Well, twice during this EDLD5352 course, I tried to participate in an online discussion in real time. In previous courses, I have participated successfully several times. In this course, however, things have been more problematic. In the originally scheduled web conference, I logged in successfully and everything was fine. However, the more than 100 participants made the experience very challenging. With so many people, the text chat flew by faster than anyone could reasonably be expected to read it. Dr. Abernathy herself was clearly losing patience with the whole experience. In fact, after about twenty minutes, she ended the conversation.
This evening, a couple of new conferences were scheduled to make up for the unfortunate experience we had earlier. To prevent another exercise in frustration, Dr. Abernathy limited each conference to twenty-five participants. I must not have been one of the twenty-five because I was not able to get in.
Nevertheless, I have participated in other web conferences and had wonderful experiences. These web conferences can be valuable in assisting students separated by distance. It allows for the interaction in real time and even to see facial expressions and tone of voice. Text-only communication cannot adequately convey tone while a video/audio conversation can.
Who Do I Think I Am?
- David M. DeLuca
- I am pursuing a M. Ed. in Education Administration at Lamar University.
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