According to Paul B. McKimmy, Ed.D, Director of Technology and Distance Programs for the College of Education, Hawaii has a statewide teacher shortage, in part because of its high cost of living. In 2002, the College's office of Technology and Distance Programs was established to address this need. While the college has a hybrid distance education program in which students and faculty travel three weekends every semester for face-to-face time, travel expenses are high. In addition, the University of Hawaii system also uses interactive television, which is difficult and costly to expand.

"In an effort to shift from travel to synchronous education, we are using Elluminate Live! to eliminate a single weekend of travel this semester, which represents about $4500 in savings," said McKimmy. "In addition, Elluminate Live! will begin to eclipse the need for interactive TV technology. I see a lot of potential for Elluminate Live! to help reduce expenses, expand our course delivery area, and enable faculty meetings and professional development."

"As someone who has been in the counseling field for 30 years, I feel using cutting edge elearning technology like Elluminate Live! to relate to students in new ways has reinvigorated my career," said Professor Michael D'Andrea of the College of Education Department of Counselor Education. "It's been particularly important for one of my disabled students who lives on Kauai. With Elluminate, he can simply stay in his office to participate, eliminating the need to fly in each Tuesday for class."

"It's exciting to partner with the College of Education at UH Manoa to help in their mission to alleviate that state's shortage of teachers," said Maurice Heiblum, Elluminate's VP of Sales & Marketing. "Elluminate Live! Academic Edition was developed to be accessible to all students, even those with disabilities, providing a superior user experience that facilitates communication and collaboration between students and instructors, even at a distance."

The University of Hawaii System includes ten campuses and dozens of education, training and research centers across the Hawaiian Islands, with a total enrollment of more than 50,000 students. The oldest and largest campus, UH Manoa is a premier research facility of international standing. Today, more than 20,400 students are enrolled in Manoa courses, on campus or via distance delivery. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Manoa is the most diverse campus in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.hawaii.edu.

Elluminate, Inc. provides proven, award-winning solutions for real-time online elearning and web collaboration that enhance the learning experience, increase retention and completion rates, and remove traditional barriers to knowledge. Delivering best-in-class performance, Elluminate features high-quality VoIP, robust interactive functionality for participants and moderators, and unique No User Left Behind technology regardless of platform or Internet connection speed. For more information, visit http://www.elluminate.com