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Tips on Using AppShare like a Pro in Wimba Live Classroom

Jennifer Thies

Senior Instructional Support Specialist

Center for Support of Instruction

Published: November-December 2009

Category: » Tech-skills-software » Synchronous-communication-software

The Application Share (AppShare) feature of Wimba Live Classroom is a great resource for showing processes to your students or participants. It is invaluable for demonstrating step-by-step instructions on a variety of programs from Excel and Word to online applications like WebTycho, etc. Unfortunately, it can prove challenging to master smooth application sharing without practice. Here are some tips to improve how you use AppShare.

• Share a screen area instead of a window or entire desktop. By showing a smaller area, you share only what you need to and hide unimportant items in the already condensed screen real estate. You can resize the screen area by clicking and dragging the outlined box to whatever size you need.
  
  
• Pre-load the applications you wish to show before beginning your Live Classroom session. It can be helpful to place these windows in the upper-left corner of the screen and resize them so that they are not fully expanded. This step will also save time during the presentation by not having to wait through loading times for those windows you want to share.
  
  
• Size the AppShare screen area you wish to show so that it fits inside the Content Area of your Live Classroom. This will enable you to see the text chat and participant frames of the Live Classroom as you are sharing and let you answer any text questions via audio during the share. It will also limit the need for your students to scroll in their content area to see what portion of the shared screen you are discussing.
  
  
  
  
• Limit your scrolling while sharing content. Many computer users have developed the habit of constantly scrolling up and down, but in AppShare this moves the screen being shared as well, and it can prove distracting to those on the participant end. It is best to mentally map out what elements on a screen you wish to show to deliberately scroll only to needed parts of the screen when necessary.
  
  
• If you have two computers at your disposal, use them. Having a second computer up and logged in to the Live Classroom as a participant enables you to view what the participants see. This can help with screen area placement and make the most use of your practice time. 

These few tips should help you master the AppShare feature in Live Classroom. Once you are comfortable with the process, it is easy to use it for demonstrating software applications and showing your students the steps in a process.