Elluminate: A Resource for Building Community within the Ohio Learning Network

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Elluminate: A Resource for Building Community within the Ohio Learning Network

11/1/2005

While we have generally been very happy with Elluminate, we have found it especially well suited for some types of meetings and not as well suited for others. When there is a clearly defined agenda, when people participate sequentially, and when materials are available that can be shared in the common whiteboard, the Elluminate environment serves extremely well. Because of the simplex nature of the audio (only one speaker at a time), brainstorming sessions have been less successful. We continue to work on passing the role of moderator among group members, since moderator style greatly influences the nature, conduct, and perhaps outcomes of the meeting. Moderating requires an additional set of skills than simply participating, but this is no different than in traditional face-face meetings.

As one example of the kind of work we conduct, two-thirds of OLN’s Emerging Technologies Committee meetings are conducted via Elluminate. The committee consists of 15 members and we all convene at the appointed time for a three hour session. One of the functions of the Emerging Technology Committee is to identify the kinds of technologies that we would like to explore as a state during the coming year to continually improve our methods for supporting and delivering online education. Conferencing technologies, and in particular Elluminate, is one technology the committee has identified to explore. Toward that end, I support experiments at our various member schools that have needs for such software. For example, Ohio State University is holding a conference on electronic democracy and citizen participation and Elluminate will serve as the platform for planners, policy makers, and other conference attendees to meet and discuss community issues and broadening citizen participation.

OLN is also using Elluminate for a free webinar series highlighting Ohio experts’ use of and successful practices with student learning and educational technologies. And the Ohio Board of Regents has more than 40 faculty committees using Elluminate to define transfer assurance guides in approximately 44 different subject areas, so course credit can be more easily transferred between Ohio institutions. Projects such as these help OLN fulfill its mission to assist its members and at the same time trains college and university staff so they can participate in future OLN electronic meetings.

In closing, I would like to note OLN is highly supportive of the inclusive features that Elluminate is rolling out in its most recent (6.5) release. In support of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Elluminate Live! 6.5 will offer such features as: multiple closed captioning streams, increased font sizes for text messages, high contrast settings, automatic detection of platform color schemes, and compliance with screen reader products (e.g., JAWS and Narrator). These enhancements will allow broader representation in our electronic community sharing and decision making, as well as encourage accessible online learning offerings for Ohioans.

Cable Green (cgreen@oln.org) is Director of Technology for the Ohio Learning Network.

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