Lycea™: An E-learning Toolkit   [view walkthru presentation]

Lycea™ is a comprehensive set of tools for constructing, deploying, and managing custom e-learning applications. Lycea™ enables content providers to merge legacy content with new interactive multimedia content and assessment to produce dynamic applications. Lycea™, a modular toolkit, includes:

• content authoring
• content management
• assessment
• course management
• community and collaboration tools

This modular approach gives content providers and educational publishers the flexibility they need to provide a range of cost effective e-learning products, from supplemental websites to comprehensive online courseware and assessment.



Lycea™ tools can be integrated into existing customer solutions or can be used as a unified web publishing solution by spanning the functions of content creation, publishing and course management. Lycea™ utilizes an open architecture approach that allows content providers to work with third party content and technology. Lycea™ can also be integrated with existing registration or user management systems to extend the current online e-learning environment. As a database-driven system, Lycea™ delivers on the promise of custom content and personalized learning.


Authoring and Content Management with Alchemy™
Import/Export Content Create Courseware Content Library
Alchemy™ is an open powerful toolset for creating content and managing the content creation process. Alchemy™ supports the use of existing HTML authoring tools and also includes a complete browser-based web authoring environment.

Alchemy™ provides a content library system that categorizes all common content elements (e.g. whole lessons, textbooks or individual files, such as graphics) for use across projects. An editor can create content directly in the library or import content from an existing file system. The tools enable both easy, template-based course assembly, and open-ended, blank-page authoring.


Assessment
Pre/Post Assessment Diagnostic Learning Automatic or Manual Scoring
Assessment is a key feature of Lycea™. Tests, quizzes and pre-assessments can be created quickly with templates. Question types that Lycea™ supports include multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, match, drag and drop, numeric and essay questions. Customized question and answer types can be created and imported such as math or foreign language items. The instructor can set properties for a test that include timed/open, automatic scoring/grading, linear or adaptive sequence, instant feedback, practice or graded tests.

The adaptive assessment engine includes concept mapping technology to create automatic placement tests, concept testing, standards-based testing, and diagnostic results that are reported to the instructor. Instructors can create personalized, adaptive tests that challenge each student based on his/her abilities, and track mastery levels throughout a course, so that each student advances at his or her own pace. Diagnostic pre-assessment tests can be created for custom assignments or custom syllabus for each user based on test results.


Course Management System
Class Roster Gradebook Course Creation Syllabus Teacher Inbox
The Course Management System is the main control panel for the course instructor or
administrator. Books, lessons, and pages may be selected from the Content Library to create courses or assignments. The instructor can create class rosters and track grades and progress either by class or by student. The students' course information page will show as much or as little information as the instructor indicates, including grade information or class rosters. The instructor Inbox shows messages from students, as well as coursework waiting for feedback, such as essay questions or assignments.


Community
Discussion Calendar Messaging News Resources
Users of Lycea™ applications can interact as a community with fellow students, instructors,
or anyone with access to the community. Instructors can encourage group interaction and collaboration, send messages to users, monitor and start discussions, and post resources for students.


Administration
Users/Groups Permissions Server Monitor Usage Logs Reports
Application and system administration functions are included with Lycea™. The administrator may import students, create custom groups, assign access permissions to all features of Lycea™, assign and manage passwords, expire users, and setup automatic registration. The System Administration page analyzes performance and indicates usage. A role-based security approach ensures that users have the right privileges to create and access information based on their role.