Breathe life into the ordinary with ThingLink’s brand new Augmented Reality Solution! Easily create an overlay of hotspots containing multimedia information on your images of real-world objects, then share as AR experiences to view via any mobile device. 

What is the ThingLink AR Solution?

ThingLink has always offered the easiest and fastest way to create interactive and immersive experiences for viewing on screens or in Virtual Reality. Now you can add Augmented Reality viewing to the list of easy-to-create interactive media.

The ThingLink AR Solution consists of the new AR Mode in the ThingLink suite (for creating), and the ThingLink AR Viewer App (for viewing).

How does the ThingLink AR Solution work?

Creation:

Using advanced AR technology, ThingLink allows you to upload any image of a real-life object, and then add hotspots to it via the super-simple and intuitive ThingLink interface. The interactive hotspots can contain any combination of multimedia content: images, videos, gifs, text, links, 3d models and much more! Add your hotspots, then add the content you would like to share with your viewers. After creating your AR resource or ‘Collection’ ThingLink generates a share code for you, which you can also convert to a QR code for sharing if you wish.

Viewing:

Your viewer then:

1. Downloads the AR Viewer App from the AppStore and opens it.
2. Enters the share code/scans the QR code.
3. Points their phone camera at the object. 
4. Interacts with the hotspots that appear on their screen!

Both the ThingLink creator interface and the AR Viewer App are very easy to navigate. Our intuitive interface ensures that everyone can enjoy a simple and seamless user experience, without any specific technical expertise.

You can read full instructions, account limitations and details at our Support Article here.

Video above shows the AR solution being used at Savonia University of Applied Sciences’ WaterLAB – a dedicated space for development and testing.

What are the benefits of ThingLink’s AR Solution?

For learning and training

More impactful training with Mixed Reality 

Instantly engage learners with your training by adding augmented reality experiences. From educational institutions to corporate training, the app provides an opportunity for experiential learning. Make complex topics, physical processes or even machinery easier to understand and more engaging through interactive, hands-on experiences that guide learners through processes step-by-step.

Increased accessibility

Providing accessible content is essential. ThingLink is designed to break down barriers and open up new opportunities for exploration for everyone. We’ve built an AR training solution that’s not just easy to use but also makes learning fun and inclusive. No matter their age, training needs or tech skill level, your viewers can dive right into augmented reality training on demand with the ThingLink Viewer App, on a device that’s familiar to them. 

Keep training costs down

Create interactive employee training experiences that don’t rely on expensive AR headsets or training software and can be instantly updated at no additional cost. Create a variety of different overlays for different event simulations and training scenarios. Reduce the training process from two steps (theory, then practical) to one, saving time and money.

For cultural venues:

Clear and accessible information for visitors

No more dealing with cluttered information signs or panels on each object. With the ThingLink AR Viewer App your viewers simply point their device at the image, tap on the hotspot, and access information seamlessly. A whole catalog of objects or artefacts can be accessed with one short code. Retain the original aesthetic integrity of your location, no need for ‘out of context’ information panels that disrupt the experience. Providing information via your visitors’ own devices rather than providing audio guides to visitors keeps your exhibition costs down.

Drive engagement 

Engagement is the key to a memorable experience, and the ThingLink AR Viewer App excels in this area. By adding interactivity to your exhibition or display, you’re not just looking at artefacts – you’re truly experiencing them. Dive deep into historical contexts, gain artistic insights, or even share personal stories attached to objects – the possibilities are endless.

For business:

Increase safety and efficiency and lower costs with optimized troubleshooting 

With the ThingLink AR Solution, you can be sure that whatever the problem, your operators and agents can deal with it swiftly, safely and efficiently. You can reduce potentially costly and hazardous errors with interactive AR product guides that demonstrate correct processes. 

How can you use the ThingLink AR Solution?

The AR Solution has multiple applications in learning, training, industry, marketing, retail, art and culture, tourism and more. In fact its applications are almost limitless!

