As a JISC online conference attendee I have been a participant in the Elluminate Live virtual environment. I have just noticed this really useful piece providing more information about Elluminate Live, including a recording made using the software.
What is striking about Elluminate Live and other virtual meeting spaces or classroom software is the similarity of their Graphical User Interface (GUI). I have also had demos of, or used: gotomeeting.co.uk and Wimba Classroom.
In the literature review I have tried to cover as many presentation technologies as possible, as well as examples of best practice in their use. One point that strikes me is that many technologies, such as classroom software, and Adobe Presenter, use PowerPoint. This obviously makes sense, because it is what people are familiar with and what is often most readily available, however it also raises new questions for me e.g.
In terms of online collaboration software, Wimba Classroom makes sense for institutions that already use Blackboard. However its implementation is about more than just software; it is aligned to hardware, pedagogical needs (and the potential effect on students), advocacy (i.e. ‘why should I use this?’), and rights management; and factors outside an institutes’ control such as students’ Internet connection speed off-campus. This video, one of many on YouTube, highlights an approach to informing staff how to use Wimba:
Last Wednesday I began my case studies by interviewing Jules Findley, Course Leader for Fashion Promotion and Imaging at the University for the Creative Arts, Epsom campus.
I also met with Kristy Widdicombe, Faculty Librarian For Fashion and Management, who used Adobe Presenter with Adobe Captivate last year to produce a learning and teaching object on ‘research’.
Kristy introduced me to Neville Kemp, Careers Adviser with the University’s Careers Service, who gave me a really useful demo of the Wimba Classroom software that they are trialling at the moment. Our conversation also raised issues to do with the role hardware has to play in multimedia presentations.
