Web Conferencing Software in University-Level, E-Learning-Based, Technical Courses

Abstract

Faculty who offer university-level technical courses through e-Learning environments must surmount several difficult challenges. Traditionally, learning in technical courses takes place through real-time interactions between instructor and students in the course of solving actual problems—a form of activity that is not possible in asynchronous e-Learning systems. The current study contains an account of experiences gained in using Web Conferencing software to provide a spoken synchronous component to a project-oriented senior-level computer science class. Strengths and weaknesses of this undertaking and a sketch of a different type of hybrid course are presented. While the discourse in this article is focused on computer science, principles put forth are applicable to teaching and learning in any technical field.