Add multimedia tags to paintings, structures, products, machinery and technical equipment, production lines or in fact any workplace object, unlocking layers of information and insights in an instant. Here are some key use cases by sector.

1. Galleries and Exhibitions

Augmented reality can transform the traditional gallery and exhibition experience into a truly immersive one. This application can add an extra layer of interpretive content to artworks, bringing them to life with interactive, animations, audio descriptions, artist interviews, 3d objects or historical contexts. Visitors, equipped with the AR app on their smartphones or tablets, can point their devices at an artwork and watch as the static display evolves into an interactive multimedia experience. This not only boosts visitor engagement but also offers an exciting new way to delve deeper into the stories and ideas behind each piece.

In the example below, you can watch how the solution was used to create AR guides for an exhibition in Columbus, Ohio. You can read the full case study blog here.

2. Onboarding and Impactful Training

The use of augmented reality in onboarding and training programs can revolutionize the way companies educate their new hires or existing employees. By incorporating AR features into their training, companies can make complicated training materials interactive and engaging. For example, employees could scan a machine with their phone to see a step-by-step AR guide on how to operate it, minimizing risks and facilitating a faster learning curve. This hands-on learning approach helps improve the understanding and retention of information, making training more effective.

3. Troubleshooting, Maintenance and Product Guidance 

Provide detailed visual guides to instruments, machines and appliances for your field operators, agents and customers. Reduce costly errors and the time taken to resolve issues by providing clear and sequenced instructions in multimedia format, including videos to show processes and functionality in action. Increase accuracy and confidence, avoid potentially dangerous and/or expensive mistakes from incorrect use and procedures and reduce hazards to employees and customers. Step-by-step walkthroughs with videos, images and even 3D models can guide them independently through the correct actions when products and machinery display a fault. These AR applications work across a wide spectrum of industries – from those as diverse as manufacturing, utilities, healthcare and hospitality.

ThingLink’s AR solution is one of the best AR apps for use in environments where information or guidance needs to be regularly updated. Any changes that you make to your content in ThingLink are updated in real-time, meaning that whenever the viewer opens the app, their material will automatically be the most up-to-date version. In the example below, the AR solution is used to troubleshoot complex instruments in a water network.

4. Escape Rooms and Treasure Hunts

Augmented reality can bring an innovative twist to traditional escape rooms and breakout sessions. With AR technology, you can design thrilling scavenger hunts or gamified experiences in any location or space. For instance, clues or puzzles could be placed in real-world environments, but only visible through the AR app, making the challenge more immersive and engaging. You can also incorporate educational content in these AR games, turning any location or learning experience into an interactive adventure. This can be especially impactful in settings like museums, educational institutions, or corporate team-building exercises. Popular experiences such as Pokemon Go have made the concept of an AR treasure hunt familiar to everyone, and now with ThingLink AR solution, it’s incredibly easy to make your own! In the video below, educator Christoffer Dithmer has used the AR solution to add additional layers of information to a history book for his students.

5. Information Panels and Directions for City Guides and Trails

Augmented reality applications can provide interactive information or direction panels in a variety of spaces, from public parks to buildings and tourist attractions. Users can simply point their AR-enabled device at a location or object to view a layer of digital information – this could include historical facts, architectural details, or even directions to nearby points of interest. This provides an innovative way for visitors to interact with their surroundings, making navigation easier and experiences richer.

6. Historical Education and Tourism

Historical sites and museums can adopt augmented reality to provide immersive tours and educational experiences. Users can view re-enactments of historical events, see how historical figures looked, or visualize how ruins and buildings looked in their prime, all by downloading the augmented reality app. This application of AR makes history more accessible and engaging, and helps users develop a deeper appreciation for cultural heritage. 

Device and Platform Compatibility

ThingLink’s AR Viewer App is available as a mobile app for iOS (for iphone/ipad/other Apple devices) and for Android devices/operating systems.

