To find new ways to enhance vocal instruction, collaboration, coaching, and assessment in a web-based environment, or
To give students new methods of speaking, writing, and listening to foreign languages or discussions – all online
Then using Wimba Voice can bring live voice to your online work.
Wimba Voice incorporates the use of threaded voice boards, voice-enabled email, embedded voice within course pages, as well as live group discussions. Wimba Voice increases the interaction and student engagement level for courses that use Blackboard Vista.
For instructions about how to use Wimba Voice in your Blackboard Vista course website, click on one of the Wimba Voice tools below:
Wimba Classroom is a live, virtual classroom environment with features that include audio, video, application sharing and content display, and MP4 capabilities.
Wimba Classroom provides instructors with:
Multi-Way Audio (Voice Over IP) & Video
Replicate the dynamic dialogue of a face-to-face class with real-time, multi-way audio and video. A speaker’s video is triggered by voice-detected switching, making the technology invisible while allowing a discussion to flow naturally. A telephone dial-in feature allows users to participate when traveling or acts as a backup if audio issues occur.
Public & Private Text Chat
Instant messaging allows students to communicate textually. Messages can be sent to the entire group or to individuals.
Flexible Content Area
The wide variety of content shared within one class differs greatly from another, which is why Wimba Classroom’s content area offers instructors the freedom to share files such as PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, web pages, images, movie clips, PDFs, or CMS pages.
Polls, Quizzes, Surveys & Electronic Whiteboard
Offering frequent classroom interaction is an instructional best practice. Wimba Classroom supports polls, quizzes, surveys and whiteboard exercises, which keeps students highly engaged.
Application Sharing
Application sharing facilitates collaboration that replicates side-by-side instruction or “over the shoulder” review as cursor movement is tracked—and even shared—from instructor to student.
Classroom Archiving
Classroom archiving preserves everything that takes place during a class – capturing voice, chat, and content—for access and review anytime and anywhere.
Expanded Whiteboard Options
Highlighter and rectangle tools provide visual indicators with which teachers can reiterate and enforce learning concepts.
Presenter On-The-Fly
Students engage peers through leading discussions and giving presentations while teachers customize their instruction to the particular needs of students.
Resizable Chat Area and Participant List
Chat area and participant window can be resized to accommodate course content. Students who use closed captioning can expand the chat interface to support accessibility.
Usage Insight
The analytics API tool allows instructors to quickly gain insight into student attendance, duration, and participation.
MP3 & MP4 Downloads
Without the need for third-party tools, download the audio of an archived lesson or activity in a standard MP3 or MP4 format. Distribute MP4 files of lectures or discussions to Blackboard Vista, iTunesU, or other content management systems.
Technology Appropriate for Online Education
Student hardware, software, networks, and technology skills vary enormously which is why Wimba Classroom was designed to operate effectively in the most challenging user environments. The thin-client, low-bandwidth features allow for dial-up access, and our cross-platform support and intuitive user interface allow for virtually any user, on a PC, Mac, or Linux machine, to fully participate with minimal instruction and setup.
Accessibility
Live and archived classes can be closed-captioned for the hearing impaired while keyboard shortcut keys, hot keys, and screen reader compatibility offers access of content and instruction to the visually impaired. These accessibility features help institutions meet many state and federal accessibility guidelines.
For more information about Wimba Classroom, please visit the Wimba Live Classroom support page.
If you are interested in using Wimba Classroom, contact Instructional Design and eTeaching Services at eteach@bc.edu
Wimba Pronto
Wimba Pronto is an instant-messaging client developed specifically for educational settings, allowing students and teachers to continue the learning process outside of the classroom in a supportive virtual environment.
Since Pronto is integrated with Blackboard Vista, users log in with their BC username to access course-specific contact lists. Therefore, instructors do not need to share personal user names from other external clients with students, or manage users. Pronto is particularly well-suited for use in an educational setting, unlike other chat clients.
Some of Pronto's features include:
- Text chat
- Audio and video chat capabilities
- Auto-population of your contact list with your class roster
Pronto is available on both the Mac and PC platforms.
If you are interested in learning more about Pronto, or using Pronto with your class, please contact us at cms@bc.edu.
If you want…