Advantages...
Traditional conferences mean participants have to travel and stay
in a particular place. This takes time and is expensive. But an
online conference uses the Internet as a conference venue. This
means that participants can access the conference from anywhere
in the world and can do this at any time, using standard browser
software. Participants will be able to log on as little or as much
as they wish - before, after or during office hours. They are given
a password to access the various conference and seminar groups as
well as closed discussion groups. Anyone with access to the Internet
can participate.
We're not saying an online conference is invariably better than
a normal, face to face conference (though it can be!), but it is
different, and has lots of advantages:
- cheaper - because there is no travel, and no
accommodation is required;
- more convenient - you can access it at any
time you want, from anywhere with an Internet connection;
- high level of participation - typically, more
people will actively participate in an online conference than
in a face to face conference, and the standard of the discussions
is often higher;
- wider spread of participants - our second Supporting
Deaf People conference had delegates from nineteen countries and
five continents;
- and there is a permanent record of proceedings.
Online conferences are synchronous, asynchronous, or a combination
of both. An example of asynchronous conferencing is the discussion
forum type of conference, where people post messages, which the
system stores, and which other people can respond to when they log
on. This is excellent for carrying on a discussion over some time,
typically, in our conferences, a few days (though we are also running
some conference forums which last much longer periods, of up to
a year).
Examples of synchronous conferencing are live chat, or live web
casting. For example, we produced a series of live web casts, where
presenters gave talks backed up by PowerPoint presentations. The
conference delegates were able to watch, listen, ask questions,
etc. Such web casts can be recorded, and viewed later.
Features
Our online conferences are more than just a simple bulletin board.
They can include features such as:
- online polls
- mailing lists
- RSS feeds
- Wiki
- web logs
- instant messaging
- collaborative document editing
- personal and shared calendars
- and much more!
Online conferencing and staff development
A short paper describing the advantages of online conferencing
for staff development is available in PDF format. Download
it here.
Podcast
The JISC
e-Leaning team have held a number of online conferences which
have brought together a selection of key innovators within e-Learning
to discuss the current and future impact of using technology to
support learning and teaching. In this podcast Lou McGill of the
JISC speaks to Judith Mole and Geoff Minshull, of conference organisers
Direct Learn, who discuss the issues of staging a major international
conference totally online. Download
the podcast (about 12 Mb).
|