Webinar is short hand for "web-based seminar." A webinar is a presentation or seminar that is presented over the Internet. This presentation can be a slideshow, a video presentation, or even listening to someone speak in real-time. They key is for the presentation to be conducted over the Internet.
A webinar requires the ability to be interactive. A webcast is the same thing as a webinar, except there is no way to interact with the person giving the information because a webcast is a one-way transmission. In a webinar, there is a way to get, send, and interact with the information.
Some webinars use technology that allows the instructor to poll the audience, then have the audience pick an answer option, with the results right on the screen, in real-time. These types of polls are most often used in webinars that present opinion information. Webinars that present scientific or factual information have the ability to ask audience members to solve problems and send the answers in. Then the information is displayed on the webinar screen for everyone to see and discuss. This type of interaction is unique to webinars, and helps simulate the actual experience of being in a seminar.
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A webinar is, essentially, a seminar taking place on the web rather than a physical location. When people ask, “What is a webinar?” they are really asking for more information on how webinars work, rather than for an actual definition. For people that have not grown up with the technology of webinars, the concept of a webinar can seem foreign. The best way to allow someone to see what a webinar is would be to show a “demonstration” webinar. There are many websites, including popular ones like YouTube, that have “demonstration” webinars on them.
Colleges and universities are leading the way in webinar development. While companies with multiple locations might still be considering webinars as a form of information dispersal, colleges and universities are using webinars to teach students. The unique format of webinars allows the professors to interact with the students. By having information displayed on a computer, using familiar technology, but still allowing for interaction, colleges are engaging students in more subjects. Webinars allow universities and colleges to teach more students per class because there is no limited seating.
Human resources departments are also utilizing webinars. Human resources departments use webinars to do everything from manager training to sexual harassment training. The interactive part of the webinar ensures that participants are paying attention and not simply logging into the webinar and then leaving; they have to pay attention so they can answer questions, quizzes and polls when asked to participate.
What is a webinar? What good is a webinar? Webinars are on the leading edge of technology used for instruction. While a webinar might not be suitable to teach some subjects (like Chemistry where there are experiments and hands-on learning), webinars are suitable to teach everything that can be learned in a book. Instead of placing students in a physical location and classroom, webinars allow students to access the seminar – the webinar – from whatever location they are in and have the same interactive experience as a classroom. Webinars are simply the new form of seminars.