LearnLinc is a live virtual classroom environment that enables corporations to deliver live e-Learning courseware to employees or students via the Internet, corporate intranet, or wide area network. What distinguishes LearnLinc from other solutions is the commitment to our customers who need to train large numbers of students with the highest quality learning tools at a distance. Traditional instructor-led classrooms have been fundamental to effective learning for thousands of years. LearnLinc combines all the instructor control and student interaction of the traditional classroom with the latest e-Learning technology
LearnLinc 5 offers all of the virtual classroom features that customers have come to expect in the award-winning LearnLinc classroom environment: instructor/student floor control, class coordination, synchronized multimedia or Web-based courseware, application sharing, whiteboard, text chat, record/playback, and breakout groups. TestLinc offers comprehensive web based testing and assessment. In addition, LearnLinc maintains the widest selection of communication options, including audio conferencing, streaming video, and IP multicasting.

LearnLinc® provides users with expanded accessibility, enhanced collaboration, and sophisticated classroom management. As the standard for instructor-led online learning, LearnLinc software is fully deployed at more Global 2000 corporations and universities than any other solution. LearnLinc 5, combined with LearnLinc's best of breed partner solutions, delivers a robust total learning system to train thousands of employees across the enterprise.

Based on best practice experience from LearnLinc customers around the world, LearnLinc 5 enhances the return-on-investment and productivity gains that have been posted at Aetna US Healthcare, MCI WorldCom and other industry leaders.

LearnLinc Virtual Classroom - Interactive Learning Tools

Handraising
LearnLinc instructors can view the list of students in a LearnLinc class. When a student clicks on their hand raise icon, the instructor can see a hand appear next to their name on the student list. The instructor can then highlight the student name and give control of the LearnLinc classroom including course content and audio conferencing to the student, who is heard by the entire class.

Collaboration between students and between instructor and student is an important element of a successful class environment leading to greater involvement and student retention of course material.

Floor Control
LearnLinc Floor Control provides instructor control and classroom coordination. Currently, there are two floor control policies for LearnLinc classes: instructor-led and open discussion. Floor control determines three key elements during a LearnLinc class:

who may launch applications for everyone in the class
who has control of course content
whose voice is featured in the audio conferencing portion of the class.

Instructor-led Floor Control maximizes the control of the instructor. He or she decides who has the floor, when to give the floor to a learner, and when to take back the floor. The instructor can use "Privacy" to jump ahead in course content or use tools without being synchronized with the students. Learners can raise and lower their hands to be recognized by the instructor and address the entire class, just as in a traditional classroom.
Open Discussion Floor Control is similar to a roundtable discussion. During an open discussion class the instructor has no additional authority, and any learner can take control of the floor at any time. The open discussion floor control policy allows small groups to collaborate in highly dynamic class. Open discussion gives learners maximum freedom while maintaining order through floor control.

Shared Pointer
The shared pointer will point anywhere on the screen and always remain on top. This allows the floor holder to indicate to the class particular sections of the content or tool palette.

Assistant Instructor
Many LearnLinc customers have requested that an assistant be able to log on to class to help the instructor with class interaction. While the instructor is launching and leading the class content, one or more assistant instructors can be monitoring text chat, hand raising, and feedback. The assistant instructor may alert the instructor to student responses or reply using private text chat to individual students while the main class is continuing.

The Assistant Instructor feature allows LearnLinc classes to be structured to teach different learning styles and student capabilities. This feature results in more interaction with students, increased effectiveness of instruction (without as many distractions), and enhanced use of LearnLinc features by the instructor.

Record & Playback
Live LearnLinc classes may be recorded by instructors or students for playback as self-paced study by students or off-line instructor training. All instructor/student audio and LearnLinc screen interactions are recorded, such as hand raises, feedback, text chat, and synchronized courseware. Recordings may be played back two ways: streamed through a network connection (26kbps or greater) or downloaded in advance for playback anytime.

Breakout Groups
To facilitate team discussions, role-playing, and brainstorming, LearnLinc instructors can set up breakout groups with specific students or random selection. Breakout groups can be set up on the fly to last for a specified time before the students return automatically to the instructor-led class.

TestLincTM
TestLinc is a separate software product that allows tests to be created, delivered, graded and reported in a standard Web-browser. TestLinc includes multiple question types and delivery options to match different learning styles, plus automatic grading and database reporting for integration with leading learning management systems. TestLinc requires a LearnLinc Server to function.

