Adobe Connect Framework
From ETS
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Contents |
Overview
Adobe Connect (formerly Breeze) is a collaborative tool of communication. Connect uses a variety of "pods" to integrate videoconferencing, slide presentation, file sharing and chat, just to scratch the surface. Meetings can be recorded, while chat histories and discussion notes can be sent via e-mail for later reference.
You can learn more about Adobe Connect at the PSU Adobe Connect Community Hub.
Why Would I Want to Use It
- To share information and ideas with people worldwide, regardless of locale.
- To make yourself readily available for advising, training and communicating with others. All your learners need is an Internet connection and a browser.
- To save time and money on travel. Face-to-face meetings are wonderful, but not all budgets allow that option.
- To easily archive your meetings and trainings sessions.
Implications for Teaching and Learning
- Instant feedback from learners allows for a personalized experience. For example, a meeting host can share his/her desktop and walk learners through new applications...and answer learner questions immediately.
- Extending educational opportunities to non-local learners.
Resources, Related Blog Posts, Miscellaneous Thinking
Rationale's for Using Adobe Connect
Travel time and expense is reduced when Adobe Connect is used to hold meetings. Adobe Connect also makes it easier for teams to include members from other locations, including various Penn State campuses.
Adobe Connect also makes it possible for those working from home to join meetings without having to travel to a campus.
Using Adobe Connect for distance education classes gives instructors and class members the opportunity to interact on a more personal, visual level than other distance education technologies.
Various Blog Posts from Around PSU
Learning About Adobe Connect
ITS Training Services provides two different hands-on training workshops for using Adobe Connect Pro. The two sessions are "Getting Started with Adobe Connect Pro" and "Using Connect Pro in the Classroom".
The first workshop deals with the operational, mechanical aspects of using Connect Pro. It covers how to create meetings; how to add and delete layouts and pods; how to add and delete content; how to send content; and the other mechanics of organizing the meeting and meeting space.
The second workshop deals with using Connect Pro as a teaching, learning and/or support tool. We look at various scenarios of how Connect Pro can be used, and explore the ways in which this technology can better serve the delivery of training and instruction.
In addition to workshops offered by ITS Training Services, documentation, tutorials, announcements, and Frequently Asked Questions are available to everyone in the world at the Penn State Adobe Connect online community (http://meeting.psu.edu). Visitors can post questions in the forums by logging in with either a Penn State Access Account or a Friends of Penn State account.
To contact the Adobe Connect team send email to breeze@psu.edu.
To join the Penn State Adobe Connect listserv and receive announcements via email, complete the form located at http://meeting.psu.edu/node/350.
Misc. Uses of Adobe Connect
Adobe Connect is used for everything that a physical meeting space can be used for. Meetings and classes can not only take place synchronously, they can also be recorded for asynchronous viewing. One-on-one meetings can include advising, office hours, tutoring sessions, presentation planning, work sessions, and more...
Small group meetings are also very effective through Adobe Connect. For example, faculty can set up meeting rooms for student groups to use for team meetings and projects. Students are very enthusiastic about having access to Adobe Connect meeting rooms as this access eliminates the need to spend time traveling to a central location to hold a group meeting. In addition, they are able to meet at times of the day (or night) that would otherwise be very difficult.
Another popular use of Adobe Connect is to bring guest speakers into a class or meeting. Travel time and expense is eliminated making it possible to bring expertise into a class or meeting that otherwise would have been difficult.
Large group meetings also work well in Adobe Connect. Members at a distance who otherwise would attend only a few meetings can now be more connected and better participate by attending more regularly. In addition, including participants from other campuses gives many groups a broader perspective and gives a "louder" voice to members of the Penn State community at a distance.
More information about the types of meetings that can be held through Adobe Connect can be found at the Penn State Adobe Connect online community at http://meeting.psu.edu/hosts.
So What, Podcast
Podcast? How unidirectional! How so last month!
Everything else that we are talking about (or at least I think we are talking about) is interactive. I can always make a podcast from the audio from my Connect Pro session, but really, CP is about interaction.
It's about nuance.
It's about seeing and hearing, and mashing that together.
It's about taking a point of departure and running with it.
It's about the "aha" moment.
It's about collaborating, sharing, interacting and creating.
It's about deconstruction and reconstruction.
It's about scaffolding and constructing.
It's about hypothesis, analysis and synthesis.
It's about using the technology to make the distant, close.
It's about using technology to make the remote, local.
It's about using technology to make the impossible, possible.
It's about connecting . . .
