Reflections on Web Conference

     I attended the web conference on 3/6/11 from 5-6 p.m. facilitated by Dr. Abernathy. I had previously attended a few web conferences in other courses. I think web conferencing provides a great opportunity for those of us taking online courses to be able to interact directly with our professors. We have the welcome letter, overviews, video lectures, and e-mails that they send in each course, but there is something more personal in seeing and hearing them unscripted. It also allows us to ask (and usually receive answers to) questions we are having.
     One thing I did notice is that our classmates are pretty good and answering many of the questions. It was especially reassuring to hear from students who are further along in the program as they gave advice and suggestions to help those of us who are following in their footsteps.
     I must say, however, that the whole conference was somewhat intimidating. I'm glad I didn't have to be on-screen or use the microphone. Just trying to follow along and read the quickly scrolling transcript was mind-boggling. I liked the direct interaction that could cross great distances, but it seems there should be a more organized and efficient way to conduct the conferences. Some people asked questions many times and never seemed to get a response. That happened to me the first time I participated in one of these, and it was quite discourgaing.
    I can see how web conferencing might work at the high school level, especially since there are many times students have questions about a difficult project or assignment, and it would probably help them to be able to ask questions and get feedback from their teacher and other classmates. They could definitely learn from each other, which seems to be where most of the learning comes from anyway.