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Product Description |
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Registration
allows students to self-enroll for training courses, or
it enables an administrator/manager to enroll students.
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Routing
allows students to be directed to courses they are authorized
to take. Administrators/managers can control the order
in which students take courses based on criteria, such
as prerequisite lessons and test scores.
Routing
itself has 3 components:
1) Right Content for the
2) Right Person at the
3) Right Time
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Reporting
allows students to obtain summaries of their own test
scores and training completed (history). Administrators
can see summaries for all students. Managers (also called
sub-administrators) can see summaries for the students
for whom they are responsible.
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Who
uses TraineeTracker and how?
There are three levels of TraineeTracker users: system
administrators (who install and maintain the software), managers
(sub-administrators), and students. Using TraineeTracker,
students can access interactive training anytime or anywhere
they have Internet Web access. Administrators and managers
use TraineeTracker to assign training courses to students
and to track student progress and test scores from any place
in the world they have Internet Web access.
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Why
use ColdFusion as the Web Scripting Language?
ColdFusion
is the easiest to learn (especially for non-programmers)
Web programming language. ColdFusion runs under Windows
(including 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP) with good choice of shared-hosting
ISP's at low prices. ColdFusion also runs great under Linux/UNIX.
As a rule of thumb, a good ASP (Microsoft Active Server
Pages) programmer will take three times as long as one ColdFusion
programmer to accomplish the same thing . ASP runs only
on Windows. Some state that ASP is "free", but
this is not so when you consider the cost of Windows over
Linux. PHP stands between ASP and CF for difficulty. JSP
(Java Server Pages) is not
truly Open-Source and is more difficult to learn than
ColdFusion and PHP (see Yahoo
whitepaper).
Why
use ColdFusion Express 4.5 as the base for code?
We deliberately
made the base code CF Express for TraineeTracker LMS for
the following reasons:
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ColdFusion
Express is a free version of ColdFusion that is based
on Version 4 of ColdFusion. While you can no longer download
the software from Macromedia (2 new versions since version
4 - Version 5 and latest MX version 6), you can get ColdFusion
Express by going to Amazon.com.
At Amazon, you can purchase a copy of "Sams Teach
Yourself ColdFusion Express in 24 Hours" by Ben Forta
and Sue Hove which comes with a CD (ColdFusion Express
Version 4 is on the CD). All new purchases of our TraineeTracker
LMS will have the book included. ColdFusion Express tags
and functions are easier to remember than the full set
of tags, functions, etc. with the latest version (less
to learn).
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Many
small companies etc. cannot afford the $1300 for the Professional
Version for each production server it is used on. When
you buy from us, the base will be ColdFusion Express which
can be put on as many servers as you want. Use for development,
testing, and Intranet deployment. It will run with the
latest MX version. But if you are using MX features -
you must use MX software. If you want to use MX features
- you can purchase Studio MX which comes with a single
user license of ColdFusion. The standard TraineeTracker
LMS can run on shared hosting servers that support MX.
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You
can go forward with the Express Version. The reverse is
not true
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If
you need more features than can be provided with the ColdFusion
Express base - we suggest you go with an Open-Source LMS
such as Moodle and/or ILIAS that has all the features
of the big proprietary LMS's that start at $50,000.
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TraineeTracker
LMS will run on shared hosting servers that support MX
as well as shared hosting servers that support ColdFusion
4.5 and ColdFusion 5..
What
makes TraineeTracker different from other LMS systems?
TraineeTracker
had three major design goals:
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Be developed using hardware and software that is supported
worldwide by Internet Service Providers (ISP's).
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Run on Windows NT/2000/XP and Linux platforms.
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Start with TraineeTracker using ColdFusion and have the
ability to eventually convert courses to run under an
Open
Source LMS that is SCORM complaint. As of 9/2/03,
we will support Open-Source LMS Moodle
through our sister company (GlobalLiteracy.org).
By 10/6/03, we will also support Open-Source LMS ILIAS.
Current
TraineeTracker development and deployment is with Windows
2000/XP using ColdFusion with
MS Access (can also use MS SQL Server) database and Linux
using MySQL database. This allows it to be deployed by Internet
Service Providers (ISP's) who support ColdFusion and ODBC
databases without having to add special software to the
ISP server.
TraineeTracker
is compatible with courses developed in popular Web HTML
authoring tools and Flash.
Some
minor modifications are required by TraineeTracker System
Administrators for Web pages developed using tools such
as Dreamweaver and Homesite:
1. Change
all .HTM and .HTML files extensions to .CFM. This is
done to provide session security for the Web pages.
2.
For
each Web page to be tracked (displayed in a history
file when a student accesses that page), a one-line
piece of code must be inserted into the Web page.
3. For scores (from tests built with tools such as TQuizzer)
to be posted to the database, certain changes may have
to be made to Web pages containing quizzes (pasting
code into the file).
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