The video conferencing lecture was a really interesting experience of sharing each other’s knowledge about our own sections from the Horizon Report. My section was about redesigning learning spaces and through reading, it was interesting to find how the layout and formation of an educational environment can deeply affect the educational performance of a classroom. A step towards ‘active learning classrooms’ such as moveable furniture and interactive whiteboards has resulted to a more collaborative learning environment.

What does this mean?

This has meant that the focus has been taken away from traditional lecture formats to more class discussion and collaborative learning classrooms.

The lecture itself was delivered online through video conferencing. This was the first time I have experienced doing this however, it was a positive experience. It allowed us to listen, engage and partake in the discussion together through having options such as asking questions through the interactive ‘hands up’ and  having a live discussing of thoughts through written conversation. Also being able to see everyone in the group at the same time meant that the lecture was not based on one person, instead, it gave everyone the equal opportunity to voice and partake in the session. Therefore, I would not have classified it as a lecture, instead, a discussion which was led by different individuals.

The picture above illustrates how we were able to view the presenter’s power point on one side of the screen and on the other side we could see the lead speakers and the other group members in order to listen and discuss the matter.

I would most definitely use online video conferencing again due to its ease of access, simple nature and also being an interesting means for collaborating with a group of people from long distances. It presents a professional approach and does not take much effort or computing equipment to set one up.