BlackBoard
"Blackboard's software powers the online teaching and learning environments at more than 3,300 leading colleges, universities, K-12 schools, associations and corporations around the world."
Centra - Symposium
Divirsity University
"Diversity University Main Campus is extraordinary and unique as the first MOO to be designed specifically for classroom use. DU Main is a project of DUETS, Inc., which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization dedicated to meeting the on-line distance education learning needs of individuals and institutions. Diversity University Main Campus is a real-time internet accessible virtual reality educational environment. Thousands of students, teachers, and administrators worldwide use DU classes, literature, and consulting services. DUETS, Inc. financially exists as do other non-profit organizations via grants, technical assistance fees, and philanthropic donations. Frequently our staff and administrators assist and maintain other educational virtual reality worlds. The Development team of DUETS, Inc. combines more than four years of in depth full-time professional experience coupled with hundreds of thousands of design hours specifically for an educational MOO.
"DU is unrivaled and proud to provide non-proprietary multimedia interaction via our Web Gateway. The DU gateway, accessed via Netscape or any graphics capable browser, allows the addition of graphics, sound, movies, or textual objects. It is the pleasure and privilege of DU to provide you with the ability to use nearly any program or plug-in through our Web Gateway."
LERN Learning Resources Network (LERN), the leading training and consulting service in lifelong learning. 
ILINC -- LearnLinc - "LearnLinc is a real-time cost-effective online training system. LearnLinc delivers live, instructor-led training to employees or students via the Internet, corporate or university intranet or wide area network."
JonesKnowledge.com -- e-Education
"JonesKnowledge.com,™ Inc., is the world leader in online learning with a long history of providing turnkey solutions for distributed learning and training. The quality of its online products and services is the culmination of the Jones Companies' thirty years of experience in education, customer service and entertainment. The Jones Companies have earned international acclaim for their commitment to coupling innovations in communications technology with the delivery of distributed learning."
McGraw-Hill -- Learning Architecture "all you need is the McGraw-Hill Learning Architecture. With it, the power of on-line software is yours. Use it to administer your course, encourage collaborative learning, and to customize your course content."
Macromedia
Authorware Attain and is Macromedia's new tool for creating web-based courses. They now have a free 45-day trial version(95 & NT).
Massey University - AudioGraph Lecture Recorder
The AudioGraph Lecture Recorder is a multi-media authoring tool for recording presentations
for playback on web pages.
It allows the presenter to edit presentation slides with sequences of graphical and voice annotations.
Advanced compression techniques means playback requires little bandwidth (as low as 9600 baud)!
Playback uses the Audiograph Netscape plug-in.
Both recorder and plugin are available FREE from this site.
Microsoft - NetMeeting
RealEducation -
SoftArc - First Class Collaborative Classroom
"Students will love FirstClass Collaborative Classroom because it is so easy to learn, and fun to use. Educators will also benefit from FCCC's ability to encourage participation in a stimulating learning environment and engage students' minds in ways that simply are not possible with other products.FCCC is also a fully functional Web server which enables schools to easily publish a Website, send and receive Internet mail, and support commonly used Internet clients. FCCC is the easiest cross-platform, messaging and collaboration solution for education."
WBT Systems - Top Class
"...WBT Systems, the leading web-based training management solution. If you need a way to meet the ever-increasing demand for sales training, operational skills delivery, or technical certification, WBT Systems' award-winning TopClass Server and comprehensive professional services let you rapidly deliver complete online courses with automated testing and collaboration tools to thousands of users." No client software is needed. Read the press release.
White Pine - CU-SeeMe & ClassPoint
"ClassPoint V1.0.2, which integrates the application sharing and whiteboarding features of Microsoft® NetMeeting. Read our press release. Read PC Magazine's review of ClassPoint V1.0.2. ClassPoint used to deliver graduate level courses, distance learning in agriculture."
ZD University - Online Learning for a Connected World
"ZD University offers dozens of online classes in the hottest topics in computing today. New classes start every week." Cost is low - $7.95 a month for your choice of classes."
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Acquiring a Software Infrastructure for a Virtual Degree
Roy Rada
Co-Director Center for Distance Learning
School of Computer Science and Information Systems
Pace University
Efficacy of TopClass Software in CHE 105-00
Professors Robert Kiser and Robert Toreki
This paper explains how Top Class was used in a chemistry class.
Evaluation and Selection of Web Course Management Tools
©Sunil Hazari, Ed.D, The Robert H. Smith School of Business
University of Maryland, College Park
"The purpose of this document is not to provide vendor specific evaluations, but to describe the methodology and selection process for course development tools that provided best fit based on existing infrastructure, faculty experience, needs, and additional criteria which emerged during the evaluation process."
Groupware
"Groupware is any type of software designed for groups and for communication. This section provides a general overview of groupware and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), and associated design and usability issues."
This site has good explanations of groupware and design issues. I like the web site design: clean, clear, and friendly.
Software Comparisons
This is an excellent comparitive chart on seven programs: Netscape Communicators, First Class, Net Forum, Nicenet, Top Class, WebCT, Interactive Learning Network (CourseInfo). There are other links with additional information.
