A powerful virtual classroom: Adobe Connect 8

November 11, 2010

I’m always cognizant of what Ellen Wagner (formerly with Adobe) said while writing about web conferencing technologies around the time Blackboard bought Wimba and Elluminate and combined them to create Blackboard Collaborate (for edu-types, I’ll insert the ‘muwhahahaha’ just for you). Ellen said, “let’s be very clear. Adobe in not an elearning company. It is a software company.”

This might be why you’re likely to see more reviews of Adobe Connect 8 for web conferencing/meetings than for its use as a virtual classroom. While Adobe is one of the largest software companies in the world and, while they do have a large share of the virtual classroom market, it is my experience that they’re not the first response you’ll hear when asking corporate L&D folks which virtual classroom they use. I think Cisco/WebEx has that honor. (I’ve always thought of WebEx as a borderline verb in the corporate sector, i.e. “doing a webex” or “let’s do a webex.”) My point is, Adobe Connect 8 should be seen as a powerhouse virtual classroom.

Adobe, of course, is no stranger to corporate e-learning. If you’re creating online learning I am willing to bet you own Captivate or perhaps Presenter and use them to create solutions we know as “rapid e-learning.”

Among corporations, the virtual classroom market is huge both in adoption and size. Research from Bersin & Associates indicates virtual classrooms are the most widely adopted learning technology in corporations (use increased from 45% in 2008 to 60% in 2009 Bersin notes). The giant umbrella that covers the market is huge. Frost & Sullivan forecasts the “web collaboration” (web conferencing services and software, web events, remote support) will reach $4.5 billion by 2014. And that number probably doesn’t include all uses (like the VC). Not chump change.

I attended a demo with a colleague on October 26. The video conferencing integration blew me away. The interface was ‘just right, just enough’ and I didn’t feel the 5 seconds of panic I normally feel when one hands the presenter controls to you. My colleague said, ‘this seems light years ahead…’ and I couldn’t agree more. I believe it will further cut into the amount of training hours we do in the face-to-face physical classroom. When we used video conferencing to join a room in India, I was just thinking wow, no more crowding around the old TV on a cart in the conference room.

I need to play with it myself (vs demo) before writing up a proper review (if you want to try it, here’s the link to a free trial). Meantime, here’s a edu review from Christopher Dawson, ZDNet, Adobe Connect 8 s the cure for wall-o’-laptop woes and distance ed and one from the Journal (also edu-focused), Adobe Connect 8 Improves Accessibility, Expands Collaborative Tools.

Also interesting to note…Vidyo has a “personal telepresence” plug-in using Adobe Connect 8 Collaboration Builder SDK. Yowsa!

Adobe is in the software business. We’re in the training business. We should all be happy about that.

(The screen prints below are the standard ones Adobe sent at release.)

Interface designCollaboration SDKVideo conferencing integrationMobile app
(I receive nothing for writing this post)

Tagged as: ,

  • http://cogdogblog.com/ Alan Levine

    Our organization has used Connect several years for webinars, demos, online conferences. It looks like the big difference is that the column of stuff that used to be on the left is now on the right ;-) I am hoping that they have given more thought to collaboration and not just leader led sessions- we have had disasters using shared whiteboard because it gives full access to everyone (we had people erasing the entire board by mistake), and some simple obvious things like the audio player having a volume control a moderator can control. Better chat functions will be nice.

    Connect has already a clean interface and am eager to see what’s new in version 8.

  • Reena Lederman

    I am with Alan on the clean interface – it far easier on the eyes than some other options. Thanks Janet for sharing this! Our campus contracted with Elluminate on our own last year and it worked quite well for our faculty, but now that SUNY, as a system, as adopted it, the implementation issues are making use difficult. Every time I have participated in an Adobe Connect session it has been very smooth. EDUCAUSE used it recently for their Fall ELI Hybrid 2-day conference and even used break out rooms. Very nicely done. The reason I didn’t consider Adobe was connectivity in our region (as you know) – some students are still on dial-up or satellite. Elluminate has a “catch-up” feature that kicks in when the person’s connection slows down.

    Wherever I end up after SUNYIT, I would like to look at Adobe Connect! Lastly, now that Blackboard has bought both Elluminate and Wimba things will change, but how?

  • Scorpion_9669

    Salam
    I want tested ver 7.5 of this program
    Who’s the download link version of Adobe connect 7.5?
    thanks

  • http://cogdogblog.com/ Alan Levine

    @Reena – Connect is supposed to do things behind the scenes if the users connection gets weaker; like lowering the graphics quality and supposedly making audio the priority. You can set the room quality to be for dialup if that is the primary audience. There are so many factors in the network between where the content is streamed and where it is listened to, and most of that is beyond your control.

    It does not always do the squirrel voice speedup that Elluminate does, but you here some clipped sound like scrubbing an audio editor quick.

    Connect has gotten a lot more stable in the last year- we get almost no complaints on audio like we struggled with before, but also have made some considerations for our setup- rarely use video for one thing (I wrote up my recipe http://cogdogblog.com/2010/12/09/adobe-connect-recipe/).

    But the tech is only part of it, there’s a lot to be said for being deft with the coordination of a program and using its affordances well… and always learning.

  • quickprez

    Hi

    Be sure to check http://quickprez.com a new conference tool on the web.

    free and easy

  • Jandy whitcraft

    FYI: I had a scheduled Adobe Connect 8 class tonight with about 70 guests. author is UMBC training centers. the product crashed and the class had to be canceled.

  • http://janetclarey.com/ jclarey

     I can’t think of any software that hasn’t crashed. Just sayin.

Previous post:

Next post: