Best Practices in Educational Technology Recognized

PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Elluminate, Inc., the leading provider of online collaboration tools serving 7 million teachers and students in 170 countries, is pleased to announce the Center of Excellence winners and Elluminate Heroes for 2010. This is Elluminate’s fifthyear recognizing international educational and corporate institutions for their best practices and for leading the way in technological methods of teaching, learning and conducting related business processes.

“We feel that this group of institutions elevated education during this economically tumultuous year through their inspiring creativity”

“We feel that this group of institutions elevated education during this economically tumultuous year through their inspiring creativity,” said Elluminate President Maurice Heiblum. “We are pleased to see that so many schools and companies are creatively using Elluminate products to adapt to the ever-changing environments. One winner made it possible for a teacher undergoing chemotherapy to still conduct class, another created social events for virtual students, and another replaced traditional face-to-face training to save time and money.”

Through its Center of Excellence program, Elluminate recognized seven institutions, including Arizona Virtual Academy, Laurel Springs School, London Knowledge Lab, NSW Businesslink, Rock Island Elementary, Thomas University and Wright State University.

Each year, Elluminate chooses a variety of schools and businesses that have implemented Elluminate technology in creative ways that improve classroom or distance learning programs, corporate training, faculty or staff communication and collaboration, or administrative operations. Elluminate also recognizes Elluminate Heroes, who are the individuals or teams responsible for their institutions being accepted into the Center of Excellence Program. Winners demonstrate real-world results, including increased student achievement.

The Center of Excellence Winners and Elluminate Heroes include:

Arizona Virtual Academy and Nichole McCauley. Through the use of Elluminate Live! the school saw gains with at-risk students when they were required to attend online sessions. The AZVA staff has also been better able to meet the needs of students, host competitive clubs, increase communications with parents and staff, and streamline training.
Laurel Springs School and Diane Elliot. All Laurel Springs teachers have their own Elluminate Live! classrooms, and the school uses Elluminate to host monthly virtual open houses, including one about socializing the virtual student by using games, sharing work, creating personal slides, forming student clubs, holding contests and showcasing student projects. Students also collaborate on homework, review for exams, hear guest speakers and share ideas.
London Knowledge Lab and Tim Neumann. Using Elluminate Live! as part of a consortium with Bloomsbury Colleges and the University of London, London Knowledge Lab focuses on research to uncover the underlying principles of web conferencing and how to build effective learner experiences based on sound pedagogical principles.
NSW Businesslink and Bruce Meyer. As part of an organization-wide upgrade of computer systems, NSW Businesslink is using Elluminate Plan! And Elluminate Live! to replace traditional face-to-face training. Today, a continuous learning experience is enabling knowledge transfer for 2500 participants in remote rural areas in Australia.
Rock Island Elementary and James Griffin. Elluminate Live! was the turnkey application chosen by Rock Island Elementary to extend the learning day, close the gap in student achievement, and meet the requirements of NCLB and Florida’s A+ Accountability Plan. As a result, the school has implemented its first state-of-the-art learning environment that enables instructors to replicate modeled lessons and sustain consistency for a rigorous curriculum.
Thomas University and Mary Prentice and Bei Zhang. At TU, Elluminate Live! is used pervasively by faculty, staff, and students for academic programs, recorded seminar sessions, student tutorials, and much more. For example, use of Elluminate by Library Services increased database use by 400%. The university also took part in one of Elluminate’s Fire and Ice projects.
Wright State University and Sheri Stover. Wright State has used Elluminate Live! to build a better sense of community and increase student completion rates for its distance education programs, as well as to facilitate faculty professional development. The virtual classroom accommodates those who can’t attend face-to-face classes during flu season or inclement weather. In one example, a history teacher credits Elluminate with saving her job when she was unable to hold classes in person during chemotherapy treatment.

About Elluminate, Inc.

Elluminate, Inc. provides proven, best-in-class web, audio, video, and social networking solutions that support 21^st century teaching, learning, and collaboration. The company serves more than 624 million annual web-collaboration minutes to over 7 million teachers and students located in 170 different countries. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and Pleasanton, California, Elluminate is the trusted choice of prominent academic institutions and corporations, including ADP, Apple Computer, California State University, Florida Virtual School, Georgetown University, K12 Inc., London Knowledge Lab, Los Angeles Unified School District, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Novell, Queen's University, Royal Veterinary College, Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, and many more. For more information, visit http://www.elluminate.com.

Elluminate Live! is a registered trademark of Elluminate, Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada.