Wimba Blog

Blackboard Collaborate Progress Report

2010-08-25T11:48:30Z

With the promise of keeping you updated about the progress of Blackboard Collaborate, here is a new statement from Maurice Heiblum, President, Blackboard Collaborate:

To the Elluminate and Wimba Communities,

My name is Maurice Heiblum and I’m the President of Blackboard Collaborate, the new division of Blackboard created by the acquisition of Wimba and Elluminate on July 7. (I’m hoping this isn’t the first that you’ve heard this news, but if it is, please click HERE for more details.)

Since that day, we’ve been hard at work on our three most important goals:

1.    Customer experience - Ensuring that you continue to have the great client experience that Elluminate and Wimba have always provided, especially during this back to school time.
2.    New team - Bringing Elluminate, Wimba and Blackboard teams together into a single, cohesive unit so we can carry that high standard of client care forward.
3.    Roadmap - Creating a vision for how our collective solutions come together to help you better engage students, improve outcomes and save time while trimming cost.

As we make progress on these goals, I want to make sure you receive frequent communications from me and our team. I’ll start today by providing an update on how the teams you interact with most have come together. I’m happy to say that the headline is very consistent with our vision going into this new stage. We thought we could build even stronger teams together than apart, with relatively limited change overall, particularly in the areas closest to delivering you a great customer experience. You’ll ultimately be the judge of whether we were right, but I’m feeling good about our first steps.

Customer Support – The people who supported you before will be the same ones who support you moving forward. Zemina Hasham will lead a combined Wimba and Elluminate support organization that continues unchanged.

Professional Services – Led by Aaron Bond, we stand ready to help you implement our solutions and provide training and certification programs on our products.

Sales and Customer Success - The combined Sales and Customer Success teams will also continue to be led by familiar faces – Paul Roberge, Kristian Photopoulos and Thomas Jepsen.   While we have attempted to maintain consistent points of contact, there might be some change in your individual account teams. We’ll inform you of those in email within the next few days.

As excited as we are about the new organization, combining the Wimba and Elluminate teams under the Blackboard umbrella has not been easy.   As is inevitable when joining similar companies, we’re losing some of our team members who have been like family and have helped build our companies.   We are deeply grateful to each of them for their contributions and wish them all the very best. They will be missed.

Lastly, know that we’re also continuing to make progress on the longer term product strategy we committed to start sharing at Educause in October. The combined development organization for Blackboard Collaborate is of course bigger and stronger than either of our development organizations were on their own so we’re eager to start sharing our view of the road ahead for their work. The integrated product strategy and marketing teams, led by Annie Chechitelli, Mike Mabey, Steve Kann, Rajeev Arora and Valerie Schreiner are hard at work on the roadmap and look forward to sharing more detail with you in October.

I’ve shared all the names above because of the personal relationships that many of you have built with our Sales, Support, Services, Products and Customer Success teams. We value these close relationships immensely and I hope the continuity in our leadership team above will showcase our commitment to continue our philosophy of always putting our customers first.

If you attend the Educause conference, I hope to see you and talk to you there. If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to email me directly or the team at CollaborateLeadership@blackboard.com.

Thanks,

Maurice

A Groundswell for Lecture Capture via Virtual Classroom Technology

2010-07-28T13:50:54Z

As more than 500 of you know, there has been a groundswell in the last 12 months about wanting to use virtual classroom technology for lecture capture. This was never more evident than yesterday when I had half-a-thousand educators from schools of all shapes, sizes, and locations register to learn about how they can conduct lecture capture via Wimba.

