New York, NY – (October 23, 2007) – Wimba, the education technology company that helps people teach people, today announced it will market and sell the Wimba Collaboration Suite, the most comprehensive suite of collaborative products created exclusively for education. Available for preview at EDUCAUSE 2007 (booth # 2603), the new suite brings the personal interaction of real life teaching and learning to online and blended education in a way that enhances learning, fosters student-to-student collaboration, improves outcomes and increases student retention.
“People learn better when they are drawn closer together, and the new Wimba Collaboration Suite connects the way people learn with the way people live to create a rich, natural, and effective learning experience,” said Tommaso Trionfi, CEO of Wimba. “The Wimba Collaboration Suite was built based on the fundamental truth that personal interaction is a cornerstone of education. The demand for personal interaction in online and blended education is growing at a rapid pace, and Wimba is listening and responding to the needs of students, educators and administrators alike.”
The Wimba Collaboration Suite helps students and teachers connect anytime anywhere by combining interactive technologies such as voice, video, podcasting, instant messaging, application sharing, polling and whiteboards.
“The Wimba Collaboration Suite is a vital educational platform for more than a dozen universities in our system,” said Robert Hails, Distance Learning Coordinator, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. “We have found that the Wimba Collaboration Suite plays a major role in providing enhanced educational opportunities for students in both our blended and online classes.”
The Wimba Collaboration Suite includes:
• Wimba Classroom (formerly named Live Classroom): Wimba’s fully featured live virtual classroom supports audio, video, application sharing, and content display, allows educators and students to communicate naturally, bringing the classroom to life.
• Wimba Voice (formerly named Voice Tools): Ideal for language learning and creating vocal exercises in any subject, Wimba Voice enables instructors and students to add voice interaction to courses, enhancing collaboration and learning and knowledge retention.
• Wimba Create (formerly named Course Genie): Wimba Create allows educational institutions to simplify the production of reusable online learning content by producing course content that is compatible with today’s learning environments.
• Wimba Pronto (formerly named Pronto): Wimba Pronto is a free instant messaging and voice chat tool that allows students and instructors to spontaneously collaborate live online at any time anywhere, promoting student-to-student learning and strengthening tutoring