All community and junior college users now have access to the full version of Wimba Pronto, billed by Wimba as "the only instant messaging system designed for educators." The program downloads to a faculty or student's computer after a quick signup and download process on the Wimba server (see News Story, Installing Wimba Pronto).
The application provides blended audio and video conferencing, application sharing, a whiteboard, and queued chat functionality.
"This service changes the paradigm," says Christian Pruett, SBCJC eLearning Director.
"We are seeing elearning companies embrace tools that assist the entire institution, and this new version of Wimba Pronto is a prime example. This tool is intended not only for faculty and students, but for administration at large. Imagine setting up a help desk for your financial aid office. Your financial aid staff are at their computer, working as they always do. But now administrators can provide assistance to students at home--the queue in the hallways has been augmented by the queue function in Pronto."
Once installed, the tool performs syncs with Blackboard course enrollments.
"So imagine a Jane Doe, who installs the program, and is enrolled in a Biology course," says Pruett. "When she opens the program, she will now see William Doe, who is also enrolled in the course, assuming he has installed the program. This happens without any forethought by the student--they're merely installing the program. From there, they can start up a whiteboard session, chat, or see and talk to one another through a headset."
Chat functionality can be turned off by the instructor prior to quizzes or tests. "Regarding test integrity," says Pruett, "our recent partnership with Respondus will allow us to lock down any browser or quiz, so instructors should use this tool in addition to Pronto."
There is also the ability to turn off Pronto chat within an entire course from within the program settings.
A Spanish language preference is also a part of the software.
Alicia Shows, Dean at SMCC, is impressed.
“I've been with the MSVCC since the beginning,” says Shows.
“Communication between student and instructor and among students, has always been a problem. Pronto can be a great tool for solving some of these communication issues and can allow the student to be a part of a learning community, not an electronic correspondence course.
I'm a math teacher, so the idea of easy access to a whiteboard is fantastic.
I expect that the faculty at SMCC will make immediate use of the whiteboard feature, because as soon as one instructor uses it, the word will spread, and the students will be expecting it from all instructors.”
The MSVCC has had access to the free, limited version of Pronto since January 2009.
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