Though it has always been possible to archive live online classes, help sessions, or meetings held in virtual classrooms, the definition of ‘lecture capture’ means a few different things depending on who you ask. I’ve found three pervasive definitions:

1) To capture activity in a face-to-face classroom
2) To capture activity in a live online classroom
3) To simultaneously capture activity in a face-to-face and live online classroom (with students attending the same class either in-person or live online)

For years, many schools have purchased separate software applications to satisfy definitions 1 and 2. Most schools purchased a hardware-based system that allowed them to capture audio and video of instructors in a physical classroom, while the same schools also purchased a software-based system that allowed them to conduct real-time virtual classes – and subsequently archive them. But now that pennies are tight as budgets get stretched, it seems that many schools are finding ways to utilize virtual classroom technology to satisfy all their capturing needs.

Most schools already have a bevy of microphones, speakerphones, and video cameras. Now that Wimba Classroom inputs can accommodate countless a/v devices, schools are now figuring out that they can use their existing a/v equipment, hook it into Wimba Classroom, and suddenly be able to not only capture in-room classes, but can even pipe those classes live to online students and record all that activity as well. Truly killing two birds with one software.

Though several schools (most notably California State University Chico) have been capturing face-to-face and live online classes for years, the majority of institutions worldwide are just starting to explore this now. However, if the high volume of interest in yesterday’s lecture capture presentation is any indication, Chico State’s going to have a lot of company sooner than later.

Wimba Versus Airplanes

2010-07-21T17:13:57Z

“Who is your main competitor?” an attendee asked my boss at the Training 2000 Conference.

“The airlines,” replied our CEO.

This was an actual exchange at the first trade show I ever attended as an employee of Wimba (well, then HorizonLive). I thought our CEO’s response was a bit snarky and/or presumptuous and/or way too boastful, and I quickly dismissed his reply.

So here I am, nearly 120 months to-the-day, and I just happened to recall this conversation. You see, a few minutes ago I wrapped up a Wimba Distinguished Lecture Series presentation that featured Randy Wald of the North Dakota University System and Scott Swanson of North Dakota State University as they not only discussed their myriad uses of Wimba throughout the state, but also the savings they’ve derived.

It turns out that the North Dakota folks are saving time and money left-and-right by using Wimba for everything from instruction (from music composition to architecture) and help, to meetings (from Extension Services meetings to disaster preparation sessions) and other non-instructional uses (from candidate job interviews to virtual conferences) – all without asking its dispersed staff to drive to face-to-face meeting sites or to a few hardware-based video conferencing sites.

For any of you who have made the 400-mile drive from Williston, ND to Fargo, ND – especially in the winter – you know it’s no picnic and that flying is definitely the preferred method of transportation. Therefore, now that so much travel is being Wimba-ized, maybe our CEO in 2000 was right all along when he made that boastful statement. Maybe we are competing against the travel industry in some form or another. I just hope I don’t have to start doing competitive research and analysis against the airlines.

Hugs, Handshakes, and Collaborations at BbWorld 2010

2010-07-14T15:12:18Z

Hi Everyone,
I apologize in advance, but this posting will likely be quite brief as I only have about 14 free minutes to write this. The reason why I’m so rushed? Because we’re all swamped here at BbWorld 2010 in Orlando.

Obviously the question that everyone here first asks me is, “So Matt, what do you think about the acquisition?" But what’s most interesting about this question is the different backgrounds of those who ask it. For instance, I’ve had several long-time Wimba customers ask me this question and it seems they ask it out of genuine curiosity and excitement because they’ve seen Wimba/HorizonLive/Horizon Wimba go through many iterations in the past. I’ve had several customers former ANGEL – and now Blackboard Learn – customers ask me this question and it seems they ask it out of genuine excitement and curiosity because they saw ANGEL go through a similar process last year and were mostly pleased with how smoothly everything went. And I’ve also had several customers show concern about the changes out of concern because we’ve developed such deep relationships and they want to ensure these relationships remain strong. This has floored me! Allow me to explain.

