Webex as an Online Classroom

What is Webex?

Don't feel bad if you have never heard of Webex before, I hadn't until just now! In the most basic terms, Webex can be described as an online meeting. We know what these are, right? Just a video conference, no bid deal! Ok, so how does this pertain to teachers? Well, Webex is not just a tool for video calls, it is also an online, video classroom! What does that mean? This means that teachers, now have a way to have a class, without even having to be in the physical classroom. Schools, society, and kids are becoming more tech savvy every day. So, why can't the classroom be included in this new wave as well? For old school teachers, this may seem odd and out of place, that is ok. I think an online classroom sounds a little odd and out of place too, but, we have to adapt to the new ways and ideas, to best teach our students. this does not mean that a physical classroom is going away, it just means there is a new way to have class.

How Do I Sign Up for Webex and How Do I Use it?
Signing up is easy-peasy lemon-squeeze! To sign up, you will first go to the site. If you would like to play around with the program, before actually signing up for an account, the website offers to try meetings for free. So, maybe a few of your colleagues will be interested in previewing the program with you and you can discover it together. This allows you to discover and learn about a new teaching tool with peers who are there to learn with you, be a learner and a teacher, discuss with you about initial thoughts, and to bounce ideas of one another. It never hurts to have an extra set of eyes, ears, brains, and hands!

If you are ready to plunge into this new experience, you can certainly go ahead and sign up for the program. The sign up process, is much like any other, you will give information on: your name, your school, an educator or other, your email address, which plan you would like, and etc. Not to complicated, right? Once you make your account, you will be asked to download and install, Cisco, this is the program that allows Webex to work on your device. You do not have to pay for it or anything, it is just a simple installation. You will also either create a code or be given a code, that invites people to the call, so make sure to share this with your students when using Webex, or they will not be able to get on.

Once you have set up your account, you can begin exploring and messing around with the program. You can see that Webex has many options and features. For reference, some of the video call features, are much like Skype. You have access to audio: through your device's microphone, it can be turned off or on, it can also be muted. Video wise, your options are: share yourself, have the video turned off, and share screen. Sharing your screen, means that you will share what is on your screen from your device, with the people on the call. Sharing a screen is a great option for students to have because if they have a question and need the teacher to look at their screen, then they can share it with them, while the teacher talks them through what to do. Te teacher is able to see the screen and make sure that the students is doing the right thing. For teachers, screen sharing allows them to show presentations on their computer or walk their students through specific steps on how to do something. In this case, students can visually see what the teacher is doing and do the exact same thing on their own computer while the teacher is explaining.

Webex also has the feature of online chats. If students do not have audio on or maybe you are not able to speak, you all can use the chat box. The chat box can send messages to everyone included in the call or send to specific people. For the students, this feature allows them to directly ask a question, just to the teacher. It could be a specific question that just pertains to them or maybe they are shy and just want the teacher to know. For all students, they can write their question through the chat, that maybe their peers would want an answer to as well. For the teacher, this allows them to ask or discuss with the whole class and have specific conversations with just one student at the same time.

Chat boxes are great, but another feature that Webex has it that it allows you to change the format of your screen. If you want the video to take up your entire screen, you can click for it to be full view. Maybe you want to see the video, but still have access to your own screen, Webex allows that too. You just have to minimize the window and make sure that it is on the video part, not the chat. Another way to view it, is that you can have everyones' icons or pictures on the side or at the top of the page. This program really allows you to have options, that will best suit you.

How Do I Incorporate Webex in My Classroom?
This section may be obvious, but maybe it isn't quite yet. To first introduce Webex to your class, I would recommend doing it while you are all there together. This gives the opportunity for you to walk around and help students with any problems they have and walk through the video and sign-up process. This will also allow your students to ask questions and have you right there to show and navigate them. This will be a good time to have them practice: using the microphone, adjusting audio, playing with the viewing options, learning how to turn on and off the camera, showing you their screens, and playing with the chat boxes. Just use it as an explore and information lesson. Let them dip their toes in, before diving in.

