== CollegeBrain.net Course Management ==
CollegeBrain.net is a free online course management tool, similar to Moodle, Sakai and Blackboard. This tool was developed initially as part of a project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Current Course Management Solutions

Online e-learning, or online course management are growing in popularity at colleges and universities. Currently, these institutions can choose between open-source solutions such as Moodle and the Sakai Project, or use licensed solutions such as Blackboard or WebCT. <ref>http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0311.pdf</ref> The problem with these solutions is that they cost money for schools to implement.<ref>http://appl003.lsu.edu/itsweb/cioweb.nsf/$Content/CMS?OpenDocument</ref> While this is obvious in the case of Blackboard and WebCT, many instructors and schools don't realize the tremendous overhead cost of deploying an open source solution. These costs can vary and a great breakdown can be found courtesy of a report by a committee at LSU here: (http://appl027.lsu.edu/itsweb/cmsweb.nsf/$Content/Homepage Content/$File/CMSProjectReport_10_30.pdf). <ref>http://appl027.lsu.edu/itsweb/cmsweb.nsf/$Content/Homepage Content/$File/CMSProjectReport_10_30.pdf</ref>

Note that the costs for open source include purchasing machines, maintaining those machines, paying IT staff for additional support, electricity, extra bandwidth, etc. This adds up hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars every year. CollegeBrain.net offers the same solution at no cost. The servers are hosted by CollegeBrain.net (on or off campus), everything is maintained for free, and there are a few added perks. CollegeBrain.net includes free customer support, free training (on campus, or online), and uses the latest security measures including SSL<ref>https://www.collegebrain.net/features.php</ref> With open source solutions, it is widely known that support is something you must pay for by using a third party. This alone is a huge savings to any institution.

With the cost of tuition going up in California<ref>http://www.highereducation.org/reports/affordability_supplement/affordability_1.shtml</ref> and the cost of living rising<ref>http://www.huddersfield1.co.uk/america/may_2005/cost_living.htm</ref>, education is often the first to get its funding reduced, yet it is faulted for lack of progress<ref>http://www.educatednation.com/category/education/</ref>. Many government officials are finally beginning to push for more educational funding<ref>http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/11/20/474908.aspx</ref>, and this is one way where money can be saved without sacrificing the quality of the education in the United States.

Features

CollegeBrain.net has many of the same features that all other course management solutions have<ref>https://www.collegebrain.net/features.php</ref>. Many of the features have been directly designed or influenced by current course instructors using the system. In fact, instructors are encouraged to send emails to their feedback account and help shape and reform the tools<ref>https://www.collegebrain.net/contact.php</ref>. The principle behind this is that the instructors should be able to decide how they want to manage their courses<ref>https://www.collegebrain.net/aboutus.php</ref>. Sort of like a "by the people, for the people" philosophy.

With this said, CollegeBrain.net has been competitively developing features to surpass traditional course management providers. For the past year it has delivered, putting out new, stable features that are intuitive to use and comprehensive. As more instructors join this unique network and help it evolve, the cost-saving benefits should be very clear to institutions. For instructors, the hope is that schools choose to drop their current course management suites altogether in favor of allowing course instructors to have the freedom to manage their courses as individuals connected to a large network of support from peers all over the nation.

Revenue

The company uses GoogleAds to make money. This is what enables them to offer the service absolutely free of charge. The company does not plan to ever charge money to any of its users. This is a revenue model similar to Facebook and MySpace.

Location

CollegeBrain.net is based out of Santa Barbara, California. The first school they opened up access to on the network was the University of California, Santa Barbara. Since then they have opened up access to several other California schools. If successful, they plan to open up the network to the entire nation<ref>https://www.collegebrain.net/aboutus.php</ref>.

Notes and References