New York, NY – (July 11, 2007) – Wimba today announced that eight more higher education institutions have recently selected Wimba’s Live Classroom product to draw students and teachers closer together, improve classroom collaboration, and provide a better virtual classroom experience.
Schools that recently adopted Wimba Live Classroom include Alabama State University, Dublin Institute of Technology, Georgia Southern University, University of Mississippi, University of Southern Mississippi, University of Sheffield, Western State College (Colorado) as well as the University of Western Ontario and its Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry.
“Wimba provides collaborative learning solutions that help higher education institutions to bridge technology and pedagogy while improving the virtual classroom experience. We applaud these schools for their commitment to people-focused online learning,” said Wimba Chief Executive Officer Tommaso Trionfi. “Our latest version of Live Classroom includes new interactive elements that create a more human-like teaching and learning experience. Wimba’s continued momentum in the higher education community is a testament to the company’s ability to deliver innovation and expertise to the market.”
Enriching Interaction among Faculty and Students
Many instructors consider personal interaction to be the most valuable element of teaching and learning. Live Classroom allows faculty and students to build relationships by combining new interactive technologies with traditional best practices of instruction. Faculty and students can listen and talk to each other, express emotion, and be part of a learning community.
“Our adoption of Live Classroom is a milestone leap toward a more collaborative online experience for our faculty and students, and establishes a platform through which to leverage additional tools for personal interaction,” said Kenley Obas, Academic Computing Coordinator for Alabama State University.
Improving the Student Experience and Comprehension
More than just reducing remote students’ sense of isolation and creating a true community, Live Classroom allows institutions to ensure online students’ comprehension by providing them with immediate feedback, answers to questions, and even in-depth explanations of complex class material. Additionally, students with different learning styles, such as auditory and visual learners, can better meet their educational objectives. Hearing and visually impaired students can also be served better through a number of features designed to support these learning styles.
“Southern Miss faculty has discovered that students learn best when given the opportunity to interact with their classmates and their instructors. Live Classroom is an excellent tool that allows our faculty to engage students and provide effective, collaborative sessions,” said Amy Thornton, The University of Southern Mississippi project manager for the Wimba implementation. “Students that participate in this environment will certainly improve their understanding, comprehension, and learning outcomes.”
“Our growing number of dispersed students will now feel much more connected to their classes and the campus community with Live Classroom,” said Dr. Kevin O’Rourke, Head of eLearning Support at Dublin Institute of Technology. “Our lecturers are excited by the fact that Live Classroom transforms the computer to an engaging and natural environment where students and their mentors can interact in ways that spur two cornerstones of learning - curiosity and collaboration.”