Experience the ThingLink AR Solution 🌐💼: Transforming everyday tasks into seamless and efficient experiences!

Over the years, ThingLink has evolved to meet the ever-changing needs of educators, students, and creators. However, as technology advances and our platform grows, we occasionally encounter circumstances beyond our control that necessitate adjustments to our offerings. 

With deep regret, we must inform you that as of 31st January 2024, we will no longer be able to support the legacy free teacher accounts that have been in use for a very long time. This decision was not made lightly, and we understand that it may impact some of our valued users.

What this Means for You

1. Access to Legacy Free Teacher Accounts: Starting on 31st January 2024 shared content created on legacy free teacher accounts will no longer be available. You will be able to access your account and your content, but others will not be able to view it. This affects ThingLink content shared by link and also where it is embedded. 

2. Migration Options: We understand that this transition may be inconvenient, and we want to make it as smooth as possible for you. To ease this transition, we are offering a special coupon code that provides a 50% discount on our $60/year teacher account subscription.

3. Coupon Code: Use the coupon code LEGACY50  when upgrading to the $60/year teacher account to enjoy a 50% discount. This will enable you to continue enjoying ThingLink’s interactive content creation and engagement features at a more affordable rate. The coupon code doesn’t have an expiration date. 

4. Free Resources: We want to express our gratitude for your support over the years. To demonstrate our appreciation, we have been able to offer free resources, including the “Pano to 360” Panoramic to Photosphere tool that we created. We understood that when Google discontinued the Street View Camera app, educators needed a solution, and we are here to provide it. 
5. Continued Support: We remain committed to supporting the education community, and we encourage you to explore our updated suite of offerings, which are designed to provide an even better experience for educators. We will continue to offer resources, tutorials, and customer support to ensure you have the assistance you need during this transition.

We understand that change can be challenging, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Our team is dedicated to assisting you throughout this process, and we are confident that our current offerings, now with the added discount, will provide you with enhanced capabilities for creating interactive content and engaging your students.

If you have any immediate questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to our support team at support@thinglink.com 

Thank you for being a part of the ThingLink community, and we look forward to continuing to empower educators with our innovative tools and solutions.

Possible Questions and Answers

What will show where the content is not available if it is embedded or shared?

The error message will be the standard ThingLink logo followed by ‘This media is not available right now’. 

Will I lose my content?

No, your content will remain but it will not be accessible to others.

The benefits of diversity training for organisations

Organisations of all sizes should aspire to creating an equitable and inclusive workplace, where all team members can thrive regardless of different backgrounds, socio-economic status, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion.

Effective diversity training programs help to ensure that all staff feel respected and accepted by their co-workers while promoting an inclusive culture and inclusive behaviors. The bottom line for you as an employer is that creating an inclusive environment like this, where employees feel valued and respected, will assist both with attracting strong candidates from a wide range of backgrounds, and with staff retention.

What does diversity training cover?

Diversity, equity and inclusion training programs (or DEI for short) can cover an enormous range of issues and subjects. These may include such areas as cultural diversity, unconscious bias (eg racial bias) and sensitivity training.

Identifying your own specific workplace diversity training needs will help create more relevant and meaningful learning outcomes

Establishing clear and relevant learning objectives and anticipated outcomes is essential for the success of any employee training course, and a diversity program is no different.

Individual companies must decide the particular types of diversity training courses they require, to ensure that the training is realistic, useful and relevant to their own setting or environment. It may be that the location or nature of your organisation means that certain workplace diversity issues are more commonplace or problematic than others.

Key learning: Creating realistic scenarios based on real-life environments and specific situations will mean that the training you provide will be instantly more relatable, understandable and more easily applicable for all employees.

