This semester, I’m teaching an online graduate seminar on the digital humanities (see the course syllabus here!), and I’m requiring that my students meet with me once a week on video chat for a traditional seminar-style discussion. I generally use Google Hangouts and Skype Premium for free or inexpensive videoconferencing, but have been annoyed with the bugginess of both applications.
Wondering what else was out there, I turned to my social media hive mind to ask what other software people were using. I got the range of answers below.
- Adobe Connect. If your institution does not subscribe to this, this may be pricey ($55/month for an individual subscription).
- Blackboard Collaborate. Useful if you have an institutional subscription to this LMS. I’m not a fan of the blackboard interface, so I will not be using this.
- Conferences/Big Blue Button on Canvas Instructure. Even if your institution does not subscribe to Canvas, individual instructors can use it for free. I’ll be trying out this application this semester.
- Webex. Reviews I’ve heard—stable, but expensive and with a non-intuitive user interface. The monthly plan for 25 person meetings is $49 per host per month.
- OoVoo. Free. Allows for up to 12 people on a connection at one time. Reviews indicate it might be buggy in the same way that Google Hangouts and Skype premium are.
- GoToMeeting. Good reviews regarding stability, but expensive. $49 per host per month for 25 person meetings.
- Flashmeeting. A free research project run by the Open University, UK. You have to request access to it.
- Join.me. Free for up to 10 people, pay for a professional account for up to 250 people. Allows screen sharing, and for people to call in or connect online.
- Seevogh. Requires Java, Pay as You Go.
- Jitsi. Open source, cross platform.
- Empathy and Pidgin. Open source, only on Linux.
- Chatb.org. Open source, web-based.
Have you used any of these applications? Are there any we’ve left out? Let us know in the comments below.
[Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons]
