Sunday, July 24, 2011

Web-Conferencing


Tai Kimmerly
Tammy Maginity
CEP-812 - Apply Educational Technology to Practice
07/24/11
Web-Conferencing
            I met with one of my group members through Skype. Due to some miscommunications, I was not in attendance with the group for their meeting. This was very regrettable. However, it did give me a chance to use Skype and break out my new webcam. At first, I was frustrated by needing to download software. Normally I would not have minded, but I was on a friend’s computer. I had just spilled some green tea on my laptop computer and it was being understandably temperamental. So, in order to use Skype, and record the session, I had to download several different programs to someone else’s computer. I am pretty sure I removed them all when I was finished, but occasionally, other programs load beside the necessary software, only to be discovered later. After all programs were downloaded, it worked beautifully. I was quickly connected with my group member.
            The main problem I had was not with the programs, but with my email. The other people in my group seemed to have a lot of troubles with the program Vyew. While I was not able to experience it with them, I read about it in the transcript of their conversation. Apparently there was an issue with the audio and the viewing window was very small. I am aware that the Web-Conferencing lab asked us not to use Skype, but it was unfamiliar to me and the best option for me and the group member I met with. 
             Regarding educational use, I could connect my classroom with musicians, other classrooms or experts on topics we may be discussing. When I consider using it for professional development, many possibilities come to mind. I have several close friends who are also music teachers, but we rarely seem to be able to get together to discuss potential lesson ideas or other things that could help our teaching. We could set up chats, or create jing videos of things we are doing in our classrooms or programs we are using. I could use Skype to connect with other groups who meet to discuss similar things. I no longer need to travel far distances to find people with whom to discuss my field.

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