The benefits of using ThingLink’s Scenario Builder for employee training

Scenario Builder is the simplest way to create realistic and authentic virtual learning environments that perfectly mimic your company culture and the environments where your employee learners might find themselves during their working day. This has a number of benefits:

• It allows them to practice decision-making and problem-solving skills in a safe and low-risk environment.
• It allows them to explore the potential consequences of their decisions via branching scenarios that take them along a different path depending on the choices they make.
• Scenario Builder is a particularly useful tool for diversity training as it allows the learner to experience a situation or environment from a range of perspectives which are different from their own. This can give them an insight into how their own behaviour can be perceived from a different viewpoint.

Scenario Builder allows you to:

• Create questions which will prompt reflection and promote understanding among learners.
• Easily create realistic virtual environments at low cost with images, 360 images, videos or 360 videos captured in your own work spaces.
• Assess employee knowledge within the employee training scenario.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of your DEI training materials; using built-in metrics to assess and perfect your diversity and inclusion training.

Video: How to create a scenario for employee training

Further information

The three blogs below are a really helpful introduction to Scenario Based Learning and should provide further inspiration for creating your own course.

Scenario Based Learning for Corporate Training

How to Create Scenario Based Learning Experiences

5 Great Examples of Scenario-Based Learning

Easy Immersive Content Creation

Founded in 2010 in Finland, ThingLink has develop a flexible set of tools for easy immersive content creation, including ThingLink multimedia editor for annotating any type of visual media; ThingLink Scenario Builder for creating branched learning scenarios and simulations, and ThingLink Unity Plugin for including Unity models into training scenarios. At BETT London, ThingLink is showing its new augmented reality application that makes the creation of educational AR easy for everyone.

Millions of ThingLink content creators worldwide

Approaching 10 million content creators in 2023, ThingLink is the most popular immersive content creation solution in education, learning and development in Europe and North America. Relying on easy, scalable use,  ThingLink integrates with the most popular Learning Management Systems such as Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, D2L, Classera, 360 Learning, and ItsLearning, allowing its users to share immersive learning experiences, virtual tours, scenarios and simulations directly to LMS.

Uses in Higher Education

Hundreds of higher education and vocational education institutions around the world use ThingLink to create interactive online learning experiences. Most popular use cases include interactive maps, virtual campus tours, virtual field trips and walk-throughs in physical facilities such as maker labs, technical spaces and laboratories, adaptive scenarios for skills development, and research.

ThingLink exhibits at BETT London as a ClassVR partner on stand NK41. 

Contact us for more information: Please email Louise Jones, Director Community and Partnerships louise@thinglink.com

Read more: 

ThingLink for Higher Education

ThingLink founder story

But if you don’t have a dedicated human resources department, why not consider creating your own training courses that meet your organisation’s specific needs? Creating realistic, engaging and relatable online training materials that place scenarios and situations in your workplace is easier than you think! It also means you will have a suite of online diversity and inclusion training materials that be delivered anywhere, any time!

Why provide diversity and inclusion training for employees?

Implementing an effective diversity and inclusion training program is essential for any organization. In creating a safe and respectful workplace environment that fosters true diversity and inclusion you are far more likely to attract a diverse workforce with a wide range of skills and experience. Employees will be better equipped to understand different backgrounds and cultures while also being more aware of their own biases – which can contribute towards building stronger teams. You are more likely to achieve higher rates of staff retention and employee engagement if you foster an inclusive culture that nurtures a sense of belonging in staff members from all demographics. It will mean that any communications and content produced in-house is more likely to be inclusive – saving time on content checking.

Develop clear goals and objectives for your training course

The first step in developing your inclusion and diversity training program is to clearly define your goals and objectives. What do you want your team members to learn? How will they be able to apply this knowledge in their day-to-day work? By setting clear goals for the training, you will more easily be able to design the structure of the training itself.

