Experiencing AdobeConnect

In May, I started a new master's program focusing on integrating technology in my classroom. I am so excited to be in this program and am just looking forward to all that I am going to learn and experience.

The most recent experience was AdobeConnect. I was very excited to see it, as I have a personal goal to make my classroom as accessible to my students as possible; all students, even the ones that need to be at home and cannot be in the traditional classroom. If it worked, it could open up an online classroom where all my students could meet at once and discuss issues.

Unfortunately I was not able to purchase the web camera needed to fully experience the hour that our class spent on the program, however, that gave me an ability to focus on being a mouse in the corner and watch my peers experience it. It seemed easy to get everyone in the class logged in and going. There seemed to be a lengthy discussion that some of the members were able to follow and participate in. However, I struggled to follow the conversation. On my end, the conversation stopped and started randomly, it also seemed to multiple conversations going on at once. There were many times that participants would be answering questions before I ever heard Dr. Z ask a question. This was frustrating for me, being afraid that I would miss important information and was missing out on a chance to get to know my peers and professor.

I am still very excited about the possibilities for the program and in this day and age, version 2, 3 and 10 could come out in the next 6 months to make this frustration a thing of the past. All in all, a GREAT experience and definitely a program that I think I could use in my classroom working with my alternative learners.