Week 5 Reflection on Web Conferences

Web Conferences:

My thoughts on web conferences as a tool for learning are mixed.  There is some frustration in hoping that all the technology is going to work correctly and the disappointment in waiting for a conference to start that never does.  This is my second time taking on line courses and the first time was ten years ago.  Ten years ago, there weren't any web conferences and there was a lot of on the job learning through failed attempts but the feedback I got from my instructor was amazing.  This time we have updated the technology but in some ways lost the connection with one another.  With the comfort of working at your own timetable, we have lost that ability to make some deeper connections with others when we fail to all gather at the same time.

I believe that the web conference experience could be greatly increased by making students attend and treating the conference period as if it were a "real" class in which everyone is to act professional.
I do appreciate that web conferences are offered as a way to clarify information and ask questions of both the professor and of one another.  I have actually had the opportunity to get to know a few of my master colleagues through this process and gotten some great hints for how to proceed through with the weekly assignment.

Dates of attendance for web conferences: 11/24/12, 11/26/12, 12/17/12
Recordings 12/10/12, 12./16/12
I also attempted to attend two other conferences but they were somewhat cancelled.
We were never told they were cancelled it just stated that there was no host so therefore there was nothing to attend.