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A Hitchhiker's Guide to Learning Portals


© Audrey Choden

Jun 22, 2000


It seems as if everyone is talking (or writing) about learning portals these days.

An article in the June issue of TRAINING ("The Biggest, Baddest Learning Portals") compares nine online learning portals(http://www.trainingmag.com/ ). In the April issue of Inside Technology Training, editor Patti Shank reviews the learning portals listed on Brandon Hall's site, http://www.brandon-hall.com/ , and shares her impressions of each one ("The Wild Wild West").

What is the best learning portal? Hitch a ride with me as I visit six learning portals as a consumer to find an 8-hour project management course that's self-paced and costs from $100 - $300.

Our first stop is Click2Learn.com http://www.click2learn.com.

This e-commerce site has so many links that I'm not sure how to navigate through it. There are two possible links to follow: a learning portal and an e-learning center. When I click on the learning portal, I find a Catalog of Learning Resources that lists categories and course topics. After clicking on the Business & Management category, I'm linked to the Management & Leadership topic where I finally find project management.

There are 39 resources listed under project management of which 26 are online courses. The rest are CD-ROM courses, books, and other media. The titles are listed in alphabetical order with information on duration, publisher, price, license, content type and rating.

Here's what I learned about the online course offerings:

  • SkillSoft is the only vendor of self-paced online courses at this site.
  • Duration ranges from 1.5 - 3.5 hours.
  • Each course costs $99.95 and can be licensed to a single user for 365 days.
  • Some courses have been reviewed by users and independent experts.
  • Free 15-minute preview is available.

    We've spent a lot of time navigating this site and still haven't read any course descriptions or reviews. Maybe they should rename this portal as 2ManyClicks2Learn.com. Let's bookmark this page and move on to our next portal.

    I see a headlight up ahead. It's HeadLight.com, http://www.headlight.com.

    Note: According to E-Learning Research News and Notes from brandon-hall.com, "Headlight.com is turning out the lights. CyberU will provide Headlight’s former customers with continued service." (May 4, 2001)

    Our luck improves at Headlight.com where a search engine helps us locate courses. A search for project management retrieves a list of courses focusing on management skills and computer skills (Project 98). Each course listing includes title and publisher, minimum modem speed, skill level, duration and price.

    The publishers are SkillSoft, KT Solutions, NETg and Course Technology. SkillSoft courses range from 2-4 hours and cost $99.95. Some of KT Solutions technical courses are less than 2 hours long and cost $12.99, while 6-8 hour courses cost between $149.95 - $195.00. This is an e-commerce site. You can put your course purchases in a virtual shopping cart and pay for them by credit card.

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    The copyright of the article A Hitchhiker's Guide to Learning Portals in Training & Development is owned by . Permission to republish A Hitchhiker's Guide to Learning Portals in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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