Desire2Learn Announces Latest Release of Desire2Learn® Learning Suite, to Create Greater Opportunities for Collaboration and Communication

Latest release focuses on enhanced social media integration, rich media management and simplified communication for instructors and learners

Kitchener-Waterloo, ON and Baltimore, MD, December 05, 2011

Desire2Learn Incorporated ("Desire2Learn"), a leading provider of enterprise teaching and learning platforms, today announced its newest release of Desire2Learn® Learning Suite. As the industry's most advanced learning management platform, the latest release of Desire2Learn Learning Suite enables organizations of all sizes to provide engaging communication and collaboration opportunities for their learners - elevating the learning experience for all.

"The integration of social media, Google Apps™ services and rich media content management into the Desire2Learn Learning Suite places complimentary assets into one easy to use, comprehensive offering, providing major advantages for clients." Kenneth Chapman, Senior Director of Product Strategy, Desire2Learn.

The newest features in Desire2Learn Learning Suite 9.4.1 enable instructors and learners to connect through personal and public audio and video recordings that can be easily embedded and shared across Desire2Learn Learning Environment and Desire2Learn ePortfolio.

Additionally, building on the previous success of the Live@EDU integration, Desire2Learn is further expanding their extensibility story with the integration of core Google Apps for Education and Business Services (email, calendar and documents) which can now be easily accessed through a widget within the Desire2Learn Learning Environment.

Key capabilities of the new release include:

• Improved social media support for Google Apps services assisting users in the organization and managing of calendar events, Google Docs™, unread e-mails and more.
• Option for instructors and learners to use Google Docs as a source for submitting files to the Desire2Learn Dropbox. The files downloaded are in a format that supports plagiarism detection tools and can be opened by popular office productivity tools such as Microsoft® Office Suite.
• Enhanced communication channels through the recent Kaltura™ partnership enable instructors and learners to easily record video from their webcam and embed or attach it into areas such as news, discussions, assignment submissions, or as Desire2Learn ePortfolio artifacts.
• Integrated access to management of rich media content. Through the use of an enhanced media plug-in, clients can easily search their Kaltura media management solution. This is an addition to the Desire2Learn Insert Stuff Framework which makes it easy to find and insert media of all types such as video, audio, images, rich media, and other public, Open Educational Resources (OERs) or even private document sources, into the Desire2Learn tools.
• Simplified data management with the new version of the Data Purge tool enables administrators to easily identify, store and purge select sets of data within the Learning Management System.
• Enhanced Calendar usability and functionality allow users to set due dates, schedule courses and manage and view activities from one central location.
• Significantly improved usability and accessibility for equations throughout the system for instructors and learners, using LaTeX, Graphical, or MathML editors and now including support for MathJax.
• Ability for Desire2Learn Learning Repository users to preview learning content from within the course they are working on, before making the commitment to download.
• Wide range of Open REST-based APIs available in both Desire2Learn Learning Environment and Desire2Learn ePortfolio, enabling extensive integration options, allowing users to build on top of both product offerings. To find out more, visit www.Desire2Learn.com/r/whatsinvalence

For more information about Desire2Learn Learning Suite, these features and more, attend one of our product Webinars at www.Desire2Learn.com/webinars, or call 1.888.772.0325.

Existing Desire2Learn clients are invited to visit the Desire2Learn Community Community.Desire2Learn.com to view Desire2Learn Learning Suite 9.4.1 Feature Guide or register for a client focused Webinar where further details of this release are highlighted.

About Desire2Learn

Desire2Learn Incorporated is a world-leading provider of enterprise eLearning solutions that enable institutions and other organizations to create teaching and learning environments that reflect their vision, goals, and branding. Desire2Learn and its subsidiaries support more than six million learners worldwide. Clients include higher education, K-12, and healthcare, as well as associations, government and other leading organizations. Founded in 1999, Desire2Learn has personnel in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. For more information, visit: www.Desire2Learn.com, call 1.519.772.0325 or toll-free 1.888.772.0325 (within North America), +44 808.234.4235 (U.K. and Europe), 0.800.452.069 (New Zealand) and 1.800.656.210 (Australia).

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John McLeod
Sr. Director, Marketing & Alliances
Desire2Learn Incorporated
519.772.0325 ext. 378
PR@Desire2Learn.com