SharePoint is a revolutionary web server technology.  Think of it as a foundation that provides the core user interface and management system to enable mere mortals to design a complex, role based web application.  Many of our business, educational, and social working relationships could be described as membership/role based.  If find myself recommending it to more and more customers at Blue Sphere. 

I actually started using SharePoint eight years ago to help manage my young business.  Microsoft is planning to release version four in the next year.  SharePoint has become their latest rising star.  There are already thousands of add ons that can be integrated with SharePoint to help it achieve a specific task or purpose.  Many of these are free.  And a version of SharePoint is also free with Windows server products, such as Windows 2003 or 2008.  Many more features are available in  Microsoft Office SharePoint Server version of SharePoint (aka MOSS).

As a psychologist turned technologist, my psychometric past is being rekindled by the possibility of using SharePoint to enable testing systems.  SharePoint is fast becoming a revolutionary tool in the software world. Educational and psychological measurement has been software enabled for quite some time, but web enabled versions of these systems are still rare and expensive to create/maintain. 

Enter the SharePoint Learning Kit (SLK), which is a free learning management system built to integrate with SharePoint.  This platform allows teachers to administer elearning content (including online tests) through a web based interface.  Students log in and see their elearning assignments and/or tests.  Scores and completion of objectives are made available to the teacher.  All of this is completely customizeable because of it's open source license.  The price -- also free.

Psychometricians, or test creators as they are otherwise known, are actually in high demand right now.  Test authoring, especially for online test creation, is particulary sought after.  As a society, we are finding more and more reasons to use online testing as form of gathering critical information.  Test authoring tools such as Courselab are now available that enable teachers and psychometricians (with technial skills) to create their own test content.  And these tools are compatible with the SLK and SharePoint. The price for Courselab -- free.

These free tools aren't just for online testing, they are also for creating elearning content.  So with a little customization, and the right tools, we technically inclined souls can now get on with the business of revolutionizing education and training.