Designing a training course for an inclusive workplace

Once you have established these clear goals for your training, it’s time to create the outline of your course. This should include topics such as: cultural competence, unconscious bias, and micro-aggressions. It should also cover topics related to sexual orientation, gender identity, religious beliefs, disabilities, race/ethnicity, and ageism. The goal of the curriculum should be to highlight to employees the importance of diversity and inclusion in creating a safe, respectful and diverse workplace and an inclusive environment.

Creating the materials for your training course

ThingLink Scenario Builder is an easy to use online tool that allows you to build branching logic into authentic learning experiences that simulate real-life situations, decision making and problem-solving. It’s easy to learn and use with no design or coding skills required. Learning analytics provide insights into unique learner journeys and performance. And most importantly for your bottom line, it saves costs in content production, translation and logistics. Watch this quick 2 minute video for an overview.

Accessible training

In using online training learners can access the material at a time and place that suits them. It can be completely self-paced. For improved accessibility, ThingLink features built-in language and reading accessibility with native Microsoft Immersive Reader as well as a web accessibility player viewing mode. For more information on ThingLink’s accessibility features please see this support article.

You can easily upload images, videos or 360 media taken in your own workplace and use these as the base media for the scenes in your scenario. In this way, in common with the best diversity training, it will allow you to illustrate examples of how your employees can incorporate specific cultural diversity & inclusion into your everyday company culture. For a more in-depth explanation of how Scenario Builder works, watch the 12 minute intro below.

Diversity and inclusion certification

Using scenario builder you could also provide your own diversity and inclusion certification once learners have completed the training. This could count towards professional development credits or be integrated into a wider organisational certificate program.

Case Studies

Take a look at some of these examples of ThingLink being used to create training materials in corporate organisations and further and higher education institutions.

• Online customer service training at Gradia with ThingLink
• HyGGe Virtual School uses Scenario Builder for Wellness technology training
• Fingrid creates virtual safety briefings with ThingLink
• Norelco training diversified with ThingLink
• Scenario Based Learning for Corporate Training

Teksti: Jasmin Ryynänen

Laaja-alainen osaaminen tulee näkyville autenttisissa oppimisympäristöissä 

Opetussuunnitelmassa laaja-alainen osaaminen määritellään tietojen, taitojen, arvojen, asenteiden sekä tahdon muodostamaksi kokonaisuudeksi. Osaaminen ei tarkoita siis vaan tiedon tietämistä, vaan myös kykyä käyttää tietoja ja taitoja osana toimintaa. Tietojen ja taitojen käyttämiseen vaikuttavat oppilaiden omat asenteet ja arvot sekä tahto toimia.

Yli tiedon- ja taidonalat ylittävä ja yhdistävä osaaminen karttuu parhaiten autenttisissa oppimisympäristöissä, työympäristöissä ja oppilaiden arjessa. Voimme siirtyä autenttisiin ympäristöihin oppimaan tai luoda mahdollisimman autenttisia simulaatioita teknologian avulla. Simulaatioiden avulla oppiminen on ollut jo kauan arkipäivää esimerkiksi sosiaali- ja terveysalalla, mutta peruskouluissa siihen törmää vielä harvemmin. Teknologia tekee sen kuitenkin helpommaksi kuin aikaisemmin. Skenaariotyökalun polutus mahdollistaa valintojen ja päätösten seurauksien konkretisoinnin ja tarinan etenemisen.

Skenaariotyökalun tarjoamat mahdollisuudet

ThingLink-työkalun avulla voi toteuttaa simulaation todellisesta oppimisympäristöstä tai -tilanteesta 360-asteisten kuvien sekä 3D mallien avulla.Skenaariotyökalu mahdollistaa  sisältöjen poluttamisen yhtenäiseksi oppimiskokonaisuudeksi. Skenaarioita on erityisen mielekästä luoda laaja-alaisista tavoitteista, sillä ne tukevat tietojen soveltamista ja oppilaan omien arvojen ja asenteiden huomioimista. 

Mitä skenaarioiden suunnittelussa tulisi ottaa huomioon? 

