Build Your Course Online - The Blog

The latest, greatest technology to catch on in the virtual classroom is real-time, web-based meetings, aka, “web conferencing.” Web conferencing is a neat way to work together when you can’t all be in the same place. But, unlike the asynchronous parts of the virtual classroom, it does require that you all participate at the same time. This creates a challenge for participants in that if you have folks scattered about the world, some of them might have to join the meeting at some pretty strange times of night or day.

Hot Tip: One way to manage this real-time challenge is to use the Meeting Planner at http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html.

This clever little tool lets you enter multiple world cities from a drop down list and then it generates a table of times showing the overlapping times participants in those cities would be the least inconvenienced.

Another challenge in using web conferencing is that many of the products are quite expensive and the few cheap ones often offer too few features or lack support for more than one operating system. As yet, a stable and reliable open-source web conferencing system has not appeared. But we’ll mention a few, so-called “Web 2.0″ tools that are worth taking a look at.

On the positive side are a number of possible benefits to web conferencing, including:

• Free Voice-Over-the-Internet (VoIP) for real-time discussions
  
• Built in Chat
  
• Whiteboard for drawing and marking up images or files
  
• Desktop and Application sharing where the instructor and/or participants can show each other their respective desktops or individual open applications
  
• Live video images of who’s speaking
  
• Ability to share PowerPoint presentations and other media files such as audio and video clips
• Participant list and ability to control participation activities
  
• Polls & Quizzes
  
• And more…

Unlike the asynchronous virtual classroom, for which there are hundreds of research studies proving effectiveness and equivalent or superior learning outcomes, the jury is still out on the use of the real-time virtual classroom tools bundled into web conferencing software.

We think there is great potential if you apply the principles of pedagogically sound instructional design to the materials and activities you deliver using web conferencing.

We’ve used most of the major products, such as Adobe Connect (formerly Breeze), Elluminate, GoToMeeting, Wimba, and WebEx, and many of the “garage bands” such as Comotiv, Marratech, PictureTalk and Wave3 Session. Both groups show a wide variation in features and pricing that will require a careful assessment to avoid paying too much or buying too many or too few of the features you need. (We invite you to take advantage of our up-to-date expertise on web conferencing products and features by asking us to work with you to choose what would work best for you and your group. Call 415-648-2667 or email claude[at]futureu[dot]com for more information on how we can assist you.)

The Free Ones

Now for a few words about the free web conferencing tools available today. These tools have much promise, but are sometimes a bit unreliable. Try them each and see what kind of results you get. The first three, Yugma, DimDim, and Vyew are 100% browser based and so they work with any operating system.

Yugma

The free version of Yugma allows up to 10 participants at a time. For more than 10 participants, you can purchase a subscription to Yugma Pro starting at 20 bucks a month for 20 participants or $200 for the whole year.

DimDim

DimDim’s free version allows up to 20 participants at a time. For $99 a year our 20 people get additional features and the price goes up in 20-person increments like this: 40 people/room ($198/year), 60 people/room ($297/year), 80 people/room ($396/year), 100 people/room ($495/year). For nearly two grand a year you can have up to 1,000. That’s a pretty good deal for either end of the spectrum: free for small classes, five bucks a piece for up to a 100 and two bucks each for a thousand. And, if you’ve got the technical chops, DimDim has an open-source version you can install on your own server.

Vyew

Vyew is offering a new wrinkle to the web conferencing genre: “always on.” It offers most of the features of any web conferencing platform, plus “persistence” which makes it possible to go full circle, returning to asynchronous collaboration on the content of recorded meetings that have already taken place. This means that you can have a window open on your computer that you just leave open, kind of like you would with an instant messenger. Not only can you more easily call and hold a meeting, but you have instant access to recorded versions of all the meetings you’ve already held. In addition to the free consumer version, they also offer an “enterprise appliance” which is a box you can buy and clip to your own server rack that already has the software installed.

Claude and Gail

Next time: “Don’t forget Teleconferencing for Course Communications.”