An Academic Learning Portal:Implementation and Usage An Academic Learning Portal: Implementation and Usage David Bregman, Itamar Shabtai, Israel Dac, Gila Keinan, Arik Korman The School of Business Administration, The College of Management, Israel, E-mail: dudibreg@colman.ac.il Abstract Three years ago, the College of Management ICT (Information and communication technology) steering committee decided to replace its learning content management system (LCMS) due to its inability to support a large number of users and newer technologies. It had been in use for seven years. After comprehensive assessment of several alternatives, the College chose HighLearn as its academic learning portal (ALP). HighLearn is a Web- based LCMS providing a complete solution for managing and delivering courses and course content, supporting a wide variety of online learning methodologies and integrating all types of digital resources required for teaching courses. During the first semester of use, a small group of students and staff members assessed this ALP. Within the academic year, all academic staff members and students were free to use the system and the usage rate exceeded 60%. Since then, the college’s decision to regard the ALP as a mandatory element in each course in the curriculum has resulted in a usage rate of over 80%. Introduction Three years ago, the College of Management ICT steering committee decided to replace its learning content management system (LCMS) due to its inability to support a large number of users and newer technologies. It had been in use for seven years. After comprehensive assessment of several alternatives, the College chose HighLearn as its academic learning portal (ALP). HighLearn is a Web- based LCMS developed by Britannica Knowledge Systems, Inc. (BKS), to address a broad range of educational institution needs. It provides a complete set of solutions for managing and delivering course materials as well as forms of communication. With HighLearn, educational institutions can set up and maintain a central learning hub that helps faculty members rapidly create on-line courses. With the capability of supporting various learning methodologies, HighLearn enables instructors to implement a variety of online learning methodologies and to integrate all types of digital resources in their courses. Courses can be instructor-led or self-paced. The system also supports the establishment of virtual communities for o sharing knowledge and collaborative learning. Once the system was introduced into the College, its use was examined for one semester by groups of students and selected faculty members. After receiving their feedback, the steering committee gave the “green light” to implement the full perational process, enabling the entire Fourth International Conference on eLearning for Knowledge-Based Society, November 18-19, 2007, Bangkok, Thailand 1 6.