Groove Workspace Software Enhances Higher Education Classroom & Distance Learning. New pricing options allow faculty, administrators & students to improve learning practices with "virtual classroom" software

BEVERLY, Mass. June 23, 2003 – Groove Networks Inc., a leading provider of desktop collaboration software, today announced its Groove U program, designed to cost-effectively equip higher education institutions with Groove Workspace desktop collaboration software. Uniquely suited for distance-learning and classroom courses, and for project-based learning, Groove Workspace provides a persistent, "virtual classroom" environment that supports secure, two-way professor-to-student and student-to-student interaction and collaboration.

Interested higher education institutions can find more information about the Groove U program on the Groove Networks website at http://www.groove.net/products/education/, or by contacting a Groove education sales representative at sales@groove.net. Academic discounting for individual students is also available by contacting a Groove education sales representative.

"We are one of the first academic institutions to use Groove Workspace on a broad scale," says Dr. Alex Bordetsky from the Naval Postgraduate School in San Diego, CA. "Groove has a well-refined balance between asynchronous and synchronous collaboration capabilities, and provides an unmatched level of shared awareness for both my classroom and remote students -- something they need desperately when they transfer collaborative work out of the physical classroom to the virtual classroom. The flexibility of the Groove U program will allow us to gradually introduce Groove Workspace into the delivery of all courses."

"My Groove-based virtual classrooms either take the place of, or augment, my physical classroom environments," said Dr. Rick Lillie, California State University at San Bernardino. "Groove software's peer-to-peer, desktop environment is far superior to Web-based learning management systems for supporting direct communication, collaboration, and coursework administration. The students who use Groove Workspace in my courses are beginning to introduce it to their peers in other courses."

"Much of the sharing of ideas and interaction among students and with professors traditionally happens outside the few hours a week of classroom time," said David Fowler, Groove Networks' vice president of marketing. "Groove extends the interactive nature of the learning process from the physical classroom to the virtual classroom."

Enhanced learning
Unlike Web-based e-learning tools, Groove Workspace is peer-to-peer software that gives students and professors the ability to dynamically interact and collaborate around shared coursework, online. With little to no IT assistance, professors can easily create Groove-based virtual classrooms for each course, and invite students to join via email or instant messaging. Each classroom can be pre-populated with the course syllabus, class resources, key dates, and assignments using Groove Workspace tools for file sharing, group calendars, threaded discussions, Web links, and more. A variety of free and for-purchase Groove Workspace tools (http://www.groove.net/downloads/tools/) can be added to virtual classrooms to facilitate visual brainstorming, class polling, and team project work.

For distance learning courses, Groove Workspace provides a persistent, virtual classroom environment for the remote students. Professors can monitor students' online status during classes, and guide them through lectures using Groove software's "Navigate Together," "Browse Together," "Co-review" (with Microsoft WordÒ), and "Co-present" (with Microsoft PowerPointÒ) capabilities. During lessons, professors can interact with students in real-time using text chat, voice and text messaging, and voice over IP. Students using Tablet PCs can chat and mark up images with digital ink using the Groove Workspace Ink Chat tool (http://www.groove.net/downloads/tools/groove/inkchat.html).

For distance-learning and in-class courses, Groove Workspace provides a virtual space for supporting out-of-class work and interaction. Professors can use the virtual classroom to store key documents and resources, as well as to receive completed coursework from students. Office hours can be hosted within the virtual classroom, so others can benefit from the knowledge, or be held privately inside separate shared spaces with individual students. Students and professors are free to work inside their Groove spaces while mobile or disconnected, as Groove software automatically distributes changes to others when they reconnect. For courses that involve extensive team project work, students can create their own virtual project spaces and work together remotely – a significant benefit for distance learning courses, and business and graduate school courses where students often find it difficult to meet in person.

Groove U
The Groove U program provides academic pricing discounts on Groove software and services purchased by administrators and faculty at qualified educational institutions:
·    Groove for administrators: Campus IT administrators can purchase a discounted site license subscription to Groove Workspace software and supporting services for large departments or campus-wide deployments.
·    Groove for faculty: Faculty can purchase discounted Groove Workspace software licenses for redistribution to students.

Student Discounts
·    Accredited higher education students can purchase individual Groove Workspace licenses at a discount, using a promotional code obtained from faculty or from a Groove education sales representative.

"Today's students have embraced peer-to-peer tools the way the previous generation first embraced the Web. Groove software's impact in education will likely be as significant as that of the Web browser," said Dr. David Thornburg of the Thornburg Center, which focuses on emerging technologies and their impact on learning.

About Groove Networks
Founded in October 1997 and headquartered in Beverly, Mass., Groove Networks Inc. provides secure "virtual workspace" software that allows you to assemble people, information and tools to get work done, online. Groove software helps organizations, large and small, save money, time and eliminate travel by being 10x more effective than using email alone. For more information about Groove Networks, visit http://www.groove.net.




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