I’m not much of a hugger. I prefer a handshake or a wave, but for some reason hugs just don’t sit well with me. I’m not exactly sure why, but I’m just wired to stay away from physical contact. So the fact that I’ve had countless customers in the last 24 hours run up to me and hug me and thank me – and the entire Wimba team – has been more gratifying than I can begin to explain in the remaining 6 minutes I have to finish this post. I always suspected we made a meaningful impact on our customers, but never could a suspicion be more confirmed than this one has since I arrived. Our customers have come out of the woodwork to show their support and to thank us for all the work and care we’ve demonstrated. So for that, I can’t thank them enough.

However, I do want to add that what’s been even more gratifying is that I’ve seen a similar number of hugs happening at the Elluminate booth as well. I had a hunch for a long time that Elluminate’s customers were just as happy and loyal as ours, and that hunch too has been confirmed. I’ve seen Elluminate’s blue-clad staff receive hug and after hug after hug.

The reason I’m pointing out all of this hugging and complimenting – along with the positive comments we’ve heard from so many former ANGEL folks – is that the future keeps getting brighter and brighter. Blackboard Learn President Ray Henderson and the rest of the Blackboard Collaborate transition team is going out of its way to ensure that this customer devotion remains priority #1 . And for that, I want to hug Ray myself – and encourage all of our customers to do so too. Watch out, Ray, hugs (well, handshakes in my case) are closer than they appear!

Go Cavs! Go Wimba! Go Blackboard Collaborate!

2010-07-09T19:26:29Z

Let me begin by catching my breath. Phew. What a week! Definitely one for the record books.

As many of you know, even though I’ve always worked for Wimba here in New York, my heart is still in Cleveland where I was born-and-raised to be a die-hard Browns, Indians, and Cavs fan. So when this week began, I was already anxious enough as I anticipated ‘The Decision’ by LeBron James. My friends and coworkers and I exhausted countless hours speculating whether or not my beloved Cavaliers would take the floor this fall with or without its all-time greatest player. I practically gave myself an ulcer thinking about it.

And then just as my anxiety was nearly at its apex, along came the news on Wednesday that Blackboard was acquiring both Wimba and Elluminate. A double-whammy!

I realize that many of you may be having a difficult time understanding how I could possibly compare the stress of being a sports fan to the stress of corporate changes, but I do so under the guise that these are dramatic changes to two of the most deep-seeded loves I possess. I grew up a die-hard Cleveland fan and will stay with my teams through thick-and-thin, and similarly, I essentially grew up with Wimba and will stick with it through its future as well.

I believe the basic values of loyalty and hard work are what make Cleveland sports fans so respected (even though we whine a lot, but can you blame us?) and I also believe those same values epitomize the character of Wimba. Our team is undyingly loyal to our customers and we work our tails off to ensure they’re getting the best experience we can possibly give them. Even though the name on the front of our Wimba jersey will soon change, the heart inside the jersey will not.

Go Cavs! Go Wimba! Go Blackboard Collaborate!

The Biggest of Many Changes - Blackboard to Acquire Wimba AND Elluminate

2010-07-07T20:07:49Z

As many of you know, last month I celebrated my 10-year Wimba anniversary. My dear colleague – and only other 10+-year veteran – Annie Chechitelli, organized a nice party for me last week at which a slew of current and past Wimbians celebrated my tenure at the company. And as it naturally happens at any reunion, we all reminisced and told stories of the past decade and remarked about how much things have changed. In fact, you can read a lot about my tenure at Wimba in my end-of-the-decade blog posting.

I’ve been here for the gamut; from HorizonLive and Horizon Wimba, to acquisitions of Silicon Chalk, Connected Learning, and Brownstone. I was even here as we welcomed a new management team a little over a year ago. So yes, I’ve always known that if there is one constant at Wimba, that that constant is change. In fact, a lot of us who have been here for several years always enjoyed the fact that we’ve seen the company grow and grow and grow.

Which brings us to today – our biggest change by far.

As you’ve probably heard by now, not only has Blackboard acquired us, but it also acquired Elluminate so it can begin a new collaboration division which it will call Blackboard Collaborate. Like many of you, I too have known numerous Blackboard and Elluminate staff for years, so I look forward to working with both of them in a vastly new, well, collaboration. Here we go!

