Blog #12 Video Conferencing

I have always been a fan of Skype and ichat, but I had never used any of these web based programs. I don't like any of them as much as Skype or ichat, but I do see the benefit of not having to use a mac or download a program. I liked both tokbok and meebo. They seem the same to me. I really didn't like Zoho. I just felt like there were so many features I didn't know where to begin and was a bit overwhelmed. Mebeam on the other hand had the opposite affect. It was almost too easy with no features at all. Also, I was confused when it asked me to type in the name of the room I wanted to chat in. Do we make this up or should we know some names somehow? Oh, and I never received my confirmation e-mail from palbee, which I see happened to other people as well.

I'm not sure when I would use this tool. If I was teaching an EFL class I would definitely be interested in it because it would be a really nice way to match students up with native speakers and they could actually see their facial expressions and everything while they spoke. If it was an ESL class though, I would rather the interaction be face to face. Speaking to a native speaker is nerve racking enough for ESL students, let alone having to do it in the unnatural way of looking at the computer screen and having to deal with the technology as well as their nerves. It could be useful for international business people to use this technology though because video conferencing is not uncommon in the international business world and it's a good skill for them to learn and be comfortable with.