Q&A (Question & Answer)
Q&A can be used by an instructor or student to ask multiple choice or true/false questions during a class. The floor holder can ask one question at a time with up to five multiple-choice answers. Questions may be written ahead of time or composed spontaneously during a class. The answer results are displayed for the floor holder in easy-to-read percentages. Results can be shared with other class participants, or reviewed privately.

Feedback
Instructors can use Feedback to continuously poll learners about the progress of the class. Students select feedback answers such as "Faster," "Perfect," "Slower," and "Please Review." The instructor can see the percentages for each response. Instructors may create custom response sets or choose among several default answer sets, including:

Pace - Faster, Perfect, Slower, Please review
Agreement - Strongly agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly disagree
Assignment Status - Not much progress, Still working, Almost finished, Completed
True/False
Yes/No
A, B, C, D

Text Chat
LearnLinc Text Chat is a text-based communication tool that instructors and students can use to compose and exchange ideas and comments with everyone in a LearnLinc class. Students can also send private messages to the instructor or assistant. Everyone in the class can save text, paste text from other documents into text chat, and print a transcript of the text generated during a class. Instructors and Assistant Instructors can send private text chat messages to individual students.

LearnLinc Text Chat allows the exchange of ideas, brainstorming, and discussions without interrupting the flow of the class. Private messages allow students to ask questions they might not ask in a public forum.

LearnLinc Picture ID
LearnLinc class interaction can be personalized with LearnLinc Picture ID. All participants (instructors, assistant instructors, and students) can use Picture ID to display pictures of themselves to the class, enhancing the sense of community and collaboration vital to successful on-line learning.

Glimpse
Instructors can use LearnLinc Glimpse to grab a screen capture of any student desktop. The instructor can then see the status of the student work to correct a problem, or view an assignment.

LearnLinc Virtual Classroom - Flexible Course Content

Note:
Students joining class late are automatically synchronized with the current content.

Application Sharing
LearnLinc allows instructors to share one or more applications or the entire desktop, enabling software skills training on multiple applications. Both 16-bit and 32-bit applications can be shared. By launching multiple software applications from the desktop, instructors can demonstrate the interaction of complex interfaces.
Server-based LearnLinc Application Sharing is highly scalable, allowing instructors to select any software application on any class computer to demonstrate or share. LearnLinc 5 Application Sharing is 2 - 4 times faster than previous versions.

LearnLinc Application Sharing allows an instructor to select an application from a student machine to display or share without giving the floor to that student. This feature is one more example of the classroom control design of the LearnLinc environment.

Application Sharing simulates an interactive computer lab with shared control where students watch an instructor run a software application and then run their own copy of the software for assignments.

Split Screen for Application Sharing
The LearnLinc content area may be split into upper and lower sections for application sharing. The instructor may choose to place the shared application in the upper or lower half or full screen in the student's content area. This is most useful to allow students to run their own version of the shared application to mimic the instructor lessons.

Synchronized Multimedia Courseware
LearnLinc allows instructors and students to control Synchronize Multimedia Courseware created in Mentergy's own Quest software, Asymetrix ToolBook, Macromedia Authorware, and Macromedia Director.

These multimedia-authoring tools can be used to create highly interactive courseware containing audio and video clips, animation, simulations, learning exercises, and tests. As an instructor turns the pages of such multimedia courseware, pages are turned on all student computers as well.

Synchronized Web-browser
LearnLinc instructors and students can use the Synchronized Web-browser to lead everyone in class to different Web sites. When the floor holder navigates to a Web page, all other class browsers go to that site as well. Each learner can explore that site and its links or move on to other sites. Everyone may use forward and backward navigation tools and favorites in the Synchronized Web-browser. Both Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers are supported.

PowerPoint Conversion to HTML
PowerPoint Conversion allows instructors, authors, and administrators to transform Microsoft PowerPoint slides into LearnLinc-ready web pages in seconds. Synchronous HTML courseware can be created on the fly for LearnLinc classes, as either instructor-led or self-paced content.

Shared Whiteboard
With the LearnLinc Shared Whiteboard, instructors and students can easily add content to a LearnLinc class. Objects and text from any Windows supported application can be pasted in to the whiteboard and shared by everyone in class. The floor holder can highlight, add, delete, or edit the whiteboard contents. Whiteboard contents can be saved as text or whiteboard files, or printed by everyone in class. The whiteboard supports synchronized viewing, insuring that all students see what the instructor is viewing after scrolling. The whiteboard can also be accessed outside the LearnLinc classroom, to pre-load content or to access content between classes.

