Revved-Up Navy E-Learning Site Reaches 1.2 Million

The Navy today officially launched a revamped e-learning network now available to more than 1.2 million sailors, retirees, reservists, family members and civilians, according to THINQ Learning Solutions Inc. of Billerica, Mass.

The new portal, developed and implemented in just five weeks, represents the second generation of Navy e-learning. The original system, called Navy Learning Network, launched last summer and was gradually unveiled to the Navy community.

The new system reaches more personnel at more locations and includes more security classifications than the previous system, according to Hemang Dave, THINQ's chief executive officer.

"Navy training is an immense challenge in terms of the size and distribution of the global audience, the mission-critical nature of the subject matter and the importance of security," Dave said.

The portal, powered by THINQ's learning management system, can be accessed at www.navylearning.com and www.navylearning.navy.mil. The Web sites have each logged more than 19,000 visits since May 1.

Terms of the Navy's multiyear contract with THINQ were not disclosed.

The THINQ learning management system delivers courses through personal learning plans and online catalogs, creates student records and skills profiles and allows students and teachers to collaborate online. Virtual classroom and streaming video training will soon be introduced, according to THINQ.

Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, Md., won the initial one-year, $2 million contract to develop the e-learning network prototype in September 1999. Pathlore, a Columbus, Ohio, subcontractor, developed the original learning management system. Later, Coalescent Technologies Corp. of Orlando, Fla., was retained to maintain and enhance the system.

When complete, the system will likely cost $600 million to $800 million, according to analyst Cushing Anderson of International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass.