Innovations in E-Learning: Let there be light....

This week was all about conferencing on the net, and as a group we got to try out Elluminate!. Now, knowing this was coming up, I was a bit cheeky and about 4 weeks ago I met with a group of other students to try it out. I hate it when I don't know how to do something and like lots of practice to play around with things. I really liked it then and this time wanted to think about the pros and cons in a bit more detail.

Video conferencing has been around for a long time, and as with most things, gets better, easier to use and cheaper with time. The 'virtual classrooms' like Elluminate! allow audio and visual interaction if needed (although after last week's research into social cues, one does have to ask if these are useful or not.). A shared whiteboard where you can load up presentations, write or graffiti (I love this as you can doodle on the screen), or share desktops or WebPages. I was particularly interested in the tools for sharing WebPages online, as one of the main areas we have used online conferencing software for has been to train people how to use our database. How much easier would it be to show people real-time, while they are in different places around the country. With Eluminate! there was also space for text chat, a notepad for writing notes and a participant box where we could do things like raise our hands, laugh and clap - which increased interactivity between us.

It was great to talk to some of the others in the tutor group - I feel hearing someone's voice means you get a new dimension to them, so that was nice. The session was fun, even if the activity we had been given wasn't. Kate, Sylvia and Alice have already blogged about it, so see their blogs for the different perspectives on how it went, and as Alice nicely put it; " Different people can experience the same activity in different ways."

I enjoyed the session, and despite my reservations, as I am sure that prolonged usage would enable better usage. I found it was easy to use and to interact. Having experienced a plethora of webinars now, I am used to watching in a screen, listening to a voice and reading chat at the same time. The addition of voice and video, just adds even more dimensions if you want them. I just think that you need to know your audience first. we all have different levels of comfort in using things, and just as it might be frustrating not to know how to do things, it can be equally frustrating waiting for others. There needs to be some good training built in or the first session need to be about the basics and guiding people through the system.

I think that this tool is really suited to teacher/trainer centric learning. Although the break out rooms are available, I think it would take some time to get students and trainers to be familiar enough to use them effectively. I am not sure how much it would help in building relationships between students who didn't already have some form of interaction elsewhere. There would need to be other interactions to support this. (I guess I need to try this to really make more constructive comments on it)

In many ways this is a step up from the conferencing/webinar presentations, of which I have attended many. However what Elluminate! did was to be able to get personal feedback and time within a small group. As we saw with our practice, it takes time for people to actually talk to each other, and my guess that using Elluminate!, and specifically the break out rooms, without having a number of integration activities, may not work for complete strangers. I think the enhanced tools would only be useful if you have a set of learners/students that you are going to spend a long time with. So you can introduce them to the tools, and develop your use of Elluminate! as you go along.

For me there a couple of strengths of using a tool like this in my context:

· Growing an online learning community. The tools are simple to use and you can take your time, which makes them perfect for introducing newbies to what can be accomplished with an online environment. As I said, people I work with feel safe with PowerPoint and so it could easier be updated and we can use real-time actions when showing people around online functions of support and websites.

· Focus on specific content. At the moment I see this as being really useful for information led content. I am sure with more experience the other advantages will also come through, but for now, I see this as a good way to guide learners through some simple content, where they can ask questions, check for knowledge etc. You could use it for virtual tours, language or music sessions or even to get people to practice their presentation skills.

· Small group collaboration. Although this mainly uses the whiteboard and communication functions, as Kate pointed out in the forums, it is in fact a fabulous tool to use when you need to work together on something, as sharing desktops in real-time means that you can collaborate together. So for example, instead of us having 5 people who meet in a hotel room and have a writing day, why don't we meet online on discuss it and use the tools that are available (saving a lot of money and time travelling).

For trainers using these tools they do need to think about how demanding they may be , as with most online tools, in the short term. More effort is required to get learners to join in, and as you can't see what the learner is doing, you may not even know they are there. It requires learners and trainers to be more proactive. Visual aids and tools need to be prepared, and to a high quality. Simple demands more perfection. And you need to have a contingency plan for when it all goes wrong!

So, I think I may be revisiting some of these tools in the near future......

In the interests of other parties, other web conferencing tools include:
(and there are loads of new free ones coming out as well)

Acrobat Connect Professional(Formerly Breeze)
Saba Centra
Wimba Classroom
AT&T Connect
LearnLinc
Microsoft Live Meeting
Raindance Meeting Edition
Webex
Web4M

Innovations in E-Learning

Sunday, 3 April 2011

Let there be light....

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