According to Scott Danforth, Ph.D., Director of Information Technology at ePath Learning, most Learning Management Systems (LMS) in use today do not provide users with an explicit, supported object model. To capture useful information, users are required to mine data from the relational tables that lie beneath the LMS. Not only is this difficult, requiring knowledge of LMS-specific details, but it does not provide access to high-level information computed from the underlying data. In contrast, an object model provides a high-level view of the information in a system, and enables the development of interfaces that allow users to interact with the system at the higher level they may prefer.

ePath Learning's new approach insulates customers from needing to know the details of how their information is represented within relational tables while providing access to application-level computed information. "This is accomplished by integrating a high-level object model, a pattern-based object query language, and XSLT-based output generation," said Danforth. "The ASAP-OM object model expresses application-level associations between objects, for example, between learners and their course registrations. The ASAP-OA pattern-based object query language uses associations in the object model to guide an object-walker through the ASAP information space, allowing it to locate objects of interest and return an XML tree representing the visited objects and their associations. Finally, XSLT transforms the returned XML into the desired output representation; for instance, HTML for display on a user's browser, or a text file for integration with a Human Resource Information System."

Drawing upon its experience and expertise within the custom courseware and elearning development industry, ePath Learning stands alone as a single source provider for affordable eLearning solutions. The Company offers a comprehensive suite of web-based elearning tools, professional services and content that enables non-programmers to rapidly and affordably develop, deploy, assess and manage enterprise-wide training and knowledge management initiatives. The company's flagship product, ePath Learning ASAP+, is an Integrated Learning Management Service (iLMS), combining the power of a database management system, the global reach of the Internet and the ease of use of an online elearning service. For more information, visit http://www.ePathLearning.com.