Arvojen ja asenteiden näkökulma kannattaa pitää mielessä skenaarioiden suunnittelussa. Ihminen ei tee todellisessa elämässä valintoja ainoastaan tietojensa pohjalta, vaan arvot, asenteet ja mieltymykset saavat jopa suuremman painoarvon. Tosielämän tilanteita simuloimalla abstraktit tiedot konkretisoituvat ja kouluoppiminen muuttuu merkitykselliseksi.

Skenaariot soveltuvat  esimerkiksi näiden sisältöjen opettamiseen:

• tunnetaidot (L3)
• terveyskäyttäytyminen (L3)
• kaveritaidot (L3)
• kestävä kehitys (L7, ympäristöoppi S6)
• eettisyys ja ihmisoikeudet
• uskontojen vaikutus maailmaan
• demokratia (yhteiskuntaoppi S2 & S3)

Skenaarion avulla voi tarttua muihinkin kouluarjen haasteisiin. Esimerkiksi kouluun lähteminen aamuisin on osalle oppilaista haastavaa. Voisiko heille luoda autenttisen simulaation, jossa harjoitellaan pelillisesti itsenäistä kouluun lähtemistä?

“ThingLink on osoittautunut hyväksi työkaluksi autenttisuuteen, pelillisyyteen ja todelliseen ongelmanratkaisuun painottuvassa pedagogiikassa.”

(DIGIDEMO-tiimi)

Opettajien näkökulmasta ThingLinkissä merkittävää on erityisesti työkalujen käytettävyys ja sisällön luomisen helppous. Koska editori on helppokäyttöinen, ThingLinkin voi ottaa käyttöön myös oppilasryhmien kanssa. ThingLinkin simulaatioiden vahvuus on, että jokainen oppilas voi olla toimija omalla laitteellaan. Aivan kuten liikuntatunneilla suunnistaessa olisi tärkeää, että jokaisella olisi oma kartta, jokaisella voi olla oma päätelaite. Oma laite ei kuitenkaan tarkoita, etteikö myös ThingLinkiä voisi käyttää yhteisölliseen oppimiseen. 

Tuottajalähtöinen TVT-pedagogiikka

Kriittisen lukutaidon lisäksi tärkeää on vastuullisen sisällöntuottamisen näkökulma. Lapset ja nuoret kasvavat ajassa, jossa jokainen on enemmän tai vähemmän sisällöntuottaja. Lähes kaikissa ammateissa sisällöntuotanto voi kuulua työnkuvaan. Vastuulliseksi sisällöntuottajaksi kasvetaan vain harjoittelemalla ja olemalla sisällöntuottaja.

“Kannustaisin myös muita opettajia kokeilemaan projekteja ja luomaan ensin vaikka pienen kokonaisuuden oppilaita ja opettajaa innostavasta teemasta. Pääasia on, että pääsee tekemisen alkuun.”

(Kari Niittymäki)

ThingLinkin ominaisuudet mahdollistavat sisältöjen luomisen yhdessä oppilaiden kanssa. Tuottajalähtöisellä TVT-pedagogiikalla (Producer-Based ICT-pedagogy) voidaan opettaa teknologian hallintaa. Siten opitaan myös oppimaan oppimista ja vastuullista toimijuutta verkkoyhteisöjen jäsenenä. Tuottajalähtöisessä TVT-pedagogiikassa oppija itse pääsee luomaan oppisisältöjä teknologian avulla. Tämä näkökulma laajentaa teknologian käytön merkitystä osana opetusta, sillä sitä ei käytetä ainoastaan perinteisen opettajajohtoisen opetuksen välineenä. Jos koulussa teknologiaa käytetään vain osana perinteisiä opetuksen tapoja, on hyvä pohtia, saammeko siitä kaiken hyödyn irti.

