NEW YORK.- What happens when history, technology and storytelling are integrated into a compelling online learning center?  You get an award-winning result.  Plimoth Plantation teamed-up with eLearn Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Lisa Neal, to create "You Are the Historian: Investigating the First Thanksgiving" http://www.plimoth.org/OLC/index_js2.html .  This online learning center for elementary school children is so outstanding that it has won the prestigious Massachusetts Interactive Media Council (MIMC) Best of Education award for 2003. The October 21st awards ceremony had nearly 1,000 attendees at the Boston Copley Place Marriott.  Neal, project manager for the site, says, "The site engages children by challenging them to become historians and conduct an investigation of the harvest celebration in 1621 that later became known as the First Thanksgiving.  The hallmark of the site is its visual and auditory richness, incorporating graphics, audio, and video."

Those interested in learning more about online learning from Lisa Neal will be able to do so at E-Learn 2003 where she will give three presentations. In her keynote address, "Designing the Online Learner Experience," Neal presents techniques to increase learner satisfaction through better design of all phases of the online learner experience -- from signing up for a course through taking a course and what happens following a course.  Neal is teaching a tutorial on "Planning and Delivering a Successful Online Seminar."  In addition, she is presenting a paper, co-authored with Kim Van Wormer, Director of Education at Plimoth Plantation, entitled "Making Learning Fun when Teaching Children Online: Plimoth Plantation’s Online Learning Center." E-Learn 2003 takes place November 7-11 in Phoenix, AZ, sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/ .

eLearn Magazine ( http://www.eLearnMag.org )  puts education and technology in perspective.  This online publication is produced by the ACM and incorporates the knowledge and views of experts in the field of online learning.  eLearn is designed to be the most accurate and unbiased source for news, information, and opinion on the fast-developing field of online education and training.  It serves as a community hub for e-learning professionals and is available free-of-charge on the Web.

eLearn’s content is culled from two distinct sources:  news and features written by professional journalists with expertise in education and technology, and columns and tutorials by industry leaders and stars of academia.  "Our targeted readership includes both providers and consumers of online learning, with a special emphasis on teachers, managers, and administrators working to develop educational programs or classes on the Web," says Ken Korman, eLearn’s Executive Editor.

eLearn Magazine is edited by e-learning industry leader Lisa Neal, Editor-in-Chief, eLearn Magazine, and Ken Korman, ACM’s Executive Editor for Magazines.  "With increased focus from universities and businesses to develop and deliver effective online learning, the time is right for eLearn magazine," says Neal.

eLearn Magazine’s editorial advisory board includes:  Don Norman, Professor of Computer Science, Northwestern University; Randy J. Hinrichs of Microsoft Research; and Michael Feldstein of Feldstein & Associates Consulting.  Each approaches the field from his own perspective.  These and other points of view combine in eLearn Magazine to create a powerful publication for online learning professionals.