About Us

Meet! Learn! Get things done!

Helping you learn to use the Internet for . . . 

• Teaching and Learning Online


• Meeting and Teaming Online

   . . . is what we do best.

Who We Are

We are FutureU.™ Claude Whitmyer and Gail Terry Grimes, along with selected professional associates who are all either experienced educators or expert organizational consultants or both.

     Read more about our founders and associates . . . 

Who We Serve

Large organizations as diverse as the American Hospital Association, the NASA Astrobiology Institute, Apple Computer, Fujitsu America, Hitachi, and the community colleges of the California Virtual Campus have relied on FutureU for our analysis, consulting, research, and training services. Our higher-ed clients have ranged from Dominican University of California to King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

     Read more about FutureU's clients . . . 

What We Offer

Getting good advice from a knowledgeable source can "make or break" any initiative, large or small. As one of the best of the small firms specializing in analysis, design, development and deployment of Internet technology for learning and work, we offer wise counsel and "get-it-done" capabilities.

     Read more about our mission . . . 

FutureU™ Founders and Associates

The FutureU Associates are experts in . . . 

• Technology
• Education
• Communications
• Research
• Organizational Development

We were advocating the appropriate use of technology to encourage collaboration and improve performance long before it became popular to do so.

• Gail Terry Grimes, CEO - Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer
• Claude Whitmyer, CTO - Co-founder, Chief Information Officer and Chief Learning Officer
• The FutureU Associates - An extraordinary team of creative, experienced thought leaders and pioneers
  


• How to Reach Us
  

FutureU™ Clients

• Our clients and customers are:

• teachers and students
• department heads, deans, and institutional leaders
• trainers and workers
• managers and executives
• internal and external consultants

• Who work with or are employed within . . . 

• colleges and universities
• health-care, government and other non-profit organizations
• corporations and small businesses

• And who are . . . 

• meeting and learning online
• engaged in lifelong learning
• looking for tools to make life and work easier, more productive, more rewarding
• hoping to find products and services that are easy to learn, easy to use, and cost effective

View a list of selected clients . . . 
Read testimonials from happy clients . . . 
Learn more about how we work with clients through case examples . . . 

FutureU's Mission 

Our mission is to work with people who want to make the most of their investments . . . 

•  . . . in Internet and Web technology
•  . . . for meeting and teaming online
•  . . . or distance or blended learning

We help with:

• Planning and strategic thinking
• Needs and readiness assessments
• Instruction for teachers or trainers about teaching online
• Instruction for students or employees about learning online
• Training in best practices for meeting and working online in teams
• Project evaluation (either ongoing or upon completion)
• Conversion of existing course materials for online delivery
• Evaluation of existing online courses

We also:

• Study the industry
• Look for the best of the best software and hardware
• Help clients evaluate, choose, and implement

• The right technology
• At the right price
• For the right people

• Technology. In an effort to stay abreast with changes in software and hardware for virtual and blended communication and learning, we have identified a handful of excellent products that we believe deserve your consideration. These fall into three categories:

• Content Creation

• Putting the pieces together.

• Content Delivery

• Synchronous (real-time web conferencing, e.g. Elluminate, WebEx, Skype/Yugma, Vyew)
• Asynchronous (e.g. Blackboard or Moodle discussion forums, phpBB, Yahoo or Google groups).

• Collaboration

• Developing successful learning communities.

• Training. We are especially proud of of two of our keystone programs:

• instructor training in the pedagogy and practices of online instructional design and delivery
• two-week orientation to the online classroom for college students or organizational learners

Both are available in . . . 

• self-paced or instructor-led formats
• via online or blended delivery

And both have received rave reviews.

• Research. FutureU publishes research reports of interest to our clients, that hundreds of decision makers have used as a guide in launching e-learing within their own organizations. Among the most widely used were:

• Comparison of Leading Course Management Software (2000)
• Comparison of Leading Virtual Collaboration Software (2002)
• Is Open Source Software Ready for Prime Time? (2003)

To learn more about what FutureU™ can do for you, please contact us directly.