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Archive for the ‘Webinar Software’ Category

How To Teach Online Using Collaborative Writing And Reviewing

You may have realized by now that the Internet has made possible numerous opportunities for information exchange that transcends geographical boundaries and physical limitations. In terms of education alone, the Internet has opened up vast avenues for exploration and communication that were simply non-existent only a few short years ago. Now collaborative writing aims to take online coaching to the next level by giving users the opportunity to join in on collaborative educational efforts.

There are numerous websites that offer such collaborative writing and reviewing opportunities on the Internet and Wiziq is only one of them. Wiziq allows users to hold live online classes with a Virtual Classroom feature that allows instructors and students from anywhere in the world to meet online. The service is available free of charge and offers both audio/video as well as audio only functionality. With the desktop and screen sharing features, you can display the contents of your computer screen and have your students view it from their own computer monitors. YouTube videos can also be shared and even resized adding more opportunities for video instruction.

Another interesting feature is online whiteboarding, which allows you to provide visual data much like a real whiteboard, but with the added benefit of multiple tabs. Users also have the ability to cut, resize and even erase certain elements on this whiteboard. And for maximum flexibility, Wiziq allows the uploading and sharing of various file types including pdf, doc, xls, ppt and flash files.

To make it easier for you and your students to go back to previous lessons, all classes are automatically recorded, saving you lots of time in follow up inquiries and reviews. But what is perhaps more significant is that services such as Wiziq allow for a more collaborative and free flowing learning environment, which goes far beyond the traditional classroom teaching paradigm. Wiziq also uses the Paypal system, giving you a fast, safe and convenient way to collect payment from your students, no matter where they are. You even have the option to send invoices either before or after the classes.

If you are interested in hosting your own Web conference or perhaps a webinar, you’re going to need to have the software in order to be able to do it.  The easiest way for this to take place is to find a hosting provider that is available in case you all of the options that you need.  Two of the Web conferencing software is that we have used in the past include Gotomeeting and Webex.  Here is a brief comparison between these two excellent services.

The first thing that most people look for is a moneyback guarantee, and that really is something that is important.  Both Gotomeeting and Webex offers a 30 day moneyback guarantees which should give you plenty of time to be able to test out the system.  Both of the systems are comparable as far as pricing is concerned, with Gotomeeting coming in at about $10 less per month.  Both also offer a monthly price discount of about $10 if you purchase it for a year in advance.  If you plan on using them regularly, this is an excellent way for you to save a little money.

Most people tend to look more at the features that are available than at the actual price, especially whenever you are only talking about spending roughly $50 per month.  This can be quite an expense for somebody that only runs an occasional webinar or video conference but for people who do it on a regular basis, but the price is going to be negligible.

Both the Gotomeeting and Webex service allow you to share desktops between users.  This can either be done as you, the administrator shows your desktop as a training aid to the other people that are in the room.  It can also be set up so that they are sharing their desktops as well, giving input or perhaps demonstrating how they do something to the rest of the room.  That is what makes both of these services such an excellent teaching tool but it also requires that your visitors mute their phones to avoid background noise.

One of the reasons that we like Webex is because the client application that runs the entire service is very small and can work in a variety of different browsers.  This is an extremely user friendly service so it is an excellent choice for anybody who is running a webinar in which people who are not familiar with online meetings might be attending. Gotomeeting tends to be a little bit more friendly as far as pricing is concerned because you can have unlimited people attend each meeting.

All in all, either the Gotomeeting or Webex services can provide you with something that is very valuable to your business.  We would suggest that you give the online trials an opportunity to allow the services to speak for themselves.  It’s an excellent way for you to test them and to see which one you would like to use for the long term.

For many years, businesses have realized how powerful holding seminars can be.  One of the difficult things about holding a seminar, however, is the expense and planning that needs to take place in order to bring everything together properly.  In recent years, however, many businesses and individuals have turned to a different type of seminar that is more convenient and can be set up rather quickly.  This is by using webinar software or webinar hosting providers which allow these presentations to take place in real time to an unlimited number of individuals.  There are several choices that you have whenever looking into this type of software, however, and a few things that you need to keep in mind.

By far, the most popular type of webinar hosting is done remotely.  This is a very convenient way to hold these events and one of them can be set up quickly once you are a member at one of the webinar providers that are online.  Most of these providers are going to give you the same basic options but there are some notable differences that you should be aware of.  One of these is the fact that some webinar software is going to run totally on the hosted account and there will not be any download necessary.  On other webinar accounts, there may be a small download necessary in order to allow your guests to interface with the presentation.  This can be a little bit distracting and some people may avoid taking part in your webinar if software needs to be installed.

There are also a few webinar services which are hosted on your own computer or network.  These are typically used whenever a business is going to be hosting seminars in-house and there will be no outside computers that are connected to it.  As long as every computer on the network has the software necessary to run the video, it will be viewable by everyone.  The benefit of using this type of webinar software is the fact that you don’t have to worry about any lag that the Internet may have.  It is typically seamless and secure.

Most people will find services such as Webex or GatherPlace to be quite sufficient whenever they are hosting an online webinar.  I’ve used both of these services and I find that they allow me to do everything necessary in order to give an effective presentation that can be enjoyed by anybody who enters into the room.  Through the use of streaming video, I can not only present them with the information in real time, I can also take questions and answer them in real time as well.

Using a webinar hosting provider is an excellent way for you to increase your brand or to pull into clients that you may not have had access to before.  It’s an excellent business tool that any of us can use and it has made the process of setting up an online seminar quite easy.

Many businesses are not able to keep their heads above water any longer if they are only concentrating in the local area.  Other businesses have a model which necessitates being able to connect with a worldwide audience.  Regardless of which of these categories you fall in, being able to communicate effectively with people from around the world is one of the main purposes of using some of the webcasting services that are available on the Internet.  Here is a little bit about how they operate, a few recommendations and some things for you to keep in mind.

There are really two different ways that these webcast services operate.  The first of these is by having a streaming video which is viewed by other individuals in real time.  This video is typically hosted, either on a publicly or privately available webpage.  If it is open to the public, it is simply a matter of pulling the webpage up in your browser and allowing the streaming video to begin playing.  If it is on a private webpage, you will typically need a username and password in order to enter and much of this is done by invitation only.

Another way of presenting one of these webcasts is by recording the video as you are making it and then offering it as an archive.  This is something that is very important, regardless of whether you plan on offering it later or not.  Any webcast provider that you choose should offer you the choice of recording the webcast so that it can be played back later if desired.  A lot of work and go into one of these videos, as well as time and if you need to show it to somebody unexpectedly at a future date, having a recording can be a lifesaver.

There are many different webcast providers that are available on the Internet, but some of the most popular include Zoho Meeting, connectlive.com and you-niversity.com.  Although there are some differences in the different webcasting services that are available online, many of them are going to offer you enough in order for you to get started.  They also typically use software which is commonly found on many computers so almost anybody that enters into one of the rooms where the webcast is playing will be able to view it.  If they do not have the software available, it will be a simple matter of downloading it and installing it.

The Internet is changing the way that many of us are doing business and more and more businesses are finding it necessary to go with these webcast services in order to stay connected with their customers and potential clients.  By choosing one that will give you the options that you need, you will be able to effectively deliver a presentation in real time which will be just as effective as if you were standing in the room with them.  It may be new technology, but it certainly is something that has come of age.