We’re on an Awards Roll

2010-05-20T13:54:07Z

I’m going to keep this short-and-sweet, but the last 7 days have seen us on an awards roll. Last week we heard that Janice Selekman, professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Delaware, has been named the School Nurse Educator of the Year by the National Association of School Nurses. She was honored at the spring meeting of the Delaware School Nurse Association (DNSA) in Dover on May 6. She won primarily based on her unique use of Wimba.

But we also just heard that we won our 2nd-consecutive SIIA CODiE award! We won for ‘Best Collaboration Solution’ by defeating hundreds of other entrants. And then yesterday we found out that the Stevens Institute of Technology (in New Jersey) won the United States Distance Learning Association’s 2010 International Distance Learning award, again, primarily for its innovative use of Wimba!

If this keeps up, we’re going to have buy a new trophy case - a good problem to have!

Wimba, The Aughts, and Me

2009-12-15T14:26:11Z

As January 1, 2010 quickly draws near, we’re inundated with countless recaps of the first decade of the second millennium (A.D., of course). Apparently Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was the best movie of the aughts, and I now know that, according to most pop-culture aficionados, reality TV marred the decade and has potentially ruined television as we know it. Well, what you’re about to read has nothing to do with the large or small screens of the 2000’s, rather I’m here to share my own unique perspective on the aughts; my decade at Wimba.

As most readers of this blog know, I’m essentially a Wimba lifer, and therefore fall on the high end of the scale that measures how long employees typically stay at the same job.   I started at Wimba in June 2000 as the internet bubble had mostly deflated but hadn’t entirely burst. Luckily for me, my previous employer went bubble-up soon enough that within three days of its demise I was able to find one of the few “dot-coms” that was in the black and that, more importantly, needed a savvy software marketer. Thus, I landed here at Wimba. Well, HorizonLive.

In terms of technology and/or Moore’s Law, a decade may as well be a century. In June 2000 the idea of technology-enabled online learning had only been a handful of years old, and the dominant definition at the time mostly comprised of creating a webpage onto which an instructor of a face-to-face class could house his or her syllabus and perhaps a few study resources. Companies like Blackboard, eCollege, and WebCT were on-par with companies like Prometheus and Mad Duck, and exhibit halls at education technology conferences were cluttered with myriad other fresh-faced start-ups all looking to secure a foothold in this potentially exhilarating market.   But HorizonLive had a different vision that then sat on the fringes.

HorizonLive knew that education thrives when interaction transpires. Students interacting with classmates. Classmates interacting with instructors. Instructors interacting with administration. Whomever does the interacting, it doesn’t much matter, as long as they’re engaged, enthusiastic, and human. HorizonLive’s tagline was: Collaborate. Interact. Learn. It was so simple yet so powerful. After all, meaningful interaction leads to enhanced learning. Truer words were never spoke – or tagline written. HorizonLive knew that once a viable foundation for online instruction had been laid, that the human element would need to shine through in order for true success. So when I first learned of this unique vision, it was love at first sight.

I spent the first half of the decade watching HorizonLive steadily grow, anxiously awaiting for schools across the globe to ready themselves for true, robust, more natural online learning. Forward-looking early adopters such as CSU, Chico dipped their toes in the water and realized that an engaged community was a successful community. I started the HorizonLive Desktop Lecture Series and, during the very second edition, found myself communicating with nearly 150 people from more than 40 countries, including Myanmar. I hadn’t even heard of Myanmar! The groundwork was clearly being laid.

At one point in 2001, myself and a few co-workers shook nervously as one of the industry leaders, Carol Vallone, CEO of almighty WebCT, visited our offices because we were to originate a live webcast of her giving the keynote speech to her company’s Asia-Pacific users conference in Sydney. As thunder cracked and lightning lit up the Empire State Building which was visible from the window behind her chair, we monitored the presentation, reveling in the fact that hundreds of Australians and New Zealanders were hearing and seeing Carol, just as we were, despite the fact that they were 10,000 miles away and that it was tomorrow for them. It’s these memories that make me smile when I think of how far we’ve come.

