I am the President of a consulting and training group. We are in the business of corporate training, via Edward de Bono Thinking methods. We service just about any industry that needs new thinking from major banks to the CIA.
Which is the best platform to host a training session? We have a Digital Manual which each participant will have and we need to be able to have those online work in groups of 3 or 4, as well as be able to work in a whole group. A normal group size might range from 9-25 and on occasion, it can be larger.
We are considering Blackboard, Adobe Connect, Zoom, and Webex. What are the biggest differences between these products? Would you recommend a specific one?
Thanks! I appreciate your help.
If you're looking for just a basic meeting tool, Zoom will do just fine. You can also share your screen as well as choose the option to share presentations ( in your case, its the Digital manual).
Cisco Webex is more for making video calls but some use it for training as well due to the fact that it was already used but I have experienced some latency (lag) with it. Anyone in the group viewing may correct me on this one.
In terms of popularity, its Zoom and webex which are the most popular tools
Blackboard and Adobe connect are more considered the virtual classroom technologies for teaching. They have many advanced features offering multi-classroom features which encourage students to engage differently.
They are far less popular than zoom or webex.
According to your requirements, I would encourage you to go towards Zoom. You can start by the free version and upgrade to the pro version depending on your requirements
Also, it works seamlessly on laptop, IOS and Android devices
Hope this helps.
Also, note that this was a quick review and we are doing a more comprehensive review based on a per -component basis.
For training session Webex is best the best solution.
My comments about Zoom:
The Pros:
- It allows you to schedule any meeting and invites your meeting members at a particular date & time with Meeting Id & Password.
- It allows organizing multiple meetings, to carry out online meetings, file sharing, webinars & group messaging.
- Through the Zoom application, users are given the option to connect to more than one conference room, include more attendees remotely, and conduct face-to-face meetings.
- Zoom offers both native mobile (iOS & Andrioid)and desktop versions that let users collaborate & connect remotely.
- It allows us to record video chat and look at them at a later date & time.
- Whiteboard is a good feature for having a meeting in which everyone can join to type or draw, and write.
If we have a brainstorming-type meeting, we can share our own ideas with the whiteboard.
- Zoom recently implemented a Microsoft Office add-in, which means we can now schedule Zoom meetings without having to go into the Zoom app.
The Cons (from my experience using in Melbourne, Australia):
- Have encountered Slow response sometimes when participants are joining from different geographical locations.
- The Free Version allows having a conference call for 40 minutes. Price could be an issue for the Paid Version.
Thanks for sharing your experience using Zoom. Would you choose Zoom to use as a virtual learning platform, or do you have experience with other platforms that have better features? The 40 minute time limit on the free version can be a real pain for virtual learning.
My comments about Zoom:
The Pros:
- It allows you to schedule any meeting and invites your meeting members at a particular date & time with Meeting Id & Password.
- It allows organizing multiple meetings, to carry out online meetings, file sharing, webinars & group messaging.
- Through the Zoom application, users are given the option to connect to more than one conference room, include more attendees remotely, and conduct face-to-face meetings.
- Zoom offers both native mobile (iOS & Andrioid)and desktop versions that let users collaborate & connect remotely.
- It allows us to record video chat and look at them at a later date & time.
- Whiteboard is a good feature for having a meeting in which everyone can join to type or draw, and write.
If we have a brainstorming-type meeting, we can share our own ideas with the whiteboard.
- Zoom recently implemented a Microsoft Office add-in, which means we can now schedule Zoom meetings without having to go into the Zoom app.
The Cons (from my experience using in Melbourne, Australia):
- Have encountered Slow response sometimes when participants are joining from different geographical locations.
- The Free Version allows having a conference call for 40 minutes. Price could be an issue for the Paid Version.