What is Wimba?
Wimba is a feature of Blackboard that makes online education more like a physical classroom by using technology to simulate the face-to-face experience.
Purpose:
Wimba is used to assist in online courses and can make any class more personable and interactive. It is intended to create a nurturing educational environment that provides students with free access to lectures and class materials even if they are absent.
Features:
Wimba provides a number of services to accomplish this goal:
- Audio and video communication (microphone and webcam)
- Application sharing
- Content display
- MP4 usability
- Access to Whiteboard
- Test administration
- Polling
- Lecture recording
Advantages:
The wide variety of services offered by Wimba can be useful in any course. Both physical and online classrooms could benefit from the following improvements:
- Better communication between students and instructors
- More relatable and interactive online classrooms
- Wider varieties of usable media
- Faster grading
- More convenient make-up sessions
- Easier access to lectures and course materials
Availability:
Wimba is accessible to all students, faculty, and staff with access to Blackboard.
Support:
For further questions or support visit: http://www.wimba.com/services/support/ or contact one of the following:
John Hawes: (828) 227-2763 or jhawes@email.wcu.edu
Jason Ottie: (828) 227-2927 or jnottie@email.wcu.edu
IT Help Desk: (828) 227-7487 or ithelp@wcu.edu