I “attended” the online pre-conference for the Illinois Online Conference coming up in two weeks. “The Not So Extreme Course Makeover Clinic” (see webcast) was intriguing not so much in its content as in its form. The pre-conference effectively utilized the Elluminate conferencing software, which I find vastly superior to the CCCConfer we have access to here. I have found Elluminate easy to use on multiple platforms, and very flexible from a participant standpoint (I have never presented on it). With 75 participants, organization was crucial, and we were immediately broken into groups. A table was shown with categories: Student-Student, Student-Instructor and Student-Content. Each category had two squares, one for those who had an idea to offer and one for those wanting help. We each typed our name into a square, and the moderators separated us into groups. It was quick, painless and synchronous. Participants (some from Australia and Scotland) could use voice, text or both. Although not suitable for any asynchronous use, it was online synchronicity at its most effective.
