Over the years I have taken part in, and hosted, a number of online talks, webinars and discussions. Until Covid-19 changed everything, I hadn’t given much thought to what I’ve actually learnt in terms of the process involved. Now that a couple of courses I signed up for have moved online, I find it interesting to observe the issues people have (and to discover new ones). Time permitting, I hope to write a few blog posts sharing my own (unfortunate) experiences when it comes to online discussions.

Familiarise yourself with the technology

Years ago there was a statistic bandied around to the effect that 99% of road accidents are caused by drivers rather than mechanical failure. I’m sure the same applies to technology. Most of the time, when things go wrong for me, it’s because of something I’ve done, or haven’t done.

Now having said that, I do believe there are some instances where the tech companies themselves are to blame. Specifically, the following:

First, why the continual need for so-called “upgrades” or “improvements”. Most are, in my experience, unnecessary, and it makes me very cynical. (George Bernard Shaw said that given a choice between an amiable view of things and a cynical one, the cynical is more likely to be true. I agree.)

Are the upgrades designed to encourage people to buy a new version that they don’t need? Are they designed to increase the demand for the company’s training offers? Do they have deals with special consultants all over the place?

Secondly, why do they have this thing about changing the interface every so often? Do they have a committee of people who meet weekly to decide what inane changes they can make this time?

This sort of thing makes it even more important for teachers and students in online classes to spend some time getting to know the technology they will be using — even if they think it won’t be a problem for them.

I’ve made two mistakes in this area, one quite recently. The first was when I invited someone to be interviewed by me online. As I’m fairly technically proficient I gave the software a cursory glance and left it at that. Unfortunately, the application was more complicated than I gave it debit for, and had a couple of “features” that made it completely unintuitive to use. Needless to say, the session (which fortunately didn’t have a live audience) was a farce.

The second mistake was not considering that an application I had not used for a few years had not been improved. Well, it had, and this was an improvement: the ability to record sessions. Had I found out sooner, I could have recorded a session that I was in but not in, because I was having to deal with a family medical crisis at the time. I realise, however, that there would have been an issue of obtaining the other participants’ permission, but the point is well-made I think.

In both of these cases, my lack of familiarity with the product I was using led to missed opportunities.

You have been warned.