But things weren’t always inspiring or smooth. The most vivid memory I still have from my days here at Wimba is, like that of so many New Yorkers, my memory of September 11, 2001. Our CEO’s balcony had a clear, unobstructed view of the World Trade Center, and on that clear, warm, late-summer day, my co-workers and I stood on that balcony and watched the second plane hit and the towers fall. While some of my colleagues immediately headed for their homes by whatever means they could find, I remained in the office out of fear that something else could happen. I remained holed-up for several hours until I headed outside for my eight-mile trek home to Brooklyn amid palpable fear, confusion, terror, and shock. We closed our office the next day but returned back on Thursday the 13th to find each of us completely uncertain about our circumstances but absolutely certain about how thankful we were that many of us were physically ok. And then, in true New York fashion, we got back to work.

Along the way for the next few years, as I occasionally distracted myself at work with crazy new things like Napster and Friendster, the ground swelled, and so did HorizonLive.   We merged with an innovative company based in the French Silicon Valley with a funny named that we liked, but since we liked our name too, we created a combined company called Horizon Wimba. A name only a mother could love. But apparently a growing technology company has many mothers, because so many of us indeed loved it.

As Horizon Wimba then grew by adding two additional tech firms under its umbrella, we watched more and more educators realize that collaboration is a necessary and critical element to a successful education - whether online or not. We also watched more and more educators – along with millions of other regular folks – on a new-fangled website called YouTube and listened to the same people via ‘podcasts’ on iPods. Ah, technology.

And we kept rolling along. I traveled the globe pitching the good word of Horizon Wimba, along the way enduring an eight-week bout of poison ivy incurred at a conference in Georgia, and watched my toes swell to three times their size after stepping on a sea urchin while at a conference in the Virgin Islands. The things I do for this company!

Horizon Wimba finally realized what was known all along – that its hideous name had to go. Though at the time ‘Collaborate. Interact. Learn.’ had changed to ‘Reach Beyond the Classroom,’ we realized that technology doesn’t teach people, but rather, People Teach People. And the rest as they say…is…well, Wimba.

Which brings me to today – 10 years later. A once fledgling start-up, thanks to a sound vision, sounder technology, and scores of dedication, has become established. Every day we help thousands of schools in nearly 50 countries inspire and reach their invaluable students. Though our offices no longer have wires hanging from the ceilings, we still retain the same start-up mentality of never settling and always hustling (and we still, of course, have Annie Chechitelli around too..ha!). We know the last decade has witnessed tremendous innovation no one thought possible in December 1999, so we’re trying as hard as we can to ensure that we’re still innovating 10 years from now. I can’t wait to sit at my desk (or spaceship?) in December 2019 to recall my memories of the 2010’s.

When we hire new staff, I often make a point of telling them that at Wimba they can make a meaningful contribution to people’s lives – that they’re contributing to the greater good. I hope this makes them excited to work for Wimba and proud to tell their friends and family what they do. It certainly does for me. After all, learning, education, life; they’re all about relationships and making relationships work in a meaningful and productive way. And it’s relationships (people not just teaching people, but helping, learning from, nurturing, laughing, and loving) that highlight my decade at Wimba. While there are too many folks to call out by name – between my current and past colleagues, our thousands of customers, and the innumerable educators with whom I’ve interacted both online and face-to-face – I’ve been lucky enough to get to know so many people who care so much about advancing the lives of others. And in turn, they’ve advanced mine in more ways that I could ever begin to describe.

Happy aughts, everyone. Happy aughts, Wimba!

