Blended Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 2017: Facilitating webinars

Webinars are great tools to organise meetings or run seminars with participants/students how are geographically distributed.

Here are some tipps and tricks on running webinars:

https://shsuonline.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/bestpracticemonday-netiquette-for-the-online-course/

For participants:

Make sure everything works BEFORE the session begins don’t try and get technical support in the middle of a lecture
If you have please use a headset with a mic to avoid echo
Do not talk over others
Raise your hand if you would like to talk
Wait your turn to speak/use web cam (deactivate your mic once you have spoken)
Don’t play with the whiteboard tools unless directed to do so by your instructor
Dont move the presentation forward or back
If you are sharing your desktop be sure only topic appropriate windows are open
If using a webcam be sure you have appropriate lighting, appropriate attire and limit distractions (pets, spouses, roommates, children)
dont write long chat messages, as the silence during typing can feel long for other participants

For facilitators:

check rights of participants (will you allow them to add audio/video or chat only?)
allow for some time to socialise/arrive
announce when you start recording the session
check the chat regularly to see if there are questions from the audience
be patient - often when there is silence, participants are typing a message in the chat window
dont forget to stop the recording when the official part of the seminar is concluded

Blended Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 2017