BERLIN--(Marketwire - November 28, 2007) - ONLINE EDUCA -- The UK's Coventry University has
collaborated with Cisco® (
NASDAQ:
CSCO) and Giunti Labs to create a
highly innovative learning environment that blends mobile learning and
virtual learning worlds technologies.
The university wanted to help give its Serious Games Institute (SGI) a
technology platform on which to build a digital model of the campus
building, so that students' movements in both the real building and its
virtual reconstruction trigger location based access to learning content
and experiences. This means that content can be pushed to students by the
most suitable method for their location and the device they are using.
The solution uses Cisco wireless location services to track real-world
positions and movements integrated within the Giunti Labs learn eXact®
learning content management system. The Giunti Labs software also allows
any form of digital learning content to be repurposed 'on the fly' for use
either in the virtual SGI environment or via any device connected to the
Coventry University Cisco wired and wireless networks. Beyond the SGI, the
Coventry University deployment includes a number of notable technology
features, including the largest centralized wireless system in the U.K.
higher education sector and the first higher education Cisco call center to
be installed in the English Midlands.
Giunti Labs, SGI and Cisco are also planning to start working on what they
call "extended positioning" -- that is, the standard inter-working and
interoperability of position detection systems within real and virtual
copies of the same facility.
These systems will help enable students visiting a place, either in the
real world or online, to meet -- despite being physically separated by
thousands of miles. The capability is being brought about by real-world and
avatar-based positioning.
"Blending mobile and virtual worlds technologies has unmatched potential
for producing effective technology-based learning," commented Giunti Labs'
CEO, Fabrizio Cardinali.
The SGI deployment is part of a much wider transformational project by
Coventry University to create a smart campus that by 2010 will help it take
on more U.K. and overseas undergraduate and doctoral students, improve
student and staff satisfaction, achieve a 50 percent annual growth in
applied research income and create a series of world-leading applied
research centers and groups, among other objectives.
"We set ourselves the goal of transforming Coventry University into a
destination of choice for students and academics from around the world,"
said John Latham, pro vice-chancellor for business development at the
university. "Supported by the technology and expertise provided by Cisco
and Giunti Labs, our SGI has a number of advanced virtual learning
capabilities, such as drag-and-drop positioning of digital learning
contents, three-dimensional hotspot positioning, and triggering and
tracking of learning content by an avatar. We also have the tools and
functionality for the creation, packaging and management of Shareable
Content Object Reference Model [SCORM]-compliant contents which can be
contextualized and delivered to Windows Mobile 5 personal digital
assistants within the SGI Cisco Wi-Fi network. And we can also reuse
location based content also in other virtual worlds platforms, such as
Forterra and Second Life."
Angus Turpin, country manager, UK and Ireland for Giunti Labs in the
United Kingdom and Ireland, added: "A critical point about our software is
that it complements the power of the Cisco network by making it possible to
deliver raw content, without repurposing, to any device connected to that
network, in a way which works for the device in question. Furthermore,
SCORM, while not currently being used at Coventry, gives us the technical
ability to measure the way users interact with the content, for instance
showing how much time a student has spent reading a learning module. This
makes the system ideal for next-generation educational platforms where
remote assessment is required, but also for wider applications such as the
delivery of Sarbanes-Oxley related materials in a corporate setting."
As part of this initiative, Cisco is providing a range of network, call
center and Unified Communications technologies. The company is working
alongside the systems integrator Logicalis, which is responsible for
installation, project management and support, and CableCom Access
Technologies, which is supplying an integrated communications package for
Coventry University's network of student residences.
The entire university network has been refreshed and now comprises
equipment including Cisco Catalyst® 6500, 3750, 3560 and 2960 Series
Switches, a Cisco Unified Wireless Network featuring Wireless Services
Modules and Cisco 4400 Series Wireless LAN Controllers, Cisco Unified
Communications Managers and Cisco Unified Contact Center Express software.
"This is very much a story about partnership and collaboration, where we
have used our network expertise and that of third parties such as Giunti
Labs to create a completely new class of educational tools that will help
Coventry University achieve its aim of becoming a world-class center of
higher education by 2010," said Tim Liney, regional sales manager, higher
and further education, Cisco UK. "It perfectly demonstrates our
understanding of the education sector and our ability to work together with
it to push back the boundaries of educational innovation."
About the Serious Games Institute (SGI)
The Serious Games Institute (SGI) is the first of three new Institutes
being opened at the Coventry University Technology Park. The SGI, the first
of its kind in the United Kingdom, aims to support regional development
through bringing together subject matter experts, applied research and
dedicated showcasing and demonstration facilities to support the
development and application of virtual world applications, game-based
learning and interactive digital media resources for a range of uses. The
SGI is a regional development project, founded by Advantage West Midlands,
which has grown out of a desire to identify and encourage growth areas for
West Midlands industry. With computer games companies already being well
established in the Leamington Spa and Solihull areas, many of the skills in
evidence in this sector can be transferred to the serious games sector. The
SGI is a centre of excellence and a hub for serious games which aims to
provide access to:
-- Relevant applied research through Coventry University;
-- Office space for serious games companies, and
-- Facilities for demonstrating and showcasing serious games and
immersive environments.
About Giunti Labs
Giunti is unique in the international publishing industry. In 1497, Giunti
publishers and typographers in Florence, together with others in Venice,
began modern book manufacturing. Over the years Giunti has built a
historical catalogue of huge dimensions, through a gradual process of
fusion of different publishers, but also through the creation of new
brands, including Giunti Labs. Giunti Editore now includes 20 companies in
the publishing sector. Giunti Labs, which has its Europe, Middle East and
Africa headquarters in Italy and offices in London (United Kingdom),
Frankfurt (Germany), Lund (Sweden) and in Boston (United States), provides
a wide range of services, in response to any content, learning and
knowledge management need, covering:
-- Content production
-- Research and development
-- Technological solutions for content, learning and knowledge management
-- Architectural and technological solutions for mobile and wireless
-- Training and consulting
Giunti Labs provides the learn eXact® suite, Europe's leading e-learning
and mobile learning content management technology. This suite is
interoperable with all major vendor-driven and open source LMS and VLE
solutions in the market including Plateau, Oracle, SumTotal, Saba, WebCT,
Blackboard, Sakai, LRN and Moodle. Moreover, Giunti Labs does not just
adhere to the international standards relating to the LMS/LCMS world, it is
one of the organizations that helps to determine and drive these standards,
co-writing and developing them. Giunti Labs plays a key role in most of the
international institutions for the definition of eLearning specifications
(IEEE LTSC, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC36, CEN/ISSS WSLT, AICC, IMS, ADL-SCORM and
OKI).
About Cisco
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NASDAQ:
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how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco
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Contact Information:
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Cisco Systems
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