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Wimba Pronto Instant Messenger Powered By Wind Energy

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 September 2008, 09:00 CDT

Wimba(R) Inc., the education technology company that helps people teach people, today announced that Wimba Pronto(TM), the instant messaging platform designed exclusively for education, is now powered by wind energy. This innovative approach to "going green" encourages academic institutions to support alternative energy sources while they realize the benefits of an academic-centric instant messenger.

Key Facts:

 --  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(R), 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

 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

SOURCE: Wimba, Inc.

Source: MARKET WIRE

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