So, maybe you have a whole day to practice using Webex and later in the week you come back to it, but this time you change it up. Depending on your class size and setup, have your students go to different places in the room. If possible, even go to the gym or the cafeteria to spread out more. Then, have your students log on to a video call with you. You will all be in the same room, but this lets them experience and try to use the program by themselves, while still being in a controlled environment. This lets your students know that Webex can be used anywhere, at any time, and for any lesson.

That day, maybe do a review lesson with your students. I would not recommend introducing a new topic through Webex on their first interaction with the program. Students do not need to be overwhelmed by using a new program and trying to learn something new. So, maybe review a math lesson on multiplication. Show them how to do this skill via the internet or share your screen for them to follow along. Another review lesson, could be a familiar text or shared reading. All the students will have copies of the book with them, but you can teach a review lesson to use online. This lets them see the variety of ways you an use Webex and practice their automaticity and fluency skills.

If you are looking for ideas or reasons why to use Webex in the classroom, this article explains to you how Webex will play an important role in the classroom. The three main points in the article are: collaboration, visual engagement, and overcoming concentration hurdles (Quesada, 2017). These are all factors that teachers must consider and achieve to accomplish in the classroom, especially because now everything is so digital.

Webex is not meant to replace our physical classrooms. It is a way and tool to use when there are days you are not in school. This is thinking for the future. Every year schools end up with some reason as to why they cancel school. Maybe it's a tornado or the snow, but either way, you will not be going to school. But, what if you could have school and not miss any instructional days? I know we all love snow days, but they just mess with our summer vacation. I do not know about you, but I would rather have school on a snow day, than be making school up in the summer.

Have your class online on a snow day! Again, it may not sound that great now and students won't enjoy the sound of it either, but this was you don't miss instructional time and days. I am not saying to teach an entire 8 hour day online, but just focus on the things that you really need your students to learn for the day. This way when they come back, the next day or a few days, you don't have to crunch your lessons to make up for that lost time. You will all be able to come back as a class and review and clear up any questions that everyone had.

My Experience with Webex
I have had two experiences with Webex now. The first was our tutorial day where we learned all the basics. The second time, is when we had a class online. It wasn't scheduled to have class online this day, but the professor could not come in, so she didn't just cancel class, she had it online! This was actually very cool and super useful.

My professor showed us how to embed our videos for our projects, answered any questions we had, showed us to submit the project on blackboard, and let us have a lab session. She still was able to go everything that she would have if we had been in class, but was able to still do it through the internet. So, nobody missed class or this instructional time. Another thing she did, was record our class session! Webex allows you to record sessions, save them, and later share them. This allowed us to go back to see what happened in class that day, in case we forgot or needed help.

What is My Opinion?
My opinion is that Webex is a great tool to have and to use. It may be hard to adjust to it at first, but after a while I think it will be easy. I know that I actually enjoyed having class online. I also liked how the session was able to be recorded and the professor was able to share it with us to refer back to. Webex also seems the be a convenient and easy way to have an online class. There is nothing meant to trick you or be confusing when navigating the website or video call. Through my experience with the program, I would recommend it to my peers to use in their classrooms!

References
Quesada, J. (2017, August 9).  Bringing Tech to the Classroom- 3 Strategies for 2017. Retrieved October 8, 2018, from https://blog.webex.com/2017/08/bringing-tech-to-the-classroom-3-strategies-for-2017/

Webex website [website page]. Retrieved October 8, 2018 from https://www.webex.com

Webex Logo [online image]. Retrieved October 8, 2018 from https://slack.com/apps/A5P5FDK33-cisco-webex-meetings

Webex Video Detail Diagram [online image]. Retrieved October 8, 2018 from https://collaborationhelp.cisco.com/article/en-us/4f6peu