During the selection process, the OU began with fourteen applicants, from which three were invited to tender proposals. Products were rated based on technical capabilities, accessibility for individuals with disabilities, and cross-faculty stakeholder and user evaluations that covered a range of essential and desirable criteria. Elluminate Live! scored the highest on user features and functionality and was also the strongest on technical requirements. The Elluminate solution met all the mandatory requirements stated in the invitation to tender and provided a stronger range of features suited to the teaching and learning needs of the OU.

"I'm delighted that The Open University has chosen Elluminate, which was the front-runner out of the many collaboration packages we evaluated", said Niall Sclater, Director, Virtual Learning Environment Programme.


"The Elluminate tools have the potential to alter the learning experience for our nearly 200,000 distance learners dramatically, bringing them closer to each other and to their tutors. I'm looking forward to a productive partnership with Elluminate, ensuring that our extensive experience in distance learning can be used to further enhance a great set of tools for teaching and learning."

"I like the quick visual polling and indicators that students can give as to their understanding of the discussion without detracting from the discussion itself", said Rhodri Thomas, VLE Programme. "I also like the ability for students to catch up if their connection slows down by speeding up audio, and that the session moderators can see if large image files are visible to all participants before moving on."

"We are thrilled to welcome The Open University into the Elluminate family", said Maurice Heiblum, president of Elluminate, Inc. "As the largest Moodle implementation in the world, the OU will integrate Elluminate Live! to provide live, real-time online interactions for its entire faculty and student population, including a significant number of students with disabilities."