Web conferencing so easy and powerful you may never need to leave your house again
December 31, 2008
Sometimes I think about how the internet has become such a dominant presence in our lives and how it’s changed everything about how we communicate with each other around the world, and I get scared. I mean, I once used Skype in order to have a quick meeting with a professor who was in China, and it was like we weren’t even half the world away from each other. We were just looking at each other and talking about normal stuff like we would in person. With all of these new web-based technologies, sometimes I worry that we will never ever have to leave our houses again in order to do the things we do everyday. That’s the scary part. What if the internet turns us all into reclusive hermits who never have to leave the house because we can teach our classes, attend our meetings, and meet our friends for lunch over the internet?!?!
Contributing to my paranoia and hysteria is Dimdim, a web-based conferencing tool that makes it easy to not only have a web conversation, but also allows you to show pictures, PowerPoints, PDFs, live screens, and even video as part of your conversation. With Dimdim, you don’t even need a desktop client like Skype or Outlook, and it’s totally free. Basically, it is so advanced and so effective, you may never have to leave your house again.
Dimdim is a great site to use to set up a “virtual classroom” and share class materials on the web, or even to gather colleagues from around the world for a quick meeting. Just remember that even though the internet has made it so that we don’t have to go outside anymore, you should step out and see the sun every once in a while. -LAUREN FROHNE
Dimdim
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I agree we should never let go good ol’ fashioned in-person interaction. But it’s amazing how much technology and communication tools can help in business, education, and even staying in touch with family.
We’ve built a collaboration service, Dabbleboard, that’s centered on the whiteboard, but includes document sharing and video chat as well. I hope you’ll find it useful.
Lauren, Awesome find. Thanks! Now if I could just figure out how to get those filters to accept this incredible tool so the professionals could use it!
Happy New Year!
Lauren, while I’m an advocate of using technologies like Dimdim to facilitate interaction, I think as humans we require some level of face-to-face. Streaming video and audio is exciting, but not a replacement for in-person interaction. It’s just a supplement for when in-person isn’t feasible. I’m an extrovert who could never be content only interacting online.
Joanne, let me know if there is anything we can be doing at Dimdim to help you with those “filters”.
Happy New Year!
-k
Kevin Micalizzi, Community Manager
Dimdim Web Conferencing / http://www.dimdim.com
e: kevin@dimdim.com / twitter: @meetdimdim
On Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/dimdim-facebook
I love Dimdim! I have been using it with my preservice students. They found it really easy to learn and loved being able to conduct and take classes in their PJ’s or whenever whey were at the moment.
I’m in total agreement that we human beings NEED to see each other face-to-face as much as possible when we’re learning. But some people just aren’t in the same place with the people they need to learn with or from.
The great thing is that there are an ever increasing list of new platforms coming out that allow teachers to share their expertise from wherever they are with whoever needs it.
As you’ve already mentioned, DimDim is a wonderful tool. So is WiZiQ . Both an be used across PC and Mac platforms without anyone having to download anything. They’re great!
I’m blogging about how to make effective use of virtual meeting rooms every week at and would love to hear about teachers’ experiences there anytime!