Streaming Video
Streaming Video introduces offers one-way video and audio (live or pre-recorded) from instructor to students over the Internet/intranet.

Class Agenda
The LearnLinc Class Agenda allows instructors to list the learning components of a LearnLinc class to be launched automatically. Content prepared using tools such as the Synchronized Web Browser, Q & A, Shared Whiteboard or any other application can be launched on all class computers from the Class Agenda.

Administrative & Management

LearnLinc Virtual Campus
The LearnLinc Virtual Campus is a Web-based instruction management system that allows students to gain access to LearnLinc course information quickly and easily. Students may preview the course catalog, access self-paced course content, and view instructor/student profiles. Instructors and students can use a threaded discussion tool for each LearnLinc course to communicate outside the LearnLinc classroom.
The LearnLinc Virtual Campus is fully customizable and offers course registration, online help, tutorials, and instant access to join LearnLinc classes.

Students can use the Virtual Campus Course Catalog to preview (or review) class content. Instructors can make homework and research assignments available to students through the Virtual Campus. Participants may also access recorded LearnLinc classes to be streamed or downloaded from the Virtual Campus.

Smaller Client Size
Client size has been reduced by half, with half the download time. LearnLinc now offers one of the smallest client sizes on the market for a fully interactive virtual classroom.

Internationalization
The LearnLinc virtual classroom and virtual campus can be translated into any language to accommodate global corporate growth. German and Spanish language versions are available.

LearnLinc Administration Tool
The Web-based Administration Tool extends LearnLinc administration access to any location with an Internet connection. Administrators can access one user interface to create user accounts, create LearnLinc classes, add class materials, etc.

LearnLinc Network Monitor
The LearnLinc Network Monitor provides continuous feedback about the available bandwidth for LearnLinc data and communications connectivity during a LearnLinc class.

LearnLinc Audio Wizard
The LearnLinc Audio Wizard provides step-by-step procedures to configure LearnLinc audio conferencing under varying hardware and software conditions.

LearnLinc Security
LearnLinc provides two levels of security. Log-in security prevents users from logging-in to LearnLinc without an assigned user name, group name, and password. Class security prevents unauthorized users from joining a password-protected LearnLinc class. LearnLinc also allows guests to log-in with limited capabilities.

Connectivity

Distributed Server Architecture
Distributed Servers allow students and instructors to join LearnLinc classes by connecting to the nearest distributed server automatically and share content from a central LearnLinc server and database. Since each distributed server can support up to 200 participants, Distributed Server Architecture allows live LearnLinc classes to be scaled to reach students at many locations across the enterprise without multiplying the bandwidth requirements for each location.

Firewall Bridging
Just-in-time corporate training demands that employees can access live online learning from any site regardless of firewall considerations. Firewall friendly LearnLinc uses HTTP bridging for easy access through corporate firewalls that support Internet connections. LearnLinc even offers browser-based diagnostics for firewall configuration to speed deployment.

Enterprise-wide Database Integration with Microsoft SQL Server
LearnLinc is integrated with Microsoft SQL Server (part of Microsoft BackOffice) to offer a more efficient and scaleable database option for large-scale online learning deployments. Significant improvements to database and administration enhance integration with Learning Management Systems (LMS). LearnLinc integration is already complete with leading LMS software, including Click2Learn Librarian & Ingenium, Macromedia Pathware, and TrainingServer.

Communication Options

With LearnLinc, you can create a custom online learning solution tailored to the needs of your organization. LearnLinc Communication Options offer you different connectivity and conferencing methods to meet the needs of your organization today and tomorrow.

The LearnLinc Server supports the LearnLinc data-only virtual classroom without purchasing additional options. The LearnLinc data-only virtual classroom can be combined with existing phone conferencing, room videoconferencing or other communication systems.

LearnLinc Streaming Video - Integrated one-way video and audio for communication
(live or pre-recorded) from instructor to students over the Internet/intranet.

LearnLinc Unicast Audioconferencing - full duplex (two-way) audio for student sites using the Internet/intranet from remote locations or home. Half duplex (click-to-talk) is also available.

LearnLinc Multicast Audioconferencing - full duplex (two-way) audio which minimizes bandwidth requirements for large-scale classes. Half duplex (click-to-talk) is also available.

Special Note:
LearnLinc clients configured for any of the Communications Options listed can join any LearnLinc session to share data. Audio may be shared, depending on system configurations.

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