Media
Centre
Giunti Labs
Master
List
Giunti Labs, Exchange House, 494 Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes MK9
2EA
Tel +44 (0)1908 306009/ +44 (0) 7733 365063; Web
www.giuntilabs.com
30th November 2007
Coventry University creates a unique mobile learning environment in
its Serious Games Institute
Students to synchronise their real-life locations in a virtual campus
with Cisco and Giunti Labs' Technology.
Coventry University has collaborated with Cisco® and Giunti Labs to
create a highly innovative learning environment that blends mobile
learning and virtual learning worlds technologies.
The university wanted to help give its Serious Games Institute (SGI) a
technology platform on which to build a digital model of the campus
building, so that students' movements in both the real building and its
virtual reconstruction trigger location based access to learning
content and experiences. This means that content can be pushed to
students by the most suitable method for their location and the device
they are using.
The solution uses Cisco wireless location services to track real-world
positions and movements integrated within the Giunti Labs learn eXact®
learning content management system. The Giunti Labs software also
allows any form of digital learning content to be repurposed ‘on the
fly' for use either in the virtual SGI environment or via any device
connected to the Coventry University Cisco wired and wireless networks.
Beyond the SGI, the Coventry University deployment includes a number of
notable technology features, including the largest centralised wireless
system in the UK higher education sector and the first higher education
Cisco call centre to be installed in the English Midlands.
Giunti Labs, SGI and Cisco are also planning to start working on what
they call ‘extended positioning' - that is, the standard inter-working
and interoperability of position detection systems within real and
virtual copies of the same facility.
These systems will enable students who are visiting a place - either in
the real world or online - to meet, despite being physically separated
by thousands of miles. The capability is being brought about by
real-world and avatar-based positioning.
"Blending mobile and virtual worlds technologies has unmatched
potential for producing effective technology-based learning," commented
Giunti Labs' CEO, Fabrizio Cardinali.
The SGI deployment is part of a wider transformational project by
Coventry University to create a smart campus that, by 2010, will help
it take on more UK and overseas undergraduate and doctoral students,
improve student and staff satisfaction, achieve a 50 per cent annual
growth in applied research income and create a series of world-leading
applied research centres and groups, among other objectives.
"We set ourselves the goal of transforming Coventry University into a
destination of choice for students and academics from around the
world," said John Latham, pro vice-chancellor for business development
at the university. "Supported by the technology and expertise provided
by Cisco and Giunti Labs, our SGI has a number of advanced virtual
learning capabilities, such as drag-and-drop positioning of digital
learning contents, three-dimensional hotspot positioning, and
triggering and tracking of learning content by an avatar.
"We also have the tools and functionality for the creation, packaging
and management of Shareable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM)-compliant
contents which can be contextualised and delivered to Windows Mobile 5
personal digital assistants within the SGI Cisco Wi-Fi network. And we
can also reuse location based content also in other virtual worlds
platforms, such as Forterra and Second Life."
Angus Turpin, country manager, UK and Ireland for Giunti Labs, added:
"A critical point about our software is that it complements the power
of the Cisco network by making it possible to deliver raw content,
without repurposing, to any device connected to that network, in a way
which works for the device in question. Furthermore, SCORM, while not
currently being used at Coventry, gives us the technical ability to
measure the way users interact with the content - for instance, showing
how much time a student has spent reading a learning module.
"This makes the system ideal for next-generation educational platforms
where remote assessment is required, but also for wider applications
such as the delivery of Sarbanes-Oxley related materials in a corporate
setting."
As part of this initiative, Cisco is providing a range of network, call
centre and Unified Communications technologies. The company is working
alongside the systems integrator Logicalis, which is responsible for
installation, project management and support, and CableCom Access
Technologies, which is supplying an integrated communications package
for Coventry University's network of student residences.
The entire university network has been refreshed and now comprises
equipment including Cisco Catalyst® 6500, 3750, 3560 and 2960 Series
Switches, a Cisco Unified Wireless Network featuring Wireless Services
Modules and Cisco 4400 Series Wireless LAN Controllers, Cisco Unified
Communications Managers and Cisco Unified Contact Center Express
software.
"This is a story about partnership and collaboration, where we have
used our network expertise and that of third parties, such as Giunti
Labs, to create a completely new class of educational tools that will
help Coventry University achieve its aim of becoming a world-class
centre of higher education by 2010," said Tim Liney, regional sales
manager, higher and further education, Cisco UK. "It demonstrates
perfectly our understanding of the education sector and our ability to
work together with it to push back the boundaries of educational
innovation."
End
Notes for editors
About the Serious Games Institute (SGI)
The Serious Games Institute (SGI) is the first of three new Institutes
being opened at the Coventry University Technology Park. The SGI, the
first of its kind in the UK, aims to support regional development
through bringing together subject matter experts, applied research and
dedicated showcasing and demonstration facilities to support the
development and application of virtual world applications, game-based
learning and interactive digital media resources for a range of uses.
The SGI is a regional
development project, founded by Advantage West Midlands, which has
grown out of a desire to identify and encourage growth areas for West
Midlands industry. With computer games companies already being well
established in the Leamington Spa and Solihull areas, many of the
skills in evidence in this sector can be transferred to the serious
games sector. The SGI is a centre of excellence and a hub for serious
games which aims to provide access to:
-
Relevant applied
research through Coventry University;
-
Office space for
serious games companies, and
-
Facilities for
demonstrating and showcasing serious games and immersive environments.
About Cisco
Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that
transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information
about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com For ongoing news,
please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Europe is
supplied by Cisco Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary
of Cisco Systems.
Cisco, the Cisco logo, Cisco Systems and Catalyst are registered
trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the US and
certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this
document are the property of their respective owners.
About Giunti Labs
Giunti is unique in the international publishing industry.
In 1497, Giunti publishers and typographers in Florence, together with
others in Venice, began modern book manufacturing. Over the years
Giunti has built a ‘historical catalogue' of huge dimensions, through a
gradual process of ‘fusion' of different publishers, but also through
the creation of new brands, including Giunti Labs. Giunti Editore now
includes 20 companies in the publishing sector.
Giunti Labs, which has its global headquarters in Italy and offices in
London (UK), Frankfurt (Germany), Lund (Sweden) and in Boston (US),
provides a wide range of services, in response to any content, learning
and knowledge management need, covering:
-
Content production
-
Research and
development
-
Technological
solutions for content, learning & knowledge management
-
Architectural and
technological solutions for mobile & wireless
-
Training and
consulting
Giunti Labs provides
the learn eXact® suite, Europe's leading e-learning and mobile learning
content management technology. This suite is interoperable with all
major vendor-driven and open source LMS and VLE solutions in the market
including Plateau, Oracle, SumTotal, Saba, WebCT, Blackboard, Sakai,
LRN and Moodle.
Moreover, Giunti Labs does not just adhere to the international
standards relating to the LMS/LCMS world, it is one of the
organisations that helps to determine and drive these standards:
co-writing and developing them. Giunti Labs plays a key role in most of
the international institutions for the definition of eLearning
specifications (IEEE LTSC, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC36, CEN/ISSS WSLT, AICC, IMS,
ADL-SCORM and OKI).
About Giunti Labs'
learn eXact® suite
Giunti Labs' learn
eXact is an e-learning and mobile learning content management system (LCMS)
that enables users to create, manage and deliver content based on
learning objects, XML, standards and international specifications. It
delivers learning content to location-based mobile devices, interactive
TV and wearable computer devices.
Further information from:
Minna Leikas, Giunti Labs, +39 3489 399127
Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, +44 (0)1727 860405