The Meaning of ‘Wimba’

2009-09-02T12:51:26Z

Yesterday I received an email inquiry from a graduate student enrolled in the Masters in Bioethics and Health Policy program through Loyola University in Chicago. However, unlike most email inquiries I receive, this one had nothing to do with asking how to effectively use Wimba Classroom or what kind of headset we recommend. Nope. This one asked the simple question, “What does ‘Wimba’ stand for?”

Ah yes, a question for the ages.

When I worked at HorizonLive in the first half of this decade, I was quite familiar with Wimba, which at that same time was exclusively selling what we now refer to as Wimba Voice. I too wondered what this funny sounding word meant, and immediately Googled the term and first found a listing for the Wisconsin Mortgage Brokers Association. That surely wasn’t correct. As I next found the real Wimba website, I scoured its pages only to come up empty in my quest to find the meaning of the word. But fortunately, a few months later HorizonLive and Wimba joined forces and I had instant access to those who knew the meaning of ‘Wimba.’ They happily passed it along to me, but I, like my new colleagues had done for many years, vowed to keep the meaning of Wimba close to my vest.

So, before you all get too excited and think I’m about to reveal the true meaning, I’m going to tease you a bit. I’m curious to see if anyone out there knows the meaning of ‘Wimba.’ I’m accepting all ideas. And for the record, unlike that grad student’s classmate thought, ‘Wimba’ is NOT a small town in Victoria, Australia that was a station on a narrow gauge railroad for transporting timber.

Any ideas?

Matt

International Photographers Collaborating Thanks to Paul Lowe at University of the Arts London

2009-07-30T14:21:42Z

I want to solute Paul Lowe of University of the Arts London. He has put together open-i, a unique network of photographers and artists across the world. Paul has been using Wimba Classroom for a couple of years and just held his first online session for open-i which brought 25% of his network together. In Paul’s words, “Our first webinar for the new photojournalism network, OPEN-i, was a great success, we had over 50 participants from all over the world, with a mix of industry big names, students, alumni and other academics in a 90 min session. That’s about 25% of the current membership of the network, which i think is a fantastic responses rate everyone was very impressed with Wimba, and there was a fantastic back channel debate going on in the text box, which people picked up immediately.”

Paul’s network is truly worldwide, with members from every continent except Antarctica. What a great way to bring the global artistic community together!

Obama Asks to Extend Unemployment Benefits for Persons Going Back to School

2009-05-08T14:47:38Z

Of all the initiatives that the new administration in Washington DC has put forward the last few months, one that is being considered today just caught my eye. The AP reported that President Obama has asked states to stop the practice of ending unemployment benefits if a person goes back to school. I personally think this is a necessary idea. Like so many of us, I too have been on unemployment and both times I considered going back to school - and both times realized that I wouldn’t be able to afford to if my unemployment benefits were simultaneously discontinued. After all, education doesn’t come cheap, especially for someone who’s out of work and making at most $405/week. Personally speaking, I hope this initiative gets the job.

Pictures from the SIIA CODiE awards ceremony

2009-05-07T19:54:30Z

So my colleague Kathleen Matthews safely made it to New York this morning after a day-long celebration in San Francisco for our CODiE award victory. Despite her plane being delayed 3 hours, she was still in good spirits when she showed up in our office a few hours ago just in time to send me these two pictures she took from the ceremony Tuesday night. Being named ‘Best Education Solution’ is something of which we’re all extremely proud - and now we’ve got some nifty hardware to show off! Enjoy the two pics.

Matt

We Won the SIIA CODiE Award for Best Education Solution!

2009-05-06T11:28:38Z

I was pleasantly awoken last night at 1:16am by Kathleen Matthews, our Director of Marketing Communications, who texted me the following message from the black-tie SIIA CODiE awards ceremony in San Francisco:

We won! Best Education Solution! (& last category of the entire awards ceremony).

