Elluminate Announces Acquisition of LearnCentral™ Development Partner

PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Elluminate, Inc., the leading provider web, audio, video and social networking solutions that support 21^st century teaching, learning, and collaboration, announced today that it has acquired Edtuit, the company that developed the Elluminate-sponsored LearnCentral™ social learning network. LearnCentral combines asynchronous social networking with Elluminate’s real-time online communication, collaboration, and education environment. The company continues to work on integrating this social learning component with its core suite of web collaboration products.

“All of us at Edtuit are extremely pleased to forge an even closer relationship with Elluminate”

Launched in June of this year, LearnCentral was named Site of the Week by eSchool News magazine in August. The growing global community enables its 20,000-plus members to:

Connect with peers worldwide
Share ideas, discuss issues, solve problems
Meet with colleagues in real time with free Elluminate vRoom™
Host larger meetings and events in free public conference room
Develop and share standards-based curricula
Discover relevant content for the classroom
Improve skills and increase effectiveness
Create and maintain a portfolio of learning content
Join and create groups
Collaborate on projects and best practices
Mentor and be mentored
Increase visibility of academic institution
Conduct professional development training
Attend events with thought leaders in education community
Participate in global dialogue to help transform education

In related news, Elluminate is now offering custom-branded, private versions of LearnCentral. These include:

LearnCentral Portal, an entry-level offering that provided a customized, branded “front door” into the global LearnCentral community
LearnCentral Private Edition, which offers the same customized look and feel plus highly configurable privacy options that enable the community manager to choose which, if any, resources are made available in the public LearnCentral network

“Elluminate's LearnCentral has blended the best features of social networking with a content management system that provides the ability to share resources and content within groups or the whole educational community,” said Stan Silverman, Technology Chair, New York Teacher Centers and Director of Technology-Based Learning Systems Department, NYIT. “The ease of use and multiple functionalities allow districts, schools, educational organizations, and individuals to easily develop and deploy a dynamic communication and sharing network. LearnCentral allows individuals and groups to participate in scheduled cross-network events as well as provide live events for a specific group.”

“All of us at Edtuit are extremely pleased to forge an even closer relationship with Elluminate,” said Gailene Nelson, Co-founder of Edtuit and former Yahoo! Teachers Developer. “We are enthusiastic about continuing to work together to make a difference in the way educators collaborate and learn together. It’s especially exciting for me to see the concept that began as Yahoo! Teachers come to fruition as a viable social learning community that already serves thousands of educators worldwide.”

“Elluminate and Edtuit partnered to make history,” said Maurice Heiblum, President, Elluminate, Inc. “We listened to those in the education community who told us they wanted a destination for education, a way to connect, collaborate, and learn with others on a global level. Today that vision is a reality with LearnCentral. We are excited to take our partnership to the next level by bringing the company officially into the Elluminate family. We welcome our new employees and look forward to the continued enhancement and growth of the LearnCentral community.”

About Elluminate, Inc.

Elluminate, Inc. provides proven, best-in-class web, video, audio, and social networking solutions that support 21^st century teaching, learning, and collaboration. The company’s products and services deliver exceptional outcomes, including enhanced learning experiences, increased retention and completion rates, and higher ROI. Elluminate serves more than 600 million annual web-collaboration minutes to over 7 million teachers and students located in 170 different countries. The winner of several prestigious awards, the company is positioned in the Visionaries Quadrant of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Web Conferencing, 2009.

Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and Pleasanton, California, Elluminate is the trusted choice of prominent academic institutions and corporations, including ADP, Apple Computer, California State University, Florida Virtual School, Georgetown University, K12 Inc., London Knowledge Lab, Los Angeles Unified School District, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Novell, Queen's University, Royal Veterinary College, Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, and many more. For more information, visit http://www.elluminate.com.

Elluminate Live! and No User Left Behind are trademarks or registered trademarks of Elluminate, Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada.