Wimba's Blog

The Chronicle of Higher Education and Campus Technology Magazine feature Wimba for Emergency Situations

This is inherently a difficult situation to address, so I'll try to handle it as carefully as possible.  Last month, Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) in San Antonio, TX fell victim to a devastating fire which took out much of its technology infrastructure.  As a result, it's been using our new Wimba Pronto ever since for much of its on-campus communication.  Obviously we don't want to harp on this, but the good folks at OLLU have allowed us to tell their story, and earlier today The Chronicle of Higher Education wrote about it.  Additionally, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) was featured today in an article by Campus Technology Magazine about how it's utilizing Wimba to conduct virtual disaster preparedness meetings among its 14 universities.  Obviously these are tough things to think about and prepare for.  While we certainly hope our customers and colleagues don't have the same misfortune as OLLU, we do hope they have OLLU's same relentless spirit! 

Save The Date! Wimba Connect 2009

Wimba Connect 2009, our 2nd annual users conference, will be April 5-8, 2009 at the stunning Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona! Enjoy the spring desert climate of the Phoenix area at this AAA Four Diamond Award winning resort while learning from and networking with Wimba customers from around the world.

As Rocky Keel of the University of Missouri-St. Louis said, “Wimba Connect 2008 was a great experience – a wonderful opportunity to meet innovative people using technology in creative ways. The Wimba team was friendly, open, and informative. I'm looking forward to the 2009 conference to renew connections and build new ones!”

Wimba Connect 2009 will include numerous sessions, hands-on workshops, executive-focused events, keynotes, and plenty of fun. Based on your feeeback, improvements include free wireless access, fewer concurrent sessions, varying levels of workshops, and a fantastic venue.

The Call for Presentations will open in two weeks, so get your ideas ready! View presentations from Wimba Connect 2008.

http://www.wimba.com/connect08/presentations.php

Pricing and registration information will be coming soon.

Please mark your calenders for April 5-8, 2009, tell your colleagues, and check out the Doubletree Paradise Valley website. We’re already looking forward to seeing you in Scottsdale next year!

Integration with Educational Software Leaders

As many of you know, integration with popular course management systems (a.k.a. 'virtual learning environments') has long been our bread and butter here at Wimba.  Therefore, it's always gratifying to see others in the education community writing about just that.  I'm happy to point out a blog posting by the great folks at Penn State who were recently exploring how instructors at Penn College of Technology utilize our integration with ANGEL.  By integrating our collaborative software into such great applications, we make it very easy for faculty and staff to hit the ground running.
Matt

Wimba Pronto and the Mark & Mark Show

Mark Gensimore and Mark Radcliffe of Blendedschools.net were at it again a couple of weeks ago.  Mark G, at Wimba Connect 2008 in Orlando, grabbed our own Annie Chechitelli and Marlen Rattiner and had them show off our new Wimba Pronto in their vodcast series.  As you can see on our homepage, they actually pulled it off very nicely, and we now have another fun means of showing off Wimba Pronto, our free, school-centric instant messenger designed specifically for education to support teaching and learning...which is coming soon!

Life After Wimba Connect

A few weeks ago we were consumed with Wimba Connect 2008, our first global users conference.  From meeting our customers, organizing our team, and developing our newest edition of Wimba Pronto, this event had a giant target on its back.  But now, three weeks later, we've already moved on now that the conference is in our rearview mirror.  So in the coming weeks and months please keep an eye out for our team and for our newest Wimba Pronto.  We'll be traveling to countless conferences and events and hope to see you soon.   

Mike Orey of University of Georgia appears on eLearning Queen blog and podcast

For years, Dr. Susan Smith Nash has been a thought-leader within the distance education industry, and a few years ago she started a now popular blog: eLearning Queen.  Last week she interviewed Professor Mike Orey of the University of Georgia to learn more about how he uses Wimba Classroom to teach students live online at two universities in Brazil.  As she writes about Orey, "His insights and core philosophy of online education are valuable for all educators and administrators interested in motivating students and rehumanizing the online learning space."  Listen to the podcast here.

