Students in two Computer Information Systems classes taught by Dr. Deborah Buell, in the Fall of 2002, beta tested the SAP-VIP 4.6 Learning Management System Course. The course taught SAP 4.6 Basic Navigational Skills. Dr. Buell’s students were grateful for the opportunity to beta test the course and very excited about gaining new skills that would make them more competitive in the information technology industry. Students provided feedback via an online evaluation survey on the course content, screen design and navigational strategy.

VIP will be presenting at the online conference “Best Practices in e-learning”. This Online Conference will take place in the University of Calgary next August 12th and 13th, 2003. VIP’s paper and presentation entitled, “The 3Rs of Learning Management Systems: The Rhetoric, Research and Reality”, will be presented by Dr. Deborah Buell, VIP’s Director of Educational Programs and e-learning.

VIP was one of the presenters at the Eighth Annual Teaching of the Community Colleges Online Conference (TCC 2003) April 22-24. The TCC Online Conference takes place from Kapi’olani Community College in Hawaii. The conference theme for this year was “THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE IN ONLINE AND HYBRID COURSES” VIP’s paper and presentation entitled, “The 3Rs of Learning Management Systems: The Rhetoric, Research and Reality”; presented the student experiences in a hybrid course that used online course web sites as well as VIP’s SAP-VIP 4.6 Basic Navigational Skills Learning Management System Course (SAP-VIP 4.6 LMS). The paper and presentation discussed the results of the beta test of the SAP-VIP 4.6 LMS. Computer information system students at the University of Houston Downtown participated as beta test users of VIP’s SAP-VIP 4.6 LMS. The students also completed online evaluations of the LMS News.