-- Wimba has purchased renewable energy credits from eGreen certified
Community Energy to subsidize the electricity consumption of the servers,
routers, and other IT infrastructure that power Wimba Pronto.
-- Wimba Pronto is now the first instant-messaging system powered by
wind.
-- Wimba Pronto and Wimba Pronto Basic have been installed by more than
200 academic institutions including: Grand Rapids Community College, Ivy
Tech Community College, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and all 11 public
universities in the North Dakota University System.
"Students and faculty everywhere, as well as here at Ivy Tech, are quickly
adopting lifestyles that are more socially responsible and environmentally
aware. The fact that an everyday tool such as Wimba Pronto is now powered
by wind energy will surely encourage them to continue to live, work and
learn 'green,'" said Kara Monroe, Executive Director, Center for
Instructional Technology at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana.
"Wimba's online collaboration solutions have always offered an energy and
environmentally conscious alternative to the travel required for
face-to-face communication, and their use alone has spared us from an
incredible amount of pollution and energy consumption," said Steve Kann,
Co-Founder and Senior Vice President of Engineering at Wimba. "This
innovative use of wind power further enhances the value proposition of a
product we've already seen great enthusiasm for in the market."
Use of Wind Energy Extends Wimba's Ongoing Commitment To Sustainability
Wimba's wind power initiative builds upon the company's ongoing commitment
to sustainability. Hundreds of colleges and universities around the world
are reducing carbon emissions using Wimba for distance education programs,
often reducing the need for students to travel to campus. In addition,
students and faculty are able to save valuable travel time and gas money.
Some examples of academic institutions that use Wimba for sustainable
learning initiatives include:
-- By teaching 35 sessions online using Wimba, the University of Georgia
Cooperative Extension saved 2,328 gallons of gas and reduced carbon
emissions by 5.7 tons in one semester.
-- Midland Lutheran College in Nebraska launched an online program using
Wimba to provide greater access to education for students who may not be
able to afford today's gas prices to travel to and from campus.
-- San Diego State University psychology professor Mark Laumakis
estimates that students in his Psych 101 course save (in total) $234 a
class in gas costs by using Wimba for online learning.
About Wimba Pronto
The only instant messenger designed for educators to advance and promote
learning, Wimba Pronto is unique in its features that specifically support
teaching and learning, including:
-- Instant Access to Campus Services
-- Queued Chat for Tutoring and Office Hours
-- Automatic Population of Classmates and Courses
-- Application Sharing
-- Blended Audio and Video Conferencing
-- Instant School-Wide Notifications
Additionally, Wimba Pronto Basic edition is a free, limited functionality
edition available for schools.
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
Contact Information: Media Contact(s) Kathleen Matthews Wimba, Inc. +1.646.861.5193 kmatthews@wimba.com Melissa Chotiner DBC PR+New Media +1.202.292.4572 melissa@dbcpr.com