About Wimba Classroom

What is Wimba Classroom?

The easiest answer to this question is: 'it's like a cross between Skype and a real-world classroom'. Wimba Classroom (or Classroom for short) is what is known as a videographic environment for synchronous web conferencing. Classroom provides:

Why should teachers of online courses explore using such tools?

For two main reasons. First, they offer the possibility of enhanced social presence (Nippard & Murphy 2007) through projection of voice and face. (A useful follow-up paper on the notion of online presence is suggested below). Second, synchronous communication tools can help collaborative teams work more efficiently by facilitating rapid decision-making. In this course we use Classroom in this latter role for small group work.

There is also a third reason we should acknowledge. Such technologies are becoming quite mainstream; while just a few years ago few people had the capacity to use them, now many people use Skype (or similar) on a regular basis and have expectations that their personal interactions can be augmented in this way.

Are there any problems with using such tools?

In a word, yes. Although the technology is becoming much more common and reliable, it is still prone to flakiness. Some users' computer configurations mean they have trouble setting up certain tools sometimes. We are always subject to network bandwidth limitations. Thus, sometimes you can have excellent connections and a very good experience; other times you can experience significant lag, screen freezes, and lost connections.

Be conscious of bandwidth issues: things like video, application sharing and the whiteboard are bandwidth hungry; don't try to use too many of these together. On the other hand, it is very likely you can have a good experience when simultaneously using voice chat plus whiteboard or application sharing.

The most important issues for teachers and students in online courses concern the difficulties of having to be online at the same time. Especially for courses whose students are in multiple time zones and/or who work and study this problem cannot be underestimated. So the social and organisational benefits of synchronous communication need to be weighed against the technical and logistical barriers for each course and perhaps even each cohort.

What equipment do I need to use Classroom?

You need

Before entering the Classroom

Allow at least ten minutes before your Classroom session is due to begin, to run the Wimba Classroom Setup Wizard, which will come up automatically the first time you enter the Classroom, and which goes through a series of tests to make sure your computer is ready to use Classroom. If you will be using the same browser (eg Firefox, Chrome) on the same computer, you don't need to repeat the setup wizard, but if you change either computer or browser, you will need to go through it again.

If you're having problems

If the setup wizard hits technical problems which you can't resolve, or you can't get to an appropriate computer or office at the right time, you can also phone in to a Classroom session using an ordinary telephone, but you will not be able to see the shared whiteboard or video. You can find the phone number to call, and the PIN code to access the room, on the page for the Classroom in Brookes Virtual, but your tutor will also provide a contact mobile number in advance of the session, and will be able to give you the phone number for the Classroom if you need it.

Anything else?

Use the links on the course home page to sign up, or register your preference for Wimba Classroom sessions.

Once you begin your groupwork, you are welcome to arrange further meetings in Classroom - we have set the rooms up so that course participants have access to the same controls as tutors, and the same room where you had your initial group tutorial will remain open to you.

References

Further Reading