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News Release

Last modified: Friday, July 30, 2010

IU announces cost-free lynda.com access through 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 30, 2010

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University is constantly expanding and refining its IT training offerings to ensure students, faculty, and staff can choose their desired method of learning and a time that fits their schedule. The university continues this strong commitment to IT education and training by entering into a three-year contract extension with lynda.com, a leading provider of video-based learning on a variety of information technology topics.

The new contract, negotiated by University Information Technology Services (UITS), IU's central IT organization, comes on the heels of a successful pilot program that gauged the university community's interest in broadening its software skills with a wider range of elearning options. IU is now the largest user group to partner with lynda.com, which also services other universities such as Duke University, Penn State University, and Miami University.

Through the partnership, students, faculty, and staff at all eight IU campuses enjoy fee-free access to lynda.com's Online Training Library®, which includes more than 833 courses and related exercise files created by subject matter experts. The lynda.com library provides comprehensive instruction on a variety of topics, including Adobe Creative Suite applications, Microsoft Office, open source software, multimedia, web design, and programming.

"One of the most exciting things to result from this contract is that professors can now incorporate lynda.com training into their yearly curricula," said Associate Dean for Learning Technologies Stacy Morrone. "This enables students to receive self-paced instruction on a range of new technologies while developing skills that will help them gain a competitive edge upon entering the workforce."

IU students, faculty, and staff can choose the specific training they need, learning by subject, software, or vendor. If a particular trainer is especially helpful, they can even choose to learn by author. Lynda.com offers robust search mechanisms, unbiased coverage, and timely new releases, opening up infinite training possibilities, from quick looks at particular modules to ongoing topical sessions.

"What I appreciate most about lynda.com is that it features tools that meet the needs of users at every experience level," said IU School of Journalism Programmer and Computer Analyst Andrew Koop. "I can learn anything from using a filter in Photoshop to performing a DNS configuration in Snow Leopard Server. lynda.com also gives me the flexibility to watch tutorials at any time using a variety of devices, including my iPad and iPhone."

About lynda.com

lynda.com is recognized worldwide as a trusted educational resource in the field of digital arts. The lynda.com website celebrated its 10th year online in 2005, and publishes training in major software packages from Adobe, Macromedia, Apple, Microsoft, Corel, Autodesk, and others.

About IT at IU

Empowering People (EP) is Indiana University's comprehensive strategic plan for information technology. Designed to be visionary, realistic, and relevant to the mission of Indiana University, the plan highlights teaching and learning innovation as one of the university's grand challenges for the coming years. Ultimately, EP calls on the IT community to provide resources and support for experimentation with and implementation of a range of creative and innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

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