Adobe+Connect

= Communication Tool: Adobe Connect = Group Members: Serdar Abaci & Molly Tornatta

To see the meeting room, go to @http://breeze.iu.edu/sabaciw200/.

Brief introduction of the tool
Adobe Connect (formerly Macromedia Breeze) is a web conferencing and data collaboration tool. It provides you with a virtual meeting/classroom environment for sharing your presentations, images, and desktop applications with remote participants. You can also take advantage of features like a digital whiteboard, text chat, polling, and audio/video broadcasting. To attend your web meeting, your students need only a Web browser with the Flash plugin (almost all computers have this already) and a broadband Internet connection.

Why might I use Adobe Connect / Breeze?
Taken from: http://www.indiana.edu/~tltc/technologies/connect.html
 * To deliver online classes
 * To invite remote guest speakers to your class
 * To hold online virtual office hours
 * To provide students with collaboration and presentation space

Efficiency:
It really depends on the usage. For example, I am utilizing Connect meeting not to cancel my class due to the conference. As a graduate student, it is important for me to attend conferences for my professional development. On the other hand, as an instructor I need to cover all the content according to the curriculum. In our case, I see the use of Adobe Connect as efficiency because I am not losing a week due to the conference. Otherwise, I have to make up for that time in another way.

However, using such a tool also requires some technology proficiency. As a teacher, I need to make sure that my students can use Adobe Connect as a distant participant. That means, I need to provide enough resources and address issues and problems before the actual meeting. That is why, I am providing you different links and resources for setting up your audio. From the preparation standpoint, it is more time consuming.

Effectiveness:
Using Adobe Connect web-conferencing tool can be considered an effective way of using technology because there are different interactivity features which allow students interact with the content, instructor, and other students. For example, using the chat function, student can have discussions in small groups or as entire class. They can share a whiteboard and share ideas visually. However, if we compare meeting in Adobe Connect with meeting face-to-face in a traditional classroom, it may not offer any effectiveness since all these interactions are available in face-to-face class.

Enhancement:
Whether as a supplement to a traditional class or as a medium for a distance class, I think Adobe Connect has a lot to offer for enhancement. For a traditional class, teacher can use Adobe Connect to invite a guest speaker via distance. Most of the time, inviting a guest speaker (ex. an expert, a practitioner) is difficult due to limited time and resources. Thanks to such a technology, guest speakers find it very convenient to speak to a class because they do not need to leave their offices. Guest speaker is an enhancement to a traditional class since students get to interact with a primary source of knowledge.

Taking an online class is itself an enhancement. Especially with life-long adult learning, individuals including teachers need to stay update their knowledge/skills or learn new knowledge/skill in this information age. Distance courses are good way of closing your knowledge and skill gaps in your own time and at your own pace. However, without conferencing tools like Adobe Connect, these courses lack interaction with instructor and other students, which is an important part of learning. Therefore, web-conferencing tools make it possible to create a classroom-like learning experience.

To summarize, good things about Adobe Connect is:

 * Real time communication/collaboration: interaction with other students, instructor, and the content
 * Independent of location: you can access it anywhere as long as you have a computer and internet connection
 * Active learning: students are not just a passive learners, they participate actively via interaction
 * Social construction of knowledge
 * Content re-use over time: you can record and re-use the meetings

Disadvantages (limitations) of the tool

 * Internet connection (bandwidth): students should have stable internet connection
 * Difference in time zones: if students are from different time zone, this should be negotiated ahead of time
 * Classroom management: classroom management is not the same as a traditional classroom. Teacher should be more prepared and consider digital issues such as technical challenges
 * Non-verbal communication: due to the nature of online meeting, non-verbal communication cues are lost. Both students and the teacher should be more explicit.
 * Attendance: Even though attendee list shows who is in the meeting room, this does not mean they are actively engaged.
 * Potential barriers to content for technology challenged students
 * It is not free: Yes, this tool is not free, it is not cheap either. IU provides this service to faculty and staff for free. However, for an elementary or a secondary school, or just for your class, it may not be affordable. There are similar but free alternatives.
 * DimDim
 * Vyew

Application of the tool in your subject area
One example use of Adobe Connect is a case study from UITS Teaching & Learning Technologies Centers. It is again using Adobe Connect at a university level. However, the case explains how students are using different features of Adobe Connect. This might apply to your subject area as well. Please take a look at this case study. http://www.indiana.edu/~tltc/technologies/palmer_connect.pdf

Another example is from another web-conferencing tool, Vyew. They have a sample book for elementary school creative writing assignment. @http://vyew.com/site/product/vyew-in-action/uses/

Find a tutorial video on YouTube
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Useful Resources
If your classmates want to learn more about your topic, where should they go? Please recommend 3 websites or more.