New Collaborative Web Conferencing Tool for K-12

July 5, 2006 (Markham, Ontario, Canada)—Bytes of Learning Incorporated has been appointed the K-12 education distributor of the collaborative web conferencing technology called WebArrow® created by WebArrow of Toronto, Canada. WebArrow combines real-time desktop and document collaboration with Voice over IP (VoIP) accommodating 2 to 100 or more participants at a time.

Unlike other web conferencing services on the market, WebArrow is designed for groups of people who want to meet through the Internet with no pre-meeting uploads, minimum startup issues, fully collaborative interaction, and integrated voice. It is also a secure meeting tool – secure enough that the US Navy has been using WebArrow for more than a year.

Beyond a standard laptop or desktop, each participant needs only a headset with microphone and earphones, and a medium or high-speed Internet connection. On a first use, WebArrow performs a system check and upgrades the computer’s Active-X controls if necessary.

WebArrow includes VoIP so every participant can hear and speak to the rest of the group, while sharing documents in a collaborative or training fashion. “We have used WebArrow for internal and remote meetings for about 6 months,” said Art Willer, president of Bytes of Learning. “It’s so convenient to call an Internet meeting and have nothing to set up—just pull on your headset and share your desktop.”

A WebArrow meeting moderator shares documents or other desktop items with participants. Participants can collaborate on a single document in real-time or a participant can perform a task on another person’s computer, with permission, to allow remote troubleshooting for technical support.

To manage participation when a larger group is involved, the moderator can set the session on “Push-to-talk” mode, which allows participants to speak on demand by clicking the “Talk” button. Participants in the meeting can also ask questions with the built-in chat tool. Or they can “raise their hands” to speak. All this contributes to an organized but fully interactive meeting perfect for district- and state-wide professional development and virtual learning.

“We see tremendous savings for staff development personnel to call virtual staff meetings as well as conduct training remotely. Given WebArrow’s affordable pricing and ease of use, we anticipate teachers and students using WebArrow to collaborate with other classrooms across the country and world,” said Willer.

WebArrow subscriptions start at $29.95 per month for a 5-participant “named user” license. No more than a month’s subscription needs to be purchased at any time.