Well, I'm going to share my impressions of it as an educational tool.

I think the layout of how things are presented depends on the teacher. I am not able to alter the places where the cameras or the PowerPoint presentation are shown. The teacher is assisted by another person - a tutor - who decides when people are able to claim the camera and the microphone and share their views.

It is possible for the teacher to show the presentation, use pointers (orange arrows controled by his own mouse), and I've seen the tutor write in a kind of notepad, and we can actually see her typing. Besides, we can vote on polls and write in a chat-like space. In the begining everyone could write at anytime, but that quickly became a mess. So the tutor decided to moderate the chat - only questions she approves are shown to everyone.

Also, the classes are recorded and can be watched again at anytime. There are events that mark specific points of the class, so we can jump to it. I really don't know if they are in synchrony with the PowerPoint, but it seems so.

I am really impressed by the tool. The quality of the sound is very good. The image is what you would expect of a webcam hehe, but I think it is quite enough. Of course, the way the teacher and the tutor conduct the classes is a big part of it's success.


Just for the record, the course is an Post-graduate course, what we call here in Brazil Lato-Sensu. It is a 370h course, and has four modules. The teachers are, most of them, well-known professionals from the market in Brazil. They hold usually one or two 4h-long classes, give us assignments that must be handed out through the course site. There is also a on-line forum for discussions and a repository for the material. The students are gathered in groups of 5-20 people, in more than 17 cities, and are assisted by a local coordinator.

The website of the course is www.igroup.com.br/mba/, but sadly there isn't an English version of it.

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Maíra