Web Conferencing as an Instructional Tool

Today, I had a chance to sign in to web conference as part of my graduate course.  This is the second one that I have had a chance to participate in and for the second time around I still feel the same.  I felt as if I didn't have anything to contribute.  It's not that I didn't think that the conference was worth the while, but I just didn't have any particular question or questions to ask.   I also had difficulty keeping up with questions that were posted and then answered five or six posts later.  Very hectic.

So, I guess as an educator I would have to ask myself how I would go about assigning such an assignment to my high school students if I myself was confused and overwhelmed?  I think if I had to do a web conference, I would given specific guidelines on what types of posts students could make.  For example, if I did a web conference over a particular unit of study, such as Surface Area (since I am a Geometry teacher), I would say that students could get credit for having a question about a homework problem.  I would give students points for answering other students questions.  But, for those students who wouldn't have questions, I would give them the opportunity to post what problems they find challenging from the assignment.  If the conference was say a review, then I would probably chunk the review into time intervals and still provide a copy of the transcript on my website so that other students who go and print out.  Having a specific topic of discussion I think would be more beneficial for students, especially since they would be looking for help.

I did get some valuable information from my conference experience. For example, I got clarification on how I was supposed to submit this particular assignment.  I was also able to get the name of an instructor to watch out for at the Region IV service center for when I am ready to the ILD class.  Let's not forget the most important part, websites for help with APA formatting. 

Over all, I think that web conferencing can shed a new light on teacher tutorials and office hours if presented in the manner that is the most productive for the audience at hand.