Generated by Cost Factors and Word of Mouth

Clouser explains that the synchronous tools they examined back in 2001 were all pretty much equally viable from a technology perspective, but Wimba was "more reasonably priced." Through a one-year UGA learning technologies grant, a Wimba license for 25-seats/users was purchased. Two experienced faculty members familiar with using synchronous tools started to use Wimba Classroom, and, through word of mouth, new faculty adoption grew at a quicker pace than what CTL had expected. Clouser eventually had to increase the licensing arrangement to 120 seats/users. Then, about two years ago, EITS took advantage of the packaged integration of the Wimba tools with WebCT, and faculty buy-in continued to increase. UGA ultimately purchased an unlimited licensing arrangement that it still has today.

Website, Workshops & Support Helps Catalyze Adoption

When faculty do ultimately adopt Wimba, EITS offers to virtually sit in on the first one or two classes to provide technical support. Clouser says that such support helps ease the transition for faculty to use Wimba. "It makes them so much more comfortable. I think it has added to our success."

Exploring Foundations, Critically Examining Lit and Articulating Approaches

The students in this course are web-savvy educators/instructional designers in K-12, higher education and business who typically live in the state of Georgia. They all have access to high bandwidth Internet connections, which, Orey says, was not always the case when he taught this course online five years ago. Students are required to attend a face-to-face orientation during week one, and thereafter they meet synchronously in Wimba Classroom for two hours every Monday for the remaining 15 weeks of the semester.

Wimba Classroom in Action

Orey breaks up the two hours conducted in Wimba Classroom into three segments. First, he provides an interactive "update" in which he covers what students need to be working on currently and in the near future. Throughout any segment of the Wimba Classroom students can ask questions via live audio or chat. The beginning update segment can last about 30 minutes during the early weeks of the course, but it typically takes about 10 to 15 minutes, Orey says.

The second segment of the Wimba Classroom session is Orey’s live lecture. "I usually deliver a short lecture, and I try to make it relevant to the problem solving activity that I have them work on for the third segment," he says, adding that this lecture typically lasts from 20 to 30 minutes. Orey explains that he will usually conduct some online polls during this segment of the session. "It makes the class so much more interactive," he says. "I want to keep them engaged. I’ll use polls to see where they are. For example, I’ll talk about a specific theory and then I’ll ask a question directly related to what I was talking about to see if they were listening."

Orey then takes the slides he finds most relevant to the course and uploads them into breakout rooms inside Wimba Classroom that are comprised of groups of three students each. He will also address some of the more salient points of these slides in the main section of the Wimba Classroom.

This semester there are 27 students in his course, so there are nine breakout rooms, and he uploads one slide to each room. "I ask them to bring the slide up and brainstorm three ideas for improving the application of the theory to that particular challenge," Orey explains. "The advantage of doing this is they have a challenge and a problem that they are solving that is a real problem that someone in the course is actually facing." This segment of the Wimba Classroom session is conducted over the second hour, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Since each breakout room has its own audio channel, anyone in the group can speak out and be heard. Additionally, Orey has the option of entering any of the breakout rooms at any time. "I jump in and make sure everything is going well," he says.

Orey believes that the Monday live sessions have helped students to form communities that otherwise would not have been developed if he had instead used only asynchronous discussion forums in his courses. "Some of these groups have gone on to other classes and retained themselves in these groups. And when they graduate, they continue to interact with each other," he says. "It (regularly scheduled synchronous learning sessions) really develops this microcosm of a learning community that carries over to a community of practice as they graduate." Nonetheless, he considers that a face-to-face, physically together and present learning community would be placed at the top and most-effective end of a conceptual learning continuum. He places discussion boards and e-mail communication at the bottom of the continuum. Synchronous connections and experiences, like those facilitated through Wimba Classroom, are placed in the middle — above and noted as better than, discussion forums and e-mails — as well as stationed below, and noted as being not as effective as, face-to-face meetings.

Rieber’s Courses

Another highly successful Wimba Classroom implementation has happened inside two online courses taught by Professor Lloyd Rieber, both also offered through the UGA Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology, titled "Introduction to Computer-Based Education" and "Introduction to Instructional Design."

Like Orey, Rieber’s courses require students to complete a number of asynchronous assignments, exercises and readings in addition to attending, and being fully prepared for, a once-a-week synchronous Wimba Classroom session. Rieber’s Wimba sessions are 90 minutes in length.

Value Added

Rieber is also a strong proponent for utilizing synchronous teaching and learning tools, but he explains that the asynchronous elements, including a very detailed "learning plan" that he provides students with to follow throughout the semester, are obviously needed in any online course to help keep students on task. "I enjoy it (using Wimba). I enjoy meeting with the students (online). It does a lot. I think valued added is the best term I can use."

His Wimba sessions include live lectures with PowerPoints, and he also uses the polling feature quite frequently. "I like the polling feature because it gives me an opportunity to put something out there that is either provocative or just informative," he says, adding that it provides students with a look into where everyone stands in the course on any given topic, and then ultimately catalyzes an interesting live discussion. "It is rare when there is a unanimous vote on certain kinds of questions," he adds.

Regarding his live lectures with PowerPoints, he says that he tries to avoid the sage-on-the-stage style of teaching. "I know there are certain concepts that are going to be harder to understand in any one week, and I will give them my spin, but every couple of slides I will ask for questions, and people will raise their hands (virtually). I just try to facilitate people to speak up and to participate." He adds that in a typical class of 30 students, about two-thirds are very comfortable with raising their virtual hands and talking over their microphones. The remaining one third will use the live text chat tool to voice their questions and opinions.

Bottom Line

Rieber perhaps best described why his use of synchronous tools has been successful when he took the student’s point of view. "A lot of these students have been taking online classes, and their model of an online class is very different from this one," he explains. "I think the Wimba session, even though it is only held once a week for 90 minutes, becomes this wonderful moment in time that they are all getting ready for, just like they would for a regular face-to-face class. A lot of online learners have a hard time managing their time and self-regulating, but this once-a-week meeting provides them with a social obligation. They have to show up and participate and be ready for their peers and their instructor."