Portfolio

Overview

Blink built the Drupal 7 based U.S. DoD Child Development Virtual Laboratory School (VLS) in partnership with Ohio State University. The VLS is an online application housing a collection of best practices for programming, curriculum, and center management for military programs serving children from birth to age twelve. The VLS is based on the current training and development programs in use by the department of defense with supplemental resources, video content, and training modules provided by a variety of DoD partners.

Solution

Blink utilized Drupal 7, an open source feature rich Content Management System (CMS) to power the VLS. Drupal features a number of out-of-the-box features ideally suited for E-Learning systems including:

• Best-in-class User Interface for content management
• Robust Modules
• Strong Development Community
• Enhanced security
• Advanced system of user roles and permissions allowing for a complex content access permission system

Project Highlights

Adobe Media Player
Integration of Flowplayer on the front-end and Adobe Flash Media Server on the back-end allows VLS to stream securely encrypted video lessons to learners. High Definition (HD) video is streamed whenever possible; Lower resolution video is streamed automatically when required to best suit the particular bandwidth and provide the best learning experience for the user.

Group Specific Content
The VLS is targeted toward the various branches of the US Military. All of the content is available to each branch but is customizable by group. Marine and Air Force learners for example, will have access to the same courses but the content will be custom tailored to their needs. Each branch can individually customize each course.

Glossary
The VLS site features an easy to administer yet sophisticated inline glossary. There is no need to disrupt a lesson by having to leave a page to get the definition of a word or the meaning of an acronym.

Editorial Controls
Publishing of new content is run through a custom tailored process of revision and approvals. Administrators of various branches can approve content for publication globally, reject content outright, or request minor revisions to lessons. Lessons may be approved or customized for an individual branch.

Other features include:

• Content Completion Records and Certifications
• Account Management and Delegation
• Enhanced search functionality
• Community features including discussion forums and comments

Drupal E-Learning Features

Drupal supports many features critical to E-Learning systems including:

• Calendars and events
• Custom course catalogues
• Social networking tools such as ‘friends’
• Both personal and group workspaces
• Podcasting
• Personal Image galleries and file repositories
• Learners can create private groups
• Searchable and customized user profiles
• Social Bookmarking
• Personal and course blogs
• Create Wikis

If you are interested to find out more about how Drupal can be employed as the foundation of your E-Learning platform, please click here to contact a member of our team.