The biggest challenge in organizing any meeting is getting everyone in the same place at the same time. Moving these meetings online opens up a great deal of flexibility and, in some cases, can gain some additional functionality.  There are many different web conferencing solutions and each has pros and cons. Several will provide a virtual room and allow meetings with a certain number of people for a free account.  Elluminate and BigBlueButton are two solutions that offer free or paid virtual meeting spaces.

Virtual Office Hours

• For instructors, having regularly scheduled virtual office hours allows for additional availability to students. Logging into the virtual office while checking e-mails or doing other work, allows students to reach their instructor if needed. Even if students do not avail themselves of this resource, the fact that instructors have made themselves available will go a long way to building trust with the students.

Online Review Sessions

• Students are always interested in asking questions and getting help with material.  However, finding a room and a time that works for everyone is a daunting task. By using a web conferencing solution, an instructor can manage these sessions and also record and publish it for students that were not able to attend.

Online class sessions

• Web conferencing can also be used for an online class session. This is helpful if the instructor wants to offer additional course materials. Most solutions are able to upload a PowerPoint presentation, and then teach it to the participants in an synchronous web-based environment.