Students Participate in a Live Webinar

Today I had the privilege of observing students view a live webinar.  Explore.org has a channel with information from people who are currently studying polar bears.  The experts did a live webinar and invited middle school and high school students to view their working environment and ask questions about polar bears and the climate.

At first the students were very excited to be a part of a live webinar, and were very excited to see the videos about polar bears.  As the webinar progressed, I began to wonder how is the better than watching a documentary about polar bears?  I sensed the students were also becoming bored with the presentation.

as soon as the experts started answering questions, the student once again became engaged and excited. There seemed to be a some competition to see if the experts would answer answer any of the questions from our classroom.  I was very pleased to see the students motivated to participate.

After the webinar was finished I was amazed to see how improved communications can change classroom activities.  Students were definitely more engaged than they would have been by reading a book.  They were more excited to be part of a "live" webinar.  The unintended outcome was the students' desire for fame may have been a road block to critical thinking.  The students seemed to be more in interested in getting their name and school announced than concerned about the quality of the questions they were asking, and exceptional opportunity they had to communicate with experts in the field.