Online meetings can take many forms, and comprises several other Web 2.0 tools. There is web conferencing, which used for live meetings where each participant is at their own computer with microphone and listening capabilities--often with a web camera as well--and connected to each other through the internet. Webinars are usually more closely related to a classroom setting conducted by one speaker to an audience, who may or may not participate--most participation may take place through chat form, polls, or questions posted for the speaker. Other forms of online meetings include password-protected web-based chat groups, microblogging, Nings, wikispaces, and online bulletin boards.
FACULTY MEETINGS
The first relevant discussion thread that I read involved faculty meetings, which many teachers felt were a waste of time and involved mostly information that could easily be passed to teachers through a form of memorandum. The crux of the thread was that several of the educators agreed that online meetings were not only a more efficient way of distributing information throughout the faculty, but also a means recording what is discussed for future reference and a method for making all ideas & voices heard. One of the sites suggested, CampfireNow.com, was an example of a password-protected web-based chat group. Other suggestions included building wikispaces that would be used by the entire faculty and online bulletin boards for posting issues prior to the meeting. It seems the general consensus of the educators on this thread was that, at the very least, using these online meeting instruments would help in making traditional faculty meetings more productive. Therefore, much of the thread was devoted to encouraging the educators to take steps to alleviate the hesitation of their colleagues and advocating "practicing what they preach" when it comes to technology.
YOUR WEB 2.0 REVIEW SERIES #7: ONLINE MEETING SOFTWARE AND SERVICES
This discussion thread was essentially a poll to get opinions from educators & administrators about what they think are the superior online meeting tools in terms of financial commitments, ease of use, and important features. I was surprised by the number of available tools and their different features. Some favor brainstorming (i.e. GoogleDocs) while others focus on uses for virtual classrooms (i.e. Elluminate and Wiziq). Several of these instruments had their own drawbacks--for instance, when I looked up Skypecasts, they were no longer available--such as echo/feedback, expensive fees required, or lack of video capabilities. However, so many tools were mentioned, it's easy to imagine that there's something out there for everyone.
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I think this is a great idea that can save teachers alot of time. I read alot of those posts and it seems that most teachers think monthly meetings are a waste of time. This type of meeting could get each teacher involved with an issue that is important to them. This way atr, P.E. and special education teachers do not feel that they are wasting their time.
ReplyDeleteWow, everyone gets a camera for web conferencing? Sound pretty cool, kind of like a teacher's version of the Brady Bunch opening grid. In big districts this could get a little more interaction from the superintendent at all the schools.
ReplyDeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteI can see why teachers are advocating webconferencing to replace traditional faculty meetings. It allows for more flexibility and as you mentioned a way to record everything so others can reference back to the information. I have used a webinar before but I had no idea there were so many tools to accomplish the same task, I will have to check them out.
If the price is right, I think this would be a great way to conduct meetings. I liked the argument in the first discussion that if recorded, these meetings could be easily accessed at a later date. Very interesting!
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