Woohooo! In the software industry, the CODiEs are the equivalent to the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, or the Super Bowl, so we couldn’t be more ecstatic. As a company that constantly prides itself on being 100% laser-focused on education, we’re certainly happy to have some affirmation. So…

I’d first like to thank the eight CODiE judges who patiently sat through numerous demos of the entire Wimba Collaboration Suite. They had to learn about Wimba Classroom, Wimba Create, Wimba Pronto, and Wimba Voice in a relatively short amount of time...but apparently they were blown away!

Second, since I work with our customers every day, I’d like to thank all of our loyal and supportive users who have worked so closely with us for nearly a decade. They’ve watched us grow and mature and have collectively become the most innovative institutions in the world when it comes to cutting-edge distance education. Without our customers, we’d be nothing. You’re the ones who find new and exciting ways every day to use the Wimba Collaboration Suite to increase engagement, improve outcomes, decrease costs, and increase revenue and retention rates.

And finally, I want to thank our Engineering, Quality Assurance, and Product Development teams who actually make the countless components of the Wimba Collaboration Suite. While our Marketing, Sales, Services/Support, and even Finance departments are the more visible departments of our company, our developers, testers, and product designers comprise the oft faceless engine of the company that keep things churning. Without their unrivaled knowledge and dogged determination I wouldn’t be blogging about our CODiE victory today. These guys don’t get enough recognition and their heads are usually too buried in millions of lines of code to look up. So congrats, all...savor this one...it doesn’t get any better than this!

And to Carol Vallone and Barb Ross, our new acting CEO and COO, respectively,...looks like you’ve stepped into a great place!

Now we patiently await for Kathleen to send us pictures from the ceremony (I promise I’ll post them soon...)

Woohoo!!!
Matt

What If They Closed the Campus? Wimba for Online Learning Alternatives

2009-05-05T18:39:45Z

Earlier today a colleague of mine sent out an email about preparing institutions in the event of a major swine flu outbreak. This got us - and our customers - about what measures are already in place in case disaster strikes. And I’m pleased that many schools have already thought ahead, and that they’re including us as part of their plan. From Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, disaster plans have been discussed and hatched thanks to being able to meet live online with Wimba Classroom and Wimba Pronto. In fact, Chuck Wright of the University of Utah just made this great YouTube clip about the University of Utah could carry on if it had to close its campus.

New CoSN Report Supports the Wimba Collaboration Suite Value Prop

2009-05-01T16:42:50Z

Earlier today, the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) just released its
2009 research report, Leadership for Web 2.0 in Education: Promise & Reality. This report takes a thorough look at how Web 2.0 technologies influence and shape all facets of today’s K-12 schools. And of course, several elements resonated with me, particularly with how they relate to Wimba.

First, CoSN reports that nearly three-quarters of respondents (superintendents and curriculum directors) said that Web 2.0 technologies had been a positive or highly positive force in student’s communication skills and the quality of their schoolwork. Over 50% of those same administrators believe that Web 2.0 has had a positive impact on students’ interest in school, interests outside of school, self-direction in learning, sense of community and culture, peer relationships, relationships with parents and family, and homework habits.

As a result, respondents feel that Web 2.0 tools help:
1.    Keep students interested and engaged in school
2.    Meet the needs of different kinds of learners
3.    Develop critical thinking skills
4.    Develop capabilities in students that can’t be acquired through traditional methods
5.    Provide alternative learning environments for students
6.    Extend learning beyond the school day
7.    Prepare students to be lifelong learners

Also, supporting the fact that Wimba Pronto is populated by and links to directly to a school’s existing course management system, over 60% of district administrators polled in the report believe that the use of Web 2.0 tools “should be limited to approved educational sites.”

Therefore, I couldn’t help but love how all of these findings support the rationale for adopting Wimba Pronto and the rest of the Wimba Collaboration Suite at K-12 schools. The Suite is most comprehensive source of Web 2.0 and additional educational collaboration tools that help students learn in different ways. Some students are visual learners, other are audible learners, and while some learn better in formal online settings, others need more informal instructional methods. The Suite covers it all - and CoSN’s report definitely agrees.