Contact Information: Media Contact(s) Kathleen Matthews Wimba +1.646.861.5193 kmatthews@wimba.com Melissa Chotiner DBC PR+New Media +1.202.292.4572 melissa@dbcpr.com
European Commission Awards Dublin Institute of Technology the European Award for Languages 2008
Wimba Voice(TM) Instrumental in French Language Simulation Program
| Source: Wimba, Inc.
NEW YORK, NY and CAMBRIDGE, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire - October 7, 2008) - Wimba® Inc.,
the education technology company that helps people teach people, is pleased
to celebrate the achievements of the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT)
for its award-winning French Language Simulation Program. This innovative
online course was recently awarded the European Award for Languages - the
Language Label by Simon Coveney, TD, Fine Gael Front Bench Spokesperson for
Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and former MEP for Ireland
South, in a ceremony in Croke Park, Dublin last week.
The course, titled "The Creation and Everyday running of a French SME
[small-to-medium enterprise] -- a French Language Simulation," aims to
promote language skills through a 'learning by doing' approach.
Participants gain real-life skills in technology, communications and
leadership, all while learning French. Wimba Voice™, a web-based
application for vocal instruction, collaboration, coaching and assessment
is central to the learning experience.
Reaching beyond the traditional language laboratory environment, Wimba
Voice supports traditional communicative styles of language learning by
giving students multiple methods of speaking, writing, and listening to
foreign languages -- all online. Wimba Voice incorporates the use of
threaded voice boards, voice-enabled email, embedded voice within course
pages, as well as live group discussions and debates, and places
interaction and student engagement at the heart of the learning experience.
"Wimba adds an invaluable new dimension to language learning," said Michèle
Boisbourdin, Lecturer of French at the Dublin Institute of Technology's
School of Languages. "With Wimba, students can listen to the oral tasks
they recorded as part of their course work -- anytime, anywhere. More
importantly, they can reflect on their oral productions with the help of
their lecturer's written comments, which are visible while they are
listening. They can also repeat the tasks in order to make corrections and
improvements, including improvements in pronunciation or communication
skills. But what is central to the learning experience, is that students
can compare their various attempts, which helps the students to become
aware of their capacity to improve and progress."
Wimba Voice is part of a full suite of online collaborative teaching and
learning products called the Wimba Collaboration Suite™. The Suite,
which is fully licensed across the entire Dublin Institute of Technology,
facilitates the use of online video, voice, instant messaging, content
authoring, application sharing and white boarding and seamlessly integrates
with the most widely used Virtual Learning Environments including the
ANGEL, Blackboard and Moodle platforms.
The Dublin Institute of Technology is the largest school of modern
languages in Ireland. The Institute's School of Languages offers a wide
range of courses in various disciplines ranging from Chinese to English,
French, German, Irish, Italian, Russian and Spanish.
"Courses offered through the School of Languages at DIT illustrate how
innovative technology greatly benefits teaching of complex subjects such as
foreign languages," said Tommaso Trionfi, CEO of Wimba. "We are extremely
honored that Wimba is recognised as a contributing factor in the success of
their French Language SME simulation."
About The European Award for Languages - the Language Label
The European Award for Languages - the Language Label, which is
simultaneously run in over 20 European countries, has been a major event in
the languages calendar since 1998. It recognises creative and innovative
ways to improve the quality of language teaching and learning. This year's
winners were selected on the basis of excellence, innovation, intercultural
dialogue and their ability to serve as a model for others. The winning
projects highlight the importance of language learning in the creation of
an inclusive multicultural society and the significance of real life
situations in providing motivation for learners to develop and enhance
their linguistic competence.
About Wimba
Wimba®, Inc. is a leading provider of collaborative learning software
applications and services to the education industry. Our collaborative
software applications for the online and blended education market enable
institutions to bridge technology and pedagogy by supplementing learning
management systems with many of the proven disciplines of in-person
learning environments. Wimba's intuitive solutions enable teachers 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 content, and more. Teachers can also use Wimba solutions to
easily convert Microsoft Word documents into online content and to create
and administer tests, quizzes, and exams. Our focus on education and
collaboration with educators fuels our product development. For more
information, please visit www.wimba.com or send an email to info@wimba.com.
Wimba. People Teach People. www.wimba.com