Learning Portals 

• created by faculty or programs
• organized around discipline or course

Examples - Visiting any of these sites is an invitation to linger and learn. 

• "Silva Rhetoricae" 
  Dr. Gideon Burton of Brigham Young University  
  Dr. Burton uses the metaphor of a forest to provide users a guide to classical and Renaissance rhetoric. Constructed in frames, the left side lists the trees, or major categories; the right side lists flowers, Greek and Latin terms. 
• "Professor Freedman’s Math Help Site" 
  Prof. Ellen Freedman of Camden Co. Comm. College
  Prof. Freedman presents information on basic math and algebra in a site designed for the adult learner. It is a delightful, entertaining, and supportive collection with animation and music. 
•  "American History Civil War to Present" 
  Prof. Stanley K. Schultz of the University of Wisconsin 
  Prof. Schultz’s pages are tightly integrated to the course it supports. An especially interesting section is the "Hitchhiker’s Guide to American History," which provides content and presentation ratings on web sites related to class lectures.

Some Learning Portals provide a combination of courses, collaboration and community. These are frequently designed to provide training to individuals or industry, are set up as|
e-commerce offerings, and serve as aggregators of course offerings. An excellent collection of links to these sites is available from the Human Directory Project.

Other Commercial Versions of Learning Portals are designed to create communities of learners among instructors using web software.

• WebCT.com   Learning communities are classified as established or emerging.  This site has an interesting balance of materials.

Additional information

Hitchhiker's Guide to Learning Portals, by Audrey Choden, a look at commercial training portals

Learning Portals for K-12 Education and Beyond, Cynthia Sistek-Chandler, Converge Magazine, September 2000, excellent guide to exemplary education portals