Last week, I used WizIQ to interact with some old students of mine and provide “distance tutoring.” Despite a few technical problems (more on those later), it became completely clear to me that tools like WizIQ are going to become indispensable tools for the classroom, extended day learning, college lecture halls, and, of course, distance education.
While many such tools exist, WizIQ and Adobe Connect 8 have unique value propositions and particularly compelling features. They both also happen to be largely powered by Flash, making an apples to apples comparison possible. To that end, I put them head to head and over the next few pages will present the pros and cons of each, with the hopes of helping schools and educators make an informed decision about the prospects and potential of two very powerful e-learning environments.
Some of you may be already deeply immersed in e-learning; others may not have even considered something like Connect or Elluminate for use in your school. Use the table of contents below to jump to pages and sections that are most relevant to you, your interests, and your needs. Also, check out the gallery to see more shots of WizIQ and Connect 8 in action.
Table of Contents
- Overview: The e-learning “platform”
- The Underdog: WizIQ
- Can you say ecosystem? Adobe can
- The verdict
Overview: The e-learning “platform”
Before I dive into two impressive examples of e-learning platforms, it’s probably worth a few words about the idea of a “platform” and the competitive space for schools looking to make even early forays into web-enhanced learning environments.
WizIQ and Connect are only two of a handful of web-based instructional delivery systems. Others include:
E-learning platforms also include Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Moodle, Sakai, and Blackboard, but for our purposes, we’ll focus on applications that support a true virtual classroom environment with synchronous communication tools. Video conferencing, shared whiteboards, shared desktops, real-time chat, real-time collaboration, presenter control, etc., all characterize the sorts of e-learning platforms with which this article is concerned. In fact, many such systems actually integrate with an LMS as a back end to create robust course offerings either fully online or simply accessible anytime, anywhere (including in a physical classroom).
Next: The Underdog: WizIQ »
humm ! Like 5 times you have blogged about education , 12 pages , an only 5 replies minus mine. Even Paul Murphys political crap Things are looking up! got almost 200 comments. "laughs " Just messing with you , you are a great writer. With a good head for important issues.I mentioned in the other blog of yours, The virtual classroom comes of age, that years ago i was exploring with virtual classrooms and ironically with the same results.Geesh let me help prime this topic 
, So if Jesus was in school an wanted to re- register as a Democrat :)) would Adobe Connect 8 or WizIQ be the best e-learning platform ? 
If you could have thrown in an Apple-vs.-Linux reference, that would have been great!
