Not Just Learning Management

Axio delivers collaboration tools with Great Plains Network ConneXion

The Great Plains Network is a consortium of universities in the Midwestern states of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota dedicated to supporting research and education through the use of advanced networking technology. Members of the network are faced with the unique challenge of collaborating across state lines to complete grants and proposals.

How could a network of people spread over such a great distance distribute information and interact with each other while at the same time reducing travel? With Axio, members of the Great Plains Network can do just that. Through Axio’s online collaboration space, instructors in several states can work together on a grant file, for instance, without ever having to meet each other in person. This unique ability to collaborate across state lines is made possible by Axio’s message board and chat room capabilities. The advantage to this kind of collaboration is the elimination of travel to and from meetings — progress on each initiative can be discussed instead in an online meeting.

Since early 2006, the network has used Axio, or GPN ConneXion, to manage research and education research, known as initiatives. Past initiatives include Middleware and Grid Computing, Plains Water Project, Bioscience Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Group and High Performance Computer Applications.