user's time zone and properly converted and handled throughout the application.
About eCollege
eCollege (NASDAQ:ECLG) is a leading provider of value-added information services to the post-secondary and K-12 education industries. The Company's eLearning Division designs, builds and supports some of the most successful, fully online degree, certificate/diploma and professional development programs in the country. The Company's Enrollment Division, Datamark, Inc., helps institutions build new enrollments and increase student retention. Customers include publicly traded for-profit institutions, community colleges, public and private universities, school districts and state departments of education. eCollege was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Chicago, with the eLearning Division headquartered in Denver. Datamark was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City. For more information, visit www.eCollege.com and www.Datamark.com.
CONTACT: Dana Haskins of eCollege, +1-312-706-1710, danah@ecollege.com
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