I read the following gospel reading (Mark 6:7-13) today....
Jesus was giving instructions to the apostles and said, "When you enter a house, stay there until you leave."
I have a problem with this one. I remember reading it last year, so I assume it's not a misprint. What other options are there? I came up with the following:
1. "When you enter a house, leave before you leave."
2. "When you enter a house, stay there after you leave."
3. "When you enter a house, leave after you leave."
Since none of these other 3 options seem possible, I must ask why the Bible just didn't simply say: "When you enter a house, stay there."
Religion can be way too complicated sometimes.
OK, enough about my random pondering. When it comes to instructing a purely textual online offering, the complication often lies in the lack of recognizable human context. Simply put, when students see the instructor's face - and view / hear a live presentation, there appears to be a much stronger connection to the instructor than simply reading textual instruction.
I guest instructed a graduate course session via a free online medium called WIZIQ. http://www.wiziq.com/ The service offers a combination format of live video/audio via webcam, whiteboard and running chat area. A video feed of the instructor is continuously displayed in the upper right hand corner of the screen for students to view. With my basic Logitech webcam and external microphone, I was able to engage in a fairly adequate real-time live presentation to students, while also communicating with them in the chat and white board regions.
The obvious drawback is lack of streaming quality. Video and audio were choppy at times - and I'm operating a blazing fast cable pipeline. Students with dial-up connections would feel like they were watching broadcasts from the first lunar landing. In addition, when other students use web cams and speakers, the medium tended to get technical hum and it wasn't always smooth to switch between instructor and student as the featured person up in the right hand corner.
I haven't fully figured out how the free version is funded as the site is free of advertisements, but there is a pay feature with more options and full archiving, although I believe some level of basic archiving is also available in the free version. Archiving is beneficial as it allows students to return and replay the session.
I plan to teach another session via WIZIQ during an upcoming course. I will use it sparingly, at least to start, with only 1 or 2 "live" WIZIQ sessions. Again, I judge the most striking benefit is the face/voice context for the student that instantly personalizes the course. The primary pitfall is that the novice student isn't going to use the video / audio features.
Overall, I'm giving a "thumbs up" endorsement to WIZIQ. It seems well-developed and I judge that it will be continually refined. Give it a try!
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