Getting caught up...only 2 lessons behind after I finish this one.
I was invited to participate in a GotoMeeting webinar last year for officers of a group I belong to. It was an interesting way to present information, but I must add that it was very easy to get distracted and I often found myself not really paying attention since I was at home and not a part of a "captive" audience. I think video conferences where all the participants are visible might be more effective.
We did a video conference with a school district in Liverpool, NY several years ago. That was an awesome way for us to learn about their Social Studies curriculum without having to travel.
I wish I had been up-to-date with this course and would have seen the opportunity to participate in Diving into Digital Books: Adding eReaders to Your Library. My colleagues and I have recently been spending some time discussing ebooks and readers and I'm anxious to learn as much as I can about them. So, instead I found an archived Infopeople ebook topic, Can eBooks Fit into the Print Book Paradigm: Publishers and eBook Lending Limits that sounded interesting. And, indeed it was. Many points to ponder...Harper Collins is allowing their e-books to have only 26 circulations until the licenses must be renewed. (More publishers may follow suit.) Also, they only allow only one e-book to circulate at a time. Libraries are charged more for e-books than individual patrons. Macmillan and Simon and Schuster will not sell e-books to libraries at all. Libraries cannot buy a kindle e-book for use on the reader, but have to go through 3rd party sources. Publishers are issuing new limitations that make it more restricting & expensive. Libraries should protest.
Positives - It was very easy to connect. It was interesting to listen to the various speakers and hear their viewpoints. Having access to hearing leaders in the field is a plus. Archiving a webinar is a great way for people to have access outside of the actual meeting date and time.
Negatives - I don't know if there was a Q & A session in the original webinar, but I found the lack of opportunity for participant interaction to be a drawback. Again, I found it difficult to give it my 100% attention.
I think there's a definite use for online meeting tools. What a great way to get participation from people who aren't local without having to travel. When possible, I think I prefer face-to-face meetings but would have to attend more online ones to say for sure.
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