Synchronous Communication Tools
Tonight I played around with some synchronous communication tools and I reflected on my past experiences using some of these tools. One of my favorite synchronous tool is Skpye. I love the ability to have audio and video at the same time. I find that these features have been invaluable when working as groups in the MET program.
I have really appreciated the two live sessions that we have had in Wimba. Wimba is something that I have never used before and it affords all of the features of Skype, and so much more. The ability to see the presenters computer was extremely useful and having the audio turned off unless the control button was push really helped to eliminate chaos. I have had a similar experience using Elluminate Live in a different MET course.
At the end of the day, a good chat in Vista works quite nicely. Granted, the missing audio slows down the communication process a bit, but I feel that it does the job.