The whole campus online – WebCampus

As the global initiative for education available to everyone was recognized as one of the Millennium Development Goals by United Nations, the world of online education started blooming. Virtual learning environments have had an increasing presence not only as web-based edition of university courses, offered by websites like Coursera and edX, but also in areas that are not strictly education – all kinds of businesses, in fact. For today, we selected one of the learning management system (LMS) from the same company that is to thank for Moodle – Buenos Aires based AXG Tecnonexo – and this platform is called WebCampus.

Introduction

For a software, being a LMS says a lot even before you get to know a specific one – it is expected to cover the learning materials, academic records, communication between the trainer and the trainee, a web portal, and any financial transactions concerning the course. WebCampus also includes the complete syllabus, ePortfolio, student’s assignments, and optional chat. The purpose of this kind of education is not solely academic advancement – customer base for WebCampus includes medium and large business in domain of technology, as well as government agencies, banks, legal offices, healthcare industry…

Since available in English and Spanish language, WebCampus has users mostly in the country of origin – Argentina, but also throughout South America, the US, as well as in Spain and the UK. Some of them are eminent organizations, e.g. Bank of America, Center for Financial Training, Florida Power & Light; list doesn’t end here: it also consists of regional branches of renowned brands, such as Coca-Cola, Ford, Nestle, Johnson & Johnson, etc., while others are mostly various state and private universities. The platform is compatible with all of the frequent browsers – Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Safari. There is no news indicating any soon release of a mobile-app version of the platform.

So, how does WebCampus work?

First step is, of course, to log in. Most universities supply their students with a unique log-in name at the start of the school year, while companies have several different approaches. Information about WebCampus on Tecnonexo’s Web page is scarce, but websites of few universities currently using it provide comprehensive guidelines (namely Fairleigh Dickinson University). Once you are authorized, a window for all of your activities shows up and the navigation is user-friendly enough for anyone. Literally the whole campus is laid out in front of you – whether you’d like to contact your lecturer, listen to a previous class, or check your upcoming obligations, it is all in one place, your WebCampus homepage.

One of the features Tecnonexo is most proud of is certainly the exam engine embedded in WebCampus. The lecturer decides on the exact form of the exam he considers most appropriate for the group in question – quiz with given answers, open-ended survey, or something third. After the exam is finished, the results are immediately shown (colour code exists even) and it can be reviewed any time. By allowing this, WebCampus made online exams even more transparent than the offline ones, at least according to feedback from students of universities where WebCampus is in use. Additionally, developing simulations and online games for studying process is also made available, and several instruction methods are incorporated: apart from e-Learning, virtual clasrooms, interactive courses, and multimedia can also be selected.

Voice of the users

Although there are not many impressions about WebCampus present online, the general impression is that those who tried it tend to stick with it. Live training sessions and synchronous learning are mentioned to be the features users are really satisfied with. However, lack of upgrade possibilities and maintenance of ongoing problems are seen as the main flaws of WebCampus, but obviously not enough discouraging to change their chosen platform.

Check these out as well:

WebCampus  product page on DiscoverCloud.com 

WebCampus on DiscoverCloud’s KnowledgeBase

P.S: Here’s a video if you want to see it in action.