Mardi Gras Madness - Live Virtual Meetings

It was Mardi Gras madness at this month’s Apollo luncheon, where Dr. Bridgette Gunnels demonstrated how she uses our live synchronous tool called Horizon Wimba’s Live Classroom, to teach a completely online Spanish class. The Latin American Novel course lends itself well to this format, giving students ample time to read the novels and then collaborate online in real-time virtual meetings. When using the Live Classroom tool, Gunnels explained that she acts as a facilitator, reviewing the objectives for each live session and then sending the students out into their own group break-out rooms to discuss the novel. Dr. Gunnels visits each room to see how the discussion is progressing and to make sure everyone is on task. She also archives (records) the sessions for group members and record keeping. Though there are some challenges, including audio echo from time to time and the disparity between some student’s equipment, overall the spontaneous and instant discussion of the novels has been a great benefit in addition to the asynchronous Discussion board tool. (PPT available here)