Web Meeting tools
From [[http://cpsquare.org CPsquare]], the community of practice on communities of practice.
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Definition
Also known as web conferencing for live meetings or webinars, Web Meeting tools are usually a platform aggregating a set of tools for synchronous online group interactions. Some have limited asynchronous resources such as recordings for later use. They are ideal for meeting-oriented communities, although they usually have a presentation style of meeting which may not necessarily match the style of all community meetings.
Uses in communities of practice
- community meetings of various sorts (mostly including presentations, but also conversations and the creation of a library of resources)
- working on a task together that may include talking, sharing a whiteboard or an application
- share community learnings out to the wider world through recorded sessions
- See practice note on combining chat and audio tools that are often <a href="Teleconferencing and Chat practices">packaged in a web meeting tool</a>.
Polarities
- Together/apart, Synch/Asynch: these tools are designed primarily for synchronous interaction, but most of them will make a recording for later use. Note whether recordings can be downloaded or only played on a proprietary platform.
- Participation/Reification: the great virtue of these tools is to allow people to participate in an event at a distance. Although participation in a synchronous event can be quite varied, participation afterward is usually limited because the recording allows only passive participation (that is there's no facility for commenting or contesting what was presented).
- Individual/group: they specialize in one-to-many or communication among a small group that can be heard by a much larger group.
Key features
What's included
A web meeting tool might include:
- a telephone conference facility
- a chat room
- break-out rooms?
- a participant list (e.g., a presence indicator)
- a "hand raising" or Polling tools
- a shared whiteboard that can display poll results and other dynamic content
- a slide projection system
- desktop application sharing as a "catch-all"
Tool integration
- Single logon to a complete featureset Authorization and access permissions to a complete set of tools.
- Participant vs host logon
- Integration with registration software
- Cost: most tools require a broadband connection and rely on a substantial computer. For large-scale events, the cost of a webinar is small compared to travel, but is not free.
- Tools work together effortlessly. Tools are designed to work together and they all share menus and functionality.
- Link to common platforms. Connecting to common platforms such as Twitter extends the social space. See how DMLCentral uses LivestreamTV for example.
Management and access control
- Pre-registration
- Sharing control
- Follow-on contacts
Separability of media
- Audio recordings Frequently Audio and screen recordings are stored in one big recording system.
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- To support re-use, it's helpful to have access to the audio only, or the screen images only.
- Help people decide whether to listen to the whole webinar
- To support re-use, it's helpful to have access to the audio only, or the screen images only.
Related tools
Because these platforms are comprehensive, they tend to be free-standing and not have a lot of features intended to integrate or connect with other platforms.
See also:
- a platform like Skype supports screen-sharing that provides web meetings for just two people.
Examples
- Adobe Connect http://Adobe.com/Connect/WebConferencing
- Big Marker - http://www.bigmarker.com/
- DimDim - http://www.dimdim.com/
- Elluminate - http://elluminate.com
- Free ScreenSharing - http://www.freescreensharing.com/
- Google's Open Meetings http://code.google.com/p/openmeetings/
- GoTo meeting - http://gotomeeting.com
- ReadyTalk - http://www.readytalk.com/
- TokBox http://tokbox.com
- Vyew - http://vyew.com/
- Webex - http://webex.com
- WebHuddle - http://www.webhuddle.com/
- Yugma http://www.yugma.com/index.php
- Wiggio http://wiggio.com/
