Press Releases

eLearning and Knowledge Management Converge

Hyperwave AG presents eLearning Suite as part of an overall strategy for corporate-wide knowledge management.

November 06, 2000

The time and cost of training staff for companies with locations scattered around the world can now be greatly reduced following the launch of Hyperwave's eLearning Suite (eLS). Based on the Hyperwave Information Server, the eLS enables the delivery of integrated learning and knowledge management directly to the workplace through the intranet and internet.

The Hyperwave eLearning Suite provides a complete interactive learning environment where trainees can access a comprehensive range of material and reference sources to meet their own individual requirements.

Easy access to training information is enabled by the eLS's virtual training centre, where individual functional 'rooms' provide trainees with access to specific types of information. These 'rooms' include:

'Reception room' - In this room, trainees can find out about and select the latest courses on offer. To help them with their selection, this section includes an entrance test that they can use to test the depth of their existing knowledge.

'Study room' - This room provides a personalised learning portal, where trainees can access and work on selected courses. Statistical evaluations are included in this section to help analyse the trainee's progress.

'Course Room' - The Course Room provides the actual learning environment. As well as featuring structured course material, this room broadens the learning process by enabling direct and indirect communication between teachers and trainees. Further discussion of course-specific and related topics is also made possible by the inclusion of a 'Café' room.

'Administration Room' - The administration of the training centre takes place here, such as setting up of user access, assembling of virtual teams, or statistical evaluation of user behaviour. Teachers have a variety of tools that they can use to modify existing courses and create new ones.

Communication is everything

The Hyperwave eLearning Suite eliminates the lack of interactivity that is the Achilles heel of many e-learning systems. Communication between teachers, tutors, and trainees is maximised through the inclusion of various channels such as a bulletin board, an e-mail messaging system and a discussion forum where students can exchange questions, answers, and comments simultaneously.

Active Documents

A key feature of the eLS is its use of "Active Documents". These documents allow trainees to attach questions that are then answered by tutors or teachers. Over time, a collection of questions and answers is produced for every document. Course participants are also able to place personal or public comments in documents using electronic notes.

Background Material

The Hyperwave eLearning Suite contains a background library with more in-depth information from internal and external sources such as the Internet, to provide a means of finding out more about the course content and to answer unanswered questions. A search engine (browser) provides rapid access in the search for key words or in full text of more than 200 document formats.

Modular Structure

The eLS's modular structure means that no HTML or programming knowledge is necessary to create courses on the Intranet or Internet. A course Wizard automatically creates a course outline that includes both the navigation structure as well as a complete course room environment. New learning modules can be added to the framework using an easy-to-use interface (Virtual Folders, the directory structure of the eLearning suite) or the WebDAV support. These functions are integrated in the MS desktop and provide easy drag-and-drop publishing.

Existing learning content can be reused using the eLS Media Depot. This fully automatic link management feature ensures that all links are maintained in the event of individual course modules being added, shifted, or deleted.

The system supports different learning materials ranging from existing CBT courses to text and presentation documents to images as well as audio and video files.

A CD publisher creates an offline version from an online course at the push of a button. This not only reduces the costs for development and production, but raises the topicality of course content at the same time.

Learning Management

Two factors have a major impact on the learning success: the right course offering and its continuing improvement. The basis for improvement is provided by the Statistics and Report Tool that gives the teacher detailed information on the extent of use and duration of courses. Tests are also included at the end of a unit or course to document the learning success.

A personalised course environment helps ensure the right course offerings. The Hyperwave eLearning Suite uses the trainee's job role and past experience to recommend suitable courses. A graduated role concept also enables customisation of course content individually to different students. Every course is monitored and accompanied by several teachers and tutors.

Client-specific Adaptations

The Hyperwave eLearning suite is based on standard Internet technologies and can be adapted to specific business requirements, including integration of the corporate identity and corporate design as well as support of different languages. A standard web browser acts as the user interface. In the basic version, eLearning suite has a native database, although the system can also support Oracle versions 8.0.6 and 8i. The Hyperwave eLearning Suite runs on the MS Windows NT/2000, Linux and various UNIX platforms.

"eLearning and knowledge management belong together. In both cases, internal and external knowledge must be distributed directly and fixed interactively in the minds of employees. With the Hyperwave eLearning suite and the Hyperwave Information Server or the Hyperwave eKnowledge Portal we provide a package solution that joins what in the past were separate areas of continuing education and knowledge management and incorporates them in the work process. Businesses are thereby able to considerably reduce the indirect costs for training that constitute the greatest portion of their outlay," explains Christoph Michel, Member of the Boards, Hyperwave.

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