New virtual lab means more Live Web classes available to more users
SAS' Live Web courses are a favorite, allowing users to attend classes without ever leaving their offices and saving them the added expense and time of traveling to a training center. Now Live Web users have even more to be excited about with the addition of the virtual lab.The virtual lab is an Internet-based solution that allows customers to access SAS software remotely through their Web browser, ensuring that class participants are using the same version software and creating a stable, Windows-based environment. Previously, Live Web classes were limited to students with a local installation of SAS on a Windows machine. Now, however, even mainframe and UNIX users can take a Live Web class and complete the exercises through the virtual lab. In addition, the virtual lab allows users to test drive new releases of SAS software before their organization migrates.
"The virtual lab completes the Live Web program," says Kathleen Guerra, SAS' Education e-learning manager. "This is the equivalent of the classroom machine a student would use in a training center."
Students will be issued a unique user name and password to log into the virtual lab. They can access the lab around the clock for three days before the class starts and up to midnight of the day the class is completed. The new virtual lab also allows instructors to "shadow" a user's session to troubleshoot problems. Tech support is available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.
Students can view the basic requirements for accessing the Live Web classes and virtual lab.
Guerra, who manages the Live Web program, shares the story of a user who attended a Live Web class and used the virtual lab while traveling in Malaysia. The student e-mailed SAS to rave, "I am in the middle of taking the Live Web Poisson Regression Models course, and I am amazed at how simple it is to take online. The technology is amazing. I am using the virtual SAS lab from Kuala Lumpur, and it's very fast."
Recent additions to the Live Web program since the launch of the virtual lab include
- Introduction to Programming Concepts Using SAS Software
- SAS Macro Language
- Advanced Querying Using SAS Enterprise Guide
- JMP Overview for the Six Sigma Professional.
Visit Live Web training for more information on classes offered in the curriculum, including those using the virtual lab.