Web Conferencing in Education

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a web conference through my grad program. The experience served two purposes. One, to allow students to experience web conferencing as a possible tool to be used in instruction, and two, to allow students to have a forum for asking clarifying questions about assignments. Since my program is an online program, it is rare to have the opportunity to get clarifying information real time. For me, the greatest benefit was in hearing the comments and questions posed by other participants. You forget just how much you learn from your peers when they are no longer part of the daily learning environment.

Prior to this experience, I had attended conferences via web casting, but the communication was only one way. I feel that web conferencing allows a true discussion to happen when distance or time might be an issue. In thinking about using this tool, I would consider using it to collaborate with colleagues over the summer or winter breaks, to offer Q and A sessions to students in the weeks/days prior to a project being due or an exam, to create a forum for students who may be home bound or at an alternative placement campus to gain clarification about the curriculum, or even to create a forum for a network of teachers across the district to collaborate about an upcoming unit.

I recently shared my experience with a group of forward thinking teachers, hoping to begin a dialog about the possible uses with students. They raised many concerns, such as scheduling issues, lack of computer access, availability of webcams, and simply a fear of the unknown. I feel that it will be important to allow the teachers to experience the practice before raising the question of using the tool with students.

I felt that the web conference was beneficial to my learning and would serve as a great tool as we begin looking at instructional practices to meet the needs of our 21st Century Learners.

The experience led me to research the open source conferencing tools that are available. I found several blogs that discuss web conferencing tools, and I thought I would share them here. The information allows you to compare each tool and make an informed decision based on what each has to offer and the experiences of others.

http://open-tube.com/7-free-web-conferencing-tools
http://www.distance-educator.com/blog/vanessahaakenson/?p=44
http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page5975.cfm


I hope that I will be able to work with the Instructional Technology Specialist and principal to identify a future faculty meeting where we can use web conferencing as the forum. This would allow everyone to gain the knowledge first hand, through experience.