Skenaariotyökalun kehittyessä sen sisältöjen muokattavuus on helpottunut. Opettaja voi lähteä kokeilemaan skenaariotyökalun avulla myös tuottajalähtöistä opetusta. Oppilaiden ei tarvitse aloittaa työskentelyä tyhjästä, vaan opettaja voi luoda skenaariolle pohjan ja kopioida sen oppilaille. Vaihtoehtoisesti sisältöjen luomista voidaan jakaa oppilaiden kesken ja lopuksi koota ne yhdeksi skenaarioksi. Skenaariot kootaan ThingLink-sisällöistä, joiden välille rakennetaan polkuja kysymyksillä ja siirtymillä.

Lue lisää skenaarioiden luomisesta skenaariomanuaalista. Manuaali on tuotettu ThingLinkin ja Samiedun yhteistyönä Samiedun opettajia varten, mutta on kenen tahansa käytettävissä. Löydät lisätietoja skenaariotyökalusta suomeksi täältä. Yksityiskohtaiset tiedot skenaariotyökalun käytöstä ja ohjevideon löydät englanniksi täältä.

Lue lisää teknologian opetuskäytöstä:

• Tuottajalähtöinen oppimisprosessi – digitaalisuus ja oppimisanalytiikka osana luovaa ilmiöoppimista
• A Case Study of the Application of SAMR and TPACK for Reflection on Technology Integration into Two Social Studies Classrooms
• The SAMR Model as a Framework for Evaluating mLearning

What brought you to ThingLink?

ZT: “One of my former colleagues knew about ThingLink, and to me the work the team was doing was really impressive and intriguing.  I joined a couple of the Thinglink Education webinars hosted by Louise Jones and was immediately impressed not only with the product and the team but also by the enthusiasm and creativity of the user community.  Through those connections I began to do a little side consulting with the team and got really excited by the prospect of the company and the chance to join the team on a more permanent basis.”

Tell us about your experience in the edtech industry?

 ZT: “I have spent the past 15 years working directly for and with a wide variety of education technology and publishing companies.  I spent over 10 years as employee number one and board member for a bespoke software development and product company. During my tenure I held several roles but was primarily focused on sales, marketing and partnerships as VP of Sales.  Our initial work was across industries including healthcare, publishing, finance and education.  During that journey we decided to productize a software solution focused on P-20 education clients, and develop several key marketing partnerships including Microsoft and Pearson.  We had very successful growth with US domestic clients as well as various ministries of education.  In 2013 we were acquired by a US based publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, after which I spent 2+ years working across the company to deliver on clients’ needs.   Over the last 5 years I have spent time as VP of Sales and CRO at two education services and SAAS companies, Teachstone and Boclips.   These roles gave me  further exposure to both the US and the global education and media markets.”

What’s exciting in edtech right now? 

ZT: “As challenging as Covid has been in all aspects of society it has forced organizations to look at how they engage with learners,  With the increase in data, machine learning and differentiated learning we are seeing the power, and challenges, or how some online resources are used.  This forced remote learning has changed the way learners and educators interact and forced the edTech space to evolve.” 

What is exciting about ThingLink?

 ZT: “Thinglink is amazing.  The number of clients across the Fortune 1000 as well as the millions of education users make it very uniquely positioned and has proven its value to a wide variety of users globally.  I am really excited about bringing what I have learned across industries to help deliver on our product promise.  By working across client and internal team I am hoping we can make the right adjustments to better serve our clients and grow our team to meet our potential. With ThingLink and our 350 million annual users the challenges are everywhere, but so are the opportunities. I wake up energized and have not had this much excitement about the potential of a company in a long time!”

Connect with Zach about partner opportunities via LinkedIn and @ztussing onTwitter.

Job Description

The primary function is to help ThingLink’s US team with marketing and customer engagement activities including identifying and featuring interesting use cases, organizing product demonstrations, and helping customers select the right subscription type.

