Contact Information: Contacts: Matt Wasowski Wimba +1.212.813.3886 mwasowski@wimba.com Meaghan Shields DBC Public Relations +1.202.298.7600 x201 Meaghan@dbcpr.com
Wimba Collaboration Suite Powers Communication Between Three Prestigious Universities
SouthWest London Academic Network to Share Courses and Resources Outside University Walls
| Source: Wimba
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - October 8, 2007) - Wimba, the education technology company that
helps people teach people, today announced that the SouthWest London
Academic Network (the Alliance) has selected the Wimba Collaboration Suite
to facilitate learning across its university and research communities.
Beginning with a one year pilot program, the Alliance will leverage Wimba's
full range of collaboration products to support a unique, shared learning
environment amongst the three participating institutions.
The SouthWest London Academic Network was launched earlier this year as a
strategic alliance between Kingston University, St Georges, University of
London and Royal Holloway, University of London. The Alliance is aiming to
create new opportunities in biological and biomedical sciences, leadership
and management education for health professionals and inter-professional
practice and learning. As part of the venture, a number of collaborative
courses will be delivered by the three universities.
The Wimba Collaboration Suite maintains the intimate and interactive nature
of the classroom in a remote setting. Traditional classroom elements, such
as discussion, collaboration and debate are enabled through interactive
technologies including voice and video features, polling, whiteboarding and
application sharing. Podcasting, content authoring and instant messaging
allow students and faculty to further enjoy a rich experience from their
separate locations, a prerequisite for the type of community the Alliance
is building.
"We're preparing our students, faculty and researchers for the future,"
said Cherie Woolmer, Project Manager for the SouthWest London Academic
Network. "Our National Health Service, the publicly funded health system
in the U.K., and public sector workforce must be well trained and flexible,
and our institutions offer unparalleled coursework and content. With the
Wimba Collaboration Suite, we all benefit -- students, teachers and
professionals across three institutions -- and can truly learn from one
another and hone much needed skills for the future."
The scope of the program is significant. It is the first example of three
universities communicating and collaborating with shared coursework and
resources. Students and faculty at any of the three universities are able
to access coursework and fully participate in classroom activities. The
Wimba Collaboration Suite works seamlessly with existing online course
management systems, in this case, Blackboard and Moodle.
"Like Wimba, the SouthWest London Academic Network recognizes the potential
of highly collaborative networks in education and the impact of established
communities of learning in the advancement of science," said Tommaso
Trionfi, CEO of Wimba. "We look forward to supporting the Alliance as it
expands horizons and breaks barriers for communicating and sharing research
and knowledge."
Wimba offers the most comprehensive suite of collaborative products created
exclusively for education. The Wimba Collaboration Suite -- which includes
Wimba Classroom, Wimba Voice, Wimba Create and Wimba Pronto (formerly known
as Live Classroom, Voice Tools, Course Genie and Pronto, respectively) --
empowers educators and publishers with a unique collaborative approach that
enhances learning, improves outcomes, and increases student retention.
About Wimba
Wimba is a company focused solely on education and dedicated to the
principle that people learn more when they are drawn closer together. Our
collaborative software applications for the online education market enable
institutions to bridge technology and pedagogy by supplementing course
management systems with many of the proven disciplines of in-person
learning environments. Wimba's intuitive solutions enable educators and
students to quickly and easily teach and learn live online, engage in live
chat and instant message exchanges, benefit from oral content being added
to text-based course content, and more. Instructors can also use Wimba
solutions to convert Microsoft Word documents into accessible course
content and to create and administer tests, quizzes, and exams. Our focus
on education and collaboration with educators fuels our product
development.
Wimba. People Teach People. www.wimba.com