Abstract:

Missing direct interaction with teachers and other students can be a major drawback of basic remote learning scenarios. To overcome this, several web conferencing platforms have been developed since the late 1990s which support synchronous interaction of several participants over the internet. Based on video conference technology, the most sophisticated of these platforms allow additional modes of interaction such as presentations, whiteboards, text chat, and symbolic expression of opinions/moods. To provide students the opportunity of participation in seminars without travelling, FernUniversität in Hagen started online seminars in 2004. Diverse technologies, implementations and products have been reviewed for applicability in a distance teaching university environment. Some of them have been tested with students in real-world situations. This paper presents the outcomes of these tests and a comparison of different software solutions.

Keywords:

Collaborative virtual environment, advanced classroom technology, virtual seminar.