Jackdaw: Is this the App Store for E-Learning?

Nov. 30, 2010 - PRLog -- The options for developing engaging e-Learning and selling it online has to date been costly.  As such great training material has remained in the hands and heads of the trainers and those fortunate enough to have sat in their classrooms.  Jackdaw is free easy-to-use e-learning authoring software that aims to change this.  The software, produced by Open Source e-learning experts, Open Elms, allows its users to create e-learning featuring video trainers in virtual 3D rooms.

The e-learning produced is a step-change in sophistication from the standard e-learning development tools such as Captivate and Presenter in that the e-learning it produces has genuine 3D depth and is more similar to an actual chalk and talk training session than the Power Point style presentation of traditional e-learning.  The system is also very easy to use with no coding skills necessary, simply select the appropriate template and customise for your own requirements.  Examples of courses produced by the system can be found on the Jackdaw App Store at www.openelms.org.

Users can download the Jackdaw editing tool for free and then again freely distribute the courses made throughout their company.  If they want to go that step further and make money from their efforts then they can submit their courses to the App Store where it will be reviewed by Subject Matter Experts and then listed for sale.  The course author then keeps 70% of every course sold through the store.

The software is available for evaluation on demand else it can be downloaded from http://www.openelms.org/jackdaw  

Features:

•   Free
•   No coding necessary, intuitive course creation
•   3-D virtual learning room where learning takes place
•   100s of templates to chose from and customise
•   Video presenters can be integrated into the e-learning
•   Add tests to check on knowledge retention
•   SCORM v1.2 compliance for easy integration with any LMS
•   Collaborative development from the Jackdaw community
•   Extendable system for designers with Adobe Flash (no coding necessary)
•   Purchase additional courses from the Jackdaw AppStore
•   Integrate existing video, PowerPoint, Captivate and Presenter
•   Training, video production, support and hosting packages available
•   Register to sell your courses on this site and keep 70% of revenue

# # #

Open Elms is a collaborative project designed to create an open-source Learning Management System for use in businesses and training organizations. The core system was the end-product of a series of e-learning development projects for our corporate clients. Clients were asking for a system which was comprehensive and yet fundamentally easy to use - Open Elms is the result.

Jackdaw has been produced by Open Elms to offer a one-stop solution to free Open Source e-learning hosting and development.