FAIRFAX, Va. – December 4, 2012 – Ellucian announced today the general availability of its newest version of Colleague Intelligent Learning Platform, an integration solution that is designed to make it easier for institutions to manage information from their Colleague by Ellucian administrative and their Blackboard Learn™ learning management system (LMS) to improve the overall teaching and learning experience.
“The integration will improve communications between students and faculty, and it supports our efforts to maintain our portal as the one-stop site for all of a student’s administrative and academic needs,” said Wendy Gehring, director of IT at Hodges University, a beta site for Colleague Intelligent Learning Platform for Blackboard Learn. “The integration will cut down the number of clicks it takes now to access Blackboard Learn. Students are accustomed to getting immediate communications; they want to access the resources they need from within one site.”
With the Colleague Intelligent Learning Platform, students and faculty can log into their institution’s instance of Blackboard Learn to access their calendar, assignments, and other course-related information and have seamless access to their Colleague Portal to access campus services and information like financial aid, campus news, account notifications, and more. Information generated through Blackboard Learn, such as a reminder that an assignment is due, is displayed to students within the portal and is accessible with one click.
The Colleague Intelligent Learning Platform also minimizes the time that faculty and staff need to spend on administrative tasks. For example, faculty at Hodges University can now post mid-term and final grades directly from the Blackboard Learn gradebook, eliminating the need to do it twice and reducing the chance and cost of errors.
The Colleague Intelligent Learning Platform was initially launched in 2010 with integration for the Moodle learning management system. This new version for Blackboard Learn builds upon the success of reducing or eliminating many unnecessary manual and administrative costs while improving the communication, coordination, and information for each student, faculty, registrar, and course administrator. In addition, this release supports the latest IMS Learning Information Services (LIS 2.0) standard that enables the exchange of information that describes people, groups, memberships, courses, and outcomes within the context of learning between Colleague by Ellucian and Blackboard Learn.
Ellucian surveys show that institutions that have leveraged Colleague Intelligent Learning Platform have experienced increases in learning management system adoption among their users by up to 48 percent, while eliminating time spent on administrative tasks by up to 33 percent and saving faculty hundreds of hours on grading and administration.
“Colleague Intelligent Learning Platform makes it easier and more cost effective for our client institutions to manage course information between administrative and academic systems,” said Mark Jones, chief product officer, Ellucian. “It is an example of our Ellucian Extensible Ecosystem vision, providing more flexibility to help our global customer community extend their core administrative systems and increase the value in their solution investments.”
About Hodges University
Founded in 1990 as International College, Hodges University has established itself as one of the premier private universities in the State of Florida. The name was changed to Hodges University in May 2007 to honor a generous gift by Earl and Thelma Hodges, long-time residents of Naples and avid supporters of the institution. Hodges University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award Associate, Bachelor’s, and Master’s degrees.
About Ellucian
Ellucian helps education institutions thrive in an open and dynamic world. We deliver a broad portfolio of technology solutions, developed in collaboration with a global education community, and provide strategic guidance to help education institutions of all kinds navigate change, achieve greater transparency, and drive efficiencies. More than 2,400 institutions in 40 countries around the world look to Ellucian for the ideas and insights that will move education forward, helping people everywhere discover their futures through learning. Visit ellucian.com.
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For More Information
Ellucian
Laura Kvinge
Tel: 801.257.4158
laura.kvinge@ellucian.com
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