Web-Conferencing

For our brainstorming session, we used Vyew online web conferencing software. The software is free to use (ad supported). It works great. We all used our microphones and had a detailed discussion of Web 2.0 applications, and eventually decided to do our group presentation on Google apps. We used Vyew to upload the rubrics for the project so we could all review them, and we some sample projects were also uploaded so we looked at those too and got a good idea of where we wanted to go. Elise took notes using Vyews built in note taking tools, which are easy to use. The best thing is that our session is saved, so when we go back and meet tonight all of our notes, timeline details, and uploaded data will be there waiting for us. The only thing that did not work well was that sometimes our conversation would not flow well due to accidental interruptions, which would sometimes lead to both parties involved waiting for the other to talk for extended periods of time. I would like to see a hand raising tool like in adobe connect, so everyone is cued up that wants to say something to prevent interruptions which will happen in groups of 4. In a classroom, I could see Vyew being a great tool for use in a classroom. For group projects, students could easily meet online and do some planning and work away from school using the application. Provided all students owned a computer, it could be a great tool for group projects. Also, if students needed to miss extended school time due to natural disasters, school damage, or other unforeseen circumstances, a teacher could conduct short lesson plans from home to keep the curriculum moving forward. Vyew is a great application, and I would and will be using it again.