1.Does it employ the latest technology?
2.Does the vendor offer free tech support to your IT people?
3.Are student and faculty support services included?
4.Are these support services available 24 x 7 x 365 or do extra charges accrue after certain hours?

I am often surprised at how many education providers choose their online learning technology based solely upon the functions and features of the course and campus software. There is much more to having a quality online learning program than the software you employ to teach the class. You need to be sure to get satisfactory answers to all these questions before you pick a solution for your school.

Some of the biggest software providers utilize outdated technology and try to get around it is with costly programming patches that you pay for either outright in real dollars or indirectly through system downtime, lost data, student access issues, etc. Often you pay extra for tech support and training as well. A good Help Desk service for your students and faculty can cost upwards of $50-60,000 even when you staff it with students. If you want your online program to run effortlessly 24 x 7 x 365 you can expect to pay a surcharge in the form of ?enhanced? service packages. All these fees can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

Some of the more well-known commercial eLearning systems are Blackboard, WebCT, eCollege, Angel and Desire2Learn. For the do-it-yourselfers you can choose Moodle or Sakai. Their policies differ as to what is included as standard and when extra charges kick in. You would do well to understand this fully.

In the ten years that I have been involved in developing eLearning programs I have developed my own biases and preferences based on real-world experience. For example, after examining all of the commercial eLearning systems in depth, my own personal preference is for eCollege?.

When I look at who is using eCollege's products and services I can see that I am not alone in my views. Some of the largest providers of online learning in North America utilize the eCollege full-service solution because of its proven reliability and easy-to-use collaborative learning environment. These include Strayer, DeVry, Corinthian, Laureate, Lincoln Educational Services, Kaplan, Westwood, Pierce College, Golden Gate, Park University, EMU, University of Colorado, University of Wyoming and Rutgers. Enrollments in fully online courses and programs supported by eCollege numbered 465,000 in the first term of the Fall 2006 academic year.

Perhaps the biggest benefit that draws people to eCollege is that all of the hardware, software and support services are under one roof. Their package enables you to avoid the heavy upfront investment required to build an in-house system and support that year after year. It includes the online campus, the course management system, fully online course evaluations, free upgrades, full hosting, data storage and unlimited scalability, 24 x 7 x 365 security monitoring and Help Desk support, faculty training and daily administrative support, to help your staff run your online campus. Most importantly, if you're a small school the eCollege model enables your current IT staff to refocus their time and resources on more value-added projects around the school.

In the eLearning industry this sort of offering means the vendor ?owns the problem? if and when it occurs. Having a system that is fully integrated and one single point of accountability is the best way to insure a high-quality experience for students. This translates into strong retention rates and enrollment growth.

In the past the challenge for small education providers that wanted services like those offered by eCollege was the cost. Now, the way to circumvent this obstacle is to utilize the services of vendors approved by eCollege to service the small school market. This enables smaller organizations to use a service like eCollege without having to make a large upfront investment or pay sizeable licensing fees.

This can be a low-risk way for smaller schools to get access to the same powerful Learning Management System as the largest and fastest-growing online degree, certificate and professional development programs in the country.