Virtual Conferencing
Positives and negatives of virtual conferencing
Pros
- It saves money and time – you do not have to travel to see the person you want to talk to. This is especially helpful when you are talking to people overseas or not near you because you do not have spend as much time and money in order to communicate with them. It probably allows you to communicate with them when you otherwise wouldn't have been able to.
- You can meet all sorts of new people everywhere, and chat with them.
- You are able to go back and listen to past conversations on some virtual conferencing devices.
- Virtual conferencing is useful for businesses as you can talk to other companies without having to take time off work. This will reduce the amount of work you need to catch up on.
- Virtual conferencing can reduce the pressure of public speaking which can be very stressful for some people.
- It can be useful for teachers if they are not with their class but they need to talk to them or teach them something.
- Virtual conferencing can be useful for students who are travelling overseas as they can virtual conference teachers and keep up with class work.
Cons
- When you are virtual conferencing it does not have the same effect as face-to-face interaction with someone. You do not have proper eye contact and cannot see body language which can emphasise, or provide clarity, to what you are saying. You therefore can not tell if the audience is engaged in what you are talking about, or how they are reacting to you and what you are saying.
- You have to have all of the equipment required if you want to virtual conference with someone, and even then, there can be technical difficulties and therefore many unexpected interruptions.
- When you are virtual conferencing it is very easy to become distracted and you often start to do off task things. This way of working does require that you are motivated and disciplined.