Webiwhat?

Webinars. Lots and lots of webinars. That is what is on this week's agenda, so I hope you aren't burned out yet.

Have you ever thought you knew what you needed to know, only to find out what you didn't know you needed to know when it was a little late in the game? That's how I felt about using elluminate. It all made a lot of sense in class on Monday, and I thought, okay, I'll go play with it and figure it out. And I did play with it a little bit. But there were a lot of things I didn't think to ask because I didn't know I needed to ask them until I actually encountered them, which happened to be while we were broadcasting live. If I had it to do over, I would do a tutorial or something, and hopefully know a little bit more. I know, obvious.

We did know our material, and we had some good resources, so at least there was good content to make up for the technical issues. I think we could refine it and improve it, of course, but that's all part of the ADDIE process. I did get my first taste of creating an online survey, which was a good experience, and I'm more familiar with elluminate and what I don't know about it. Part of learning is finding out what you don't know, right?

One funny story: after we were done with the webinar, there were some people still in the 'room' trying to figure out how to get out. So, while we were working on helping them, we started chatting, just casual conversation, because we thought that we had stopped the recording. Turns out we hadn't, so the whole casual chat is preserved, our behind-the-scenes footage, if you will.

Obviously, there is a lot left to learn about webinars, and I'm interested to try some other tools. I think this one is a little more difficult than some of the other tools we have used because there is so much going on that it requires more attention. I do like that there is a live audience (unlike with the screencast), and that you can read notes, which didn't work so well for screencasting. I think out of all the tools, I prefer the face-to-face activities best, which is funny because I am not much of a public speaker. Face-to-face, you don't have to worry as much about the technical aspect (it's important, but not as critical). Not that I'm anti-tech. I'm just a terrible multitasker and can only focus on one thing at a time. But I also like being able to see who I'm talking to for some reason. It's more personal, and for some unfathomable reason, I appreciate that.

Well, I wish you luck in your webinars. I'm sure I'll sit in on some of them, and I can't wait!