tech_otter

This week I looked as WiZiQ, a free Web Conferencing tool that was recommended to me by one of my readers. It does the same thing Adobe Connect (formerly known as Breeze) does, but it is free and does not require software installation (it does require Flash). I was pretty impressed with how easy it was for me to join a session and interact with the session leader (instructor or teacher).

Some things you can do with WiZiQ (all free):

• Invite students to a live, synchronous session (great for office hours or orientation)
• Share files - documents, video, audio, even embedded YouTube videos
• Text chat
• Live video from a web cam
• Talk to your students with a microphone/headset
• Write on a "whiteboard"- great for teaching math
• Record sessions to share later
• Embed sessions in various types of social media (Facebook, Livejournal, link through Twitter, etc).

Here are a couple of screenshots of the interface, which is bright and clean. You can click on the images (there are 2) for a bigger view, and click the back button to return to this post.


You can see that there are basically 2 parts to the WiZiQ interface: There is the "whiteboard", which you can have several of (and can toggle between them). You can display documents on the whiteboard, show videos, or simply draw on it like you would on a physical board. To the right, there is the chat/video window. Here, you can chat with your students and they can ask you questions. You can also show yourself with a web cam for a more personalized presentation. In this window, you can adjust all your audio/video settings.

The session I experienced was pretty smooth. There was a slight lag in the drawings on the whiteboard and the audio from the instructor varied in volume (from clear to faint). The audio quality can easily be remedied, however, by checking your audio settings and either purchasing a quality microphone or a headset (the instructor could hear me loud and clear. I had previously optimized my audio settings and I was using a headset). The program never froze, and text chat worked seamlessly.

The biggest problem with using WiZiQ that I can think of is getting students into the session. It was easy for me to get in because I was already a member and I got an invite to the session. You can do the same with your students but you have to do some coordination (make sure they all get WiZiQ accounts). Once your audience is on your "Contacts", you can easily invite them when you schedule a session.

I believe you can also do all of these things with Adobe Connect, which we support at UWC Online. After using WiZiQ, we did a brief test of it and could accomplish all the same tasks. The biggest difference to most people is that Adobe can be costly, but if you teach at UWC Online we can support you.

You should consider web-conferencing tools if you want to have the ability to talk with your students in a synchronous environment. Adobe Connect or WiZiQ are ideal for holding office hours or perhaps a "welcome to the class" session to kick things off. If students are working in groups and need to communicate through a live session, any one of them could schedule a session (with WiZiQ) to communicate. There really are a lot of possibilities. 

Finally, there is a fair amount of material on the web of people who have reviewed WiZiQ. Here are some of the articles I've collected. You can hover over the links for a preview: 

http://wiziq.typepad.com/wiziqcom/2007/12/adobe-connect-a.html
edtec550.wordpress.com/2007/12/12/project-wrap-up/
http://tesl-ej.org/ej47/m1.html
http://www.openalternatives.org/site/2008/07/dimdim-vs-wiziq-the-free-web-meeting-conferencing-and-online-classroom-tools/
http://www.kirstenwinkler.com/review-public-session-on-wiziqcom/

If you are interested in using web-conferencing (either Adobe Connect or WiZiQ) in your classes, tell me about your ideas! Remember that you can try WiZiQ out for free any time.

tech_otter