Unable to attend the very first online class session via Wimba for EDU 590, I was disappointed and, to be truthful, somewhat afraid that I'd be at a disadvantage. But circumstances made it impossible to participate in that particular synchronous chat session: I was on a flight returning from the American Library Association (ALA) conference in San Diego. So I made arrangements with the instructor to view the archive of the session and write a blog on the experience. But before I comment on the archive itself, I should share my previous experiences with archived Wimba sessions to give some perspective.
As a distance learning librarian, I have presented more than a few bibliographic instruction sessions via Wimba, both synchronous and asynchronous. Each time I do an online session in Wimba, I archive it for those students who are unable to attend; and also for those students who might want to refer to the session again. Sometimes I forgo the synchronous session altogether and create an archived session for a class to view asynchronously as time permits. Either way, I was quite familiar with the concept of a recorded archive. But the idea of viewing one as a student myself was intriguing, not to mention I was excited to get started with the first course of the Educational Technology program!
So what was my overall impression? The thing that struck me the most was how quiet the students were. I expected there to be many more questions asked and a lot more chatter. But upon reflection, I realized that my previous experience with Wimba might have made me more comfortable with the whole experience. Even though I was a new student like everyone else, I wasn't new to the technology known as Wimba. So instead feeling like I was at a disadvantage, I began to see that maybe I had a bit of an advantage simply because of my previous experiences with the technology. Whether or not this was the case, I also soon realized that any advantage I might have would be short lived as the rest of the class began to feel more at ease with the technology. And isn't that the point of Educational Technology anyway? "To enhance teaching and learning for all [emphasis added] students" (Professional Standards for Michigan Teachers, 2008).
Professional Standards for Michigan Teachers (2008, May 13).
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