Blendedschools.net video podcasts and Wimba

As you know, we love to have our customers talk about how they're using technology in the classroom.  And when they show off via video and/or podcasting, it's always better.  So I'm pleased to bring “Mark and Mark in the Morning” to your attention.  Created by Mark Gensimore (Project Manager) and Mark Radcliffe (Training Specialist) of Pennsylvania’s innovative blendedschools.net, Mark and Mark have created a monthly video podcast during which they discuss new and upcoming tools and services that are provided to blendedschools.net districts.

I’m pleased to announce that Mark Gensimore will be speaking at Wimba Connect 2008 in Orlando in 3 weeks as well.

Wimba Rings in 2008

Hi!
First, I just realized that I haven't written since December.  So here's my belated 2008 well-wish:  Happy new year!

Second, let's get down to business.  In the 3.5 weeks of 2008 we've already seen several remarkable things happen here at Wimba.  On January 8th we saw 500 people register for a webcast about accessibility given by Dr. Sam Slike and Pam Berman of Bloomsburg University, and then 2 days ago we had another 400 register for a Desktop Lecture Series presentation about Effective Online Discussions by Cindy Underhill and Emily Renoe of the University British Columbia.  I'm thrilled that our lecture series is stronger than ever, even though it's now into its 8th year.

Also, we unveiled the Wimba Collaboration Suite Express which can now be enjoyed by all K-12 Blackboard Learning System™ clients. This exclusive offer for Blackboard's K-12 customers at no additional cost provides turnkey collaboration between teachers and students to improve student achievement by adding synchronous interaction through video, voice and chat sessions, as well as asynchronous collaboration via discussion boards, podcasts and archived classroom lessons to their online courses.  This was even blogged about earlier today from the FETC Conference in Teacher Tech Blog.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Wimba Connect 2008 once more.  Our first global users conference is only 38 days away and features amazing speakers from Darcy Hardy and Carol Vallone to Michael Hites, John Campbell, Michael Evans, and even our own Tommaso Trionfi and Steve Kann. 

There's so much more to say but I don't have the time...I guess that's a good problem to have, right?  So get down to Orlando March 2-5, 2008 and visit us - I'll be able to be much more verbose in person!

Matt

Executive Track at Wimba Connect 2008 featuring Carol Vallone, among others

For all you collegiate and K12 executives, we want you to know that we're featuring an Executive Track on March 3 & 4, 2008 at our first global user conference. This track will prove to be a valuable learning and networking event.

Highlighted by a 2-hour executive roundtable led by Carol Vallone, former CEO of WebCT and current Board Member of Wimba, the executive track also features panelists and keynote speakers including:

    * Tommaso Trionfi, CEO, Wimba
    * Michael Hites, CIO and VP Planning and IT, New Mexico State University
    * Michael Evans, Director of Academic Technology, Centennial College
    * Darcy Walsh Hardy, Ph.D., Assistant Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs, Executive Director, University of Texas TeleCampus and Chair Emerita with the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA)

Join fellow CIOs, CTOs, Directors and Presidents for a great mix of educational sessions and networking opportunities - and for some fun of course! Golf at the famous Celebration Golf Club or take part in a wine tasting event...

By attending Wimba Connect 2008, you will experience first-hand how Wimba helps schools:

    * Enhance learning
    * Improve outcomes
    * Increase student retention

I look forward to seeing you in Orlando. 

Darcy Hardy of UT-Telecampus is our Closing Keynote

Hi All,
I'm going to keep this posting short and sweet.  Mostly sweet.  I'm very happy to announce that Dr. Darcy W. Hardy, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Executive Director, University of Texas-TeleCampus, has agreed to be our closing speaker at Wimba Connect 2008.  Many of you already know Darcy from her work with the UT-Telecampus and her work when she was the president of the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA).  Now with Darcy Hardy on board, along with Tommaso Trionfi (CEO of Wimba) and Carol Vallone (former CEO of WebCT and current member of the Wimba Board), our program contains some of the leading minds in the world when it comes to distance learning.  We couldn't be more pleased.
Matt