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Building a robust and dynamic
learning community is an increasingly desirable objective in
education. Now, with Wimba Live Classroom, faculty can easily teach
live online, build an
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"I would argue that our classmates were even more engaged and ‘present' than in our normal setting.” |
interactive learning community, and conduct
online office hours right inside their ELMS (powered by Blackboard)
course spaces.
Wimba Live Classroom is a
real-time virtual classroom environment designed for distance
education and collaboration. This fully-featured live classroom
supports audio, video, application sharing, content display, and
whiteboarding. It enables instructors to achieve a high level of
interaction with their online students. Faculty can use this
environment to make webcasts and hold live online classes, office
hours, guest lectures, and meetings.
The Office of Information
Technology (OIT) promotes Wimba Live Classroom to all University
faculty through Wimba training workshops and monthly brownbag
discussion meetings. Beginning this semester, students are also
using the power of Wimba Live Classroom to meet with their
classmates in the newly-released Virtual Study Space, an online
gathering place where they can work on group projects or conduct
group meetings and research. Students can access the Virtual Study
Space via the MyUM portal or via the ELMS home page (http://elms.umd.edu)
under “My Organizations.” The support site for students using Wimba
Live Classroom is
www.otal.umd.edu/wimba/wimba
students/index.html
Since OIT installed the Wimba building block
inside ELMS one year ago and began its efforts to raise awareness
about Wimba Live Classroom, more and more faculty members have begun
to adopt this tool. Many faculty members feel that it is
revolutionary. Dr. Helene Cohen, an early adopter of the tool, has enthusiastically embraced the
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technology and uses it to build interactive learning communities in her classes.
Dr. Cohen, a visiting assistant professor in the College of Education , has been using Wimba Live Classroom to conduct online presentations and meetings with her EDHI students. Dr. Cohen testified about Live Classroom from the student's perspective, “Students often approach the experience with scepticism and even anxiety. However, they are quickly won over by the easy, intuitive, user-friendly platform.” One big plus of Wimba Live Classroom is its ease of use. One hour's training will ensure effective use of this tool. A brief orientation from the instructor will also put the students at ease with Live Classroom. Faculty and students don't need to install any software on their computers. The tool can be accessed right inside the ELMS course space.
Dr. Cohen continued to attest that “Wimba Live Classroom enhances learning outcomes in a virtual learning environment which has interactivity, flexibility, and high-level participation .” Her students describe the online classroom made possible by Live Classroom as “adventuresome, meaningful, and challenging.” They especially appreciate the comprehensive nature of the experience. “I do enjoy multi-tasking. Being able to communicate in so many different ways was fascinating,” enthused one student.
“Wimba Live Classroom enhances learning outcomes in a virtual learning environment which has interactivity, flexibility, and high-level participation .” |
“The chat function allowed us to have multiple collective conversations going on that we would not have been able to have in a traditional classroom.” Instead of the stiff, artificial conversations they had anticipated, students were rewarded with conversations that were surprisingly rich and meaningful. “We can listen and talk to each other, have the |
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instructor's immediate feedback, express emotions and share Web sites and desktop applications.” “I would argue that our classmates were even more engaged and ‘present' than in our normal setting.”
Students enjoy speculating about “the impact and possibilities” inherent in the medium. They are especially intrigued by the option of bringing together remote users, “This is a perfect vehicle to provide a more immediate form of connection between stakeholders that cannot meet together physically,” suggests Cohen. Wimba Live Classroom also extends students' personal reach, “I feel like I am a bigger part of the world now,” said one student.
According to Dr. Cohen, “In general, students experience the online classroom as ‘fun and dynamic,' a ‘delightful change to traditional learning.'” One student said, “The experience has opened up other avenues for me to explore.”
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Students can access the Virtual Study Space via the MyUM portal or via the ELMS home page (http://elms.umd.edu) under “My Organizations.” The support site for students using Wimba Live Classroom is www.otal.umd.edu/wimba/
wimba students/index.html
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Dr. Cohen has also tested the just-released Version 5 of Wimba Live Classroom. One new feature in Live Classroom 5.0, “Follow the Speaker,” uses voice detection to achieve an automatic switch to the video display of the current speaker as a conversation progresses. Expanded phone conferencing capability is another new feature that enables participants to call in without the use of a computer. For more information about Wimba Live Classroom, including training materials and support contact information, visit www.otal.umd.edu/wimba/wimbatrain
ing/home.html .
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