What is web conferencing?
A web conference is a meeting or presentation that is conducted over the Internet. All participants in a web conference take part in the meeting from their own computer, connecting to other participants via the Internet.
How can scientists use web conferencing?
Web conferencing allows scientists to communicate with global audiences and partners in an easy, convenient, and inexpensive way.
- Conduct live, interactive meetings with international collaborators
- Conduct regularly scheduled lab meetings during busy conference seasons
- Collaborate on reports or manuscripts with lab members and global partners
- Host and attend webinars (web seminars) which present research findings, platforms and technologies.
What will I experience when attending a web conference?
Your host will provide you will a website address to visit to login to the meeting. After entering the website address you will be prompted automatically to download and install a web conferencing software application. You will then be prompted to enter your name and email address, and sometimes a password.
Once you have entered the presentation, your computer will display a slide presentation (created by the host using a program such as PowerPoint), plus a number of additional features. Depending on the web conferencing provider, your may see the following:
- Live video presented via a webcam;
- “Whiteboards” for notes and collaboration;
- Annotation tools to highlight or mark items in a presentation;
- Chat functionality for communication between participants;
- Polls and surveys that allow presenters to ask multiple choice questions to audience members; and
- Sharing functionality so that audience members can all collaborate on a document or control the presentation.
Depending on the web conferencing software provider, you can use one of the following two options for the audio portion of the meeting:
- Dial into a teleconference phone number using your phone; or
- Listen to the audio through your computer using headphones or speakers
Hosting a web conference
The following outlines how to begin using this powerful technology to present information and communicate with your colleagues.
- Determine your web conferencing needs. Will you hold mostly impromptu meetings or pre-planned seminars? Will your meetings be large or small? What functionality do you want to use (for example live video or chat)?
- Sign up for a trial account or attend a demo with a web conferencing software provider. There are many free, limited use providers (Vyew, Yugma), as well as paid providers (WebEx, GoToMeeting). Which one you choose depends on your web conferencing needs.
- Familiarize yourself with the software.
- Plan and host your first meeting.
Need help getting started or planning and executing a sucessful online event? Contact Connexon Creative at info@connexoncreative.com.
