Web conferencing is increasingly utilized in distance learning. How to make the right choice of the technology for your distance learning services? In this article, I will focus on the pros and cons of on-premise server based web conferencing solutions.
According to an inquiry, there was an increase of 150% in the number of students that opted for distance learning courses from 1998 to 2012 (source: https://www.coursehero.com/blog/2012/03/23/infographic-the-growth-of-distance-learning/ ). This gives an idea of how popular MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) have become.
The reason of this huge success is MOOC capability to provide students with virtual classrooms and face-to-face sessions that are able to ensure a learning experience as good as the one in traditional classrooms. In one word, web conferencing technology was able to replace the real world with a virtual environment that is
- Cheaper, as the costs of MOOC are much lower than the costs of traditional education;
- Enhanced, as the learning experience that pupils can enjoy in a virtual classroom might be even much richer than the one they have in a traditional school.
Naturally, MOOC have also their negative side. One main problem is that MOOC are heavily dependent on their underlying technologies. No connection, no class; so, it is obvious that educational institutions must be very cautious when they purchase the technology for their on-line services.
In my opinion, on-premise server based web conferencing solutions can be a real good choice for many educational institutions for at least 3 good reasons:
- On-premise servers do not rely on the web to work. For this reason, they ensure good quality, fast and secure connections;
- On-premise servers are cheap: they utilise flat licenses that allows you to add additional users to a web conference without paying anything;
- On-premise servers ensure top quality video and audio to web conferences even on tablets and IPhones.
The traditional objections to this technology are the following ones:
- On-premise servers are big and noisy;
- On-premise servers need a devoted IT team;
- On-premise server need maintenance.
Luckily, the technological progress has addressed these issues. For example, the servers of the Californian company R-HUB are really plug and play and easy to deploy, as they are self-configuring and self-updating, and they do not need any devoted IT team.
They are also light, small and silent, at the point that they can be placed on the shelf of a bookcase, and no maintenance is needed.
Their web conferencing graphic interfaces give users a lot of useful functionalities that ensure a great learning experience, like tools for raising hands, polling, and document sharing.
These features, in combination with their low price, make R-HUB’s on-premise servers a great solution that is suitable for both smaller educational institutions, like colleges and language schools, and universities.
For further information, visit R-HUB’s web site, http://www.rhubcom.com