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University Distance Learning Brings Flexibility to State-wide Training
6/11/2008
Having a contract with Wimba for all 14 PASSHE universities simply makes good business sense, he said, by allowing him to negotiate a better price on the software. "It's a substantial [price] difference," Hails said. "We make our money go farther." And with Wimba used as the collaboration software on all campuses, PASSHE not only saves money on the initial contract, but can save on training and support.
Hails said he has also recently used Wimba for basic staff training of various groups and task forces who will be using a newly installed Microsoft SharePoint server. "There's no way we were going to have staff come to Harrisburg just for a 45-minutes training session," he said. And chief academic officers at PASSHE universities "are starting to use [Wimba] when they have CAO meetings," Hails explained. "We're trying to minimize the number of times during the year that they come to Harrisburg... Every other month, they have a Wimba meeting [instead]."
One feature Hails said he hasn't seen in any comparable product is Wimba's integrated ability to handle traditional land-line phone calls, not just voice over IP connections. "Lots of [users]... needed the [conventional] phone bridge" for PASSHE meetings, Hails said. "That made a real difference for us." Also, Wimba "seems to really understand higher education," Hails added.
Wimba has become so useful to PASSHE member schools that administrators have coined a verb to go along with the software, Hails said. "They'll say, 'I can't take a whole day to drive there. Can I Wimba in to this meeting?' "
Linda L. Briggs is a freelance writer based in San Diego, Calif.
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