Expectations:

• Exceptional communication skills – both written and verbal
• Part-time or full time experience in marketing, sales, or customer service 
• Good organizing skills: you are comfortable using a CRM system and Excel for keeping new use cases, leads and customer communication organized
• A strong interest in customer service: you will promptly return to emails and calls from potential customers.
• Ability to understand paid subscriptions and general pricing guidelines to send quotes, interact with clients, and prepare necessary documentation
• Familiarity and comfort with working with customers from several different industries

If you speak several languages or have other skills or interests relevant to the job, do let us know!  Also, if you are still finishing your studies, you can start working part-time and transition to a full-time position later. In any case, please create your job application as an interactive ThingLink poster or video and send us the the link along with your CV to jobs@thinglink.com. We look forward to hearing from you! 

When you have a moment, we would like to invite you to experience eleven stunning 360-degree shots of the Northern lights from Finland, Sweden, Iceland and Norway.

Share with friends and colleagues: You can clone any of the images from our library to your own ThingLink account, add notes or an audio greeting to friends, family, students or colleagues. 

Tell us how you have used ThingLink in 2019! Approaching end of December, we would love to hear: How have you used ThingLink this year, and how it has helped you at work or at school? Send us your testimonial and get a ThingLink t-shirt in your size with your favorite slogan.

Suomalaisissa kouluissa on jo kymmeniä tuhansia ThingLink-käyttäjiä. Tänä syksynä kutsumme koulut ja eri asteiset oppilaitokset jakamaan omia taltiointeja ja tarinoita paikallisista sienistä.

Virtuaalinen sienimetsä -projekti haastaa koululaiset ja sieniharrastajat tekemään 360-asteisen kuvakierroksen Suomen metsiin ja niiden monipuoliseen sienivalikoimaan.

Tavoittena on, että opiskelijoiden tuottamien kuvien avulla katsoja voi siirtyä paikkakunnalta toiseen, havumetsistä lehtimetsiin ja löytää erilaisia sienilajeja. Kuviin voi upottaa yleistä ja paikallista sienitietoutta, haastatteluja, lauluja, tarinoita tai vaikkapa herkullisia sieniruokareseptejä.

Aikataulu:

Virtuaalinen sienimetsä -projekti ensimmäinen vaihe alkaa 1.8.2017 ja päättyy 31.10 lokakuussa. Kuvia voi siis työstää lokakuun loppuun saakka, jonka jälkeen ne julkaistaan Thinglinkin suomenkielisillä sivuilla. Esittelemme valmiita materiaaleja sosiaalisessa mediassa sekä blogeissa marras- ja joulukuun aikana.

 Osallistu Virtuaalinen Sienimetsä -projektiin:

Tee luontoretki metsään ja…

• Ota kameralla tai tablettilaitteella lähikuvia löytämistäsi sienistä ja kasveista joiden lähellä sienet viihtyvät
• Nauhoita metsän ääniä tai sieniin liittyviä faktoja ja tarinoita
• Jos sinulla on 360-kamera tai Google Streetview -sovellus, ota yksi tai useampi 360-asteinen kuva metsästä

Luokkahuoneessa tai kotona:

• Tunnista sienet ja kokoa niihin liittyviä kiinnostavia faktoja, uskomuksia, tarinoita tai reseptejä
• Yhdistä lähikuvat, tekstit ja nauhoitukset 360-kuvaan ThingLinkin desktop- tai Teleport 360 tabletti-editorilla
• Jaa kuva Virtuaalinen Sienimetsä -ryhmään

Tämä projekti tukee seuraavia Opetussuunnitelmassa mainittuja laaja-alaisia oppimiskokonaisuuksia:

• Monilukutaito
• Tieto- ja viestintäteknologinen osaaminen

Lue lisaa aiheesta.

Oletko kiinnostunut yhteistyöstä? Ota yhteyttä Virtuaalinen Sienimetsä -projektin koordinaattoriin Riikka Marttiseen: riikka@thinglink.com.