The internet and the World Wide Web connect people all over the world. Social networks serve as meeting points for public and private exchanges with friends, family, and ac­quaint­ances, but also with strangers. Most of the in­form­a­tion online is free and available to everyone. Online shops and sales platforms such as Amazon and eBay make it possible to shop directly from home. It is also easy to share media content such as images, music, and videos: you can listen to music on your smart­phone while on the go, share songs and images with other users, and share live streaming ex­per­i­ences with others.

A popular format that also makes use of the web and internet’s pos­sib­il­it­ies and is used in many in­dus­tries for present­a­tion purposes is the so-called webinar.

What is a webinar?

The term 'webinar' is the am­al­gam­a­tion of the two words 'web' and 'seminar'. The term describes the online trans­mis­sion of seminars, present­a­tions, or similar content using video tech­no­logy. In contrast to a webcast where in­form­a­tion is presented on demand and only trans­mit­ted in one direction, a webinar is in­ter­act­ive and therefore allows two-way com­mu­nic­a­tion between the organiser and the other par­ti­cipants.

Defin­i­tion Webinar

A webinar is an online present­a­tion that is broadcast over the internet in real time using video tech­no­logy. The exchange between speaker and par­ti­cipants usually takes place via webcam and mi­cro­phone (VoIP). The term is composed of the two words 'web' (from world wide web) and 'seminar'.

Webinars usually take place in real time, but re­cord­ings are sometimes used. In both cases, a specific start and end time is given in advance. The organiser has the pos­sib­il­ity to present material (media content, present­a­tion slides, own screen, etc.) and to talk to the par­ti­cipants using VoIP (voice over IP). Thanks to net­work­ing via the internet, the speaker and par­ti­cipants do not have to be in the same place – all they need is an internet con­nec­tion and the re­spect­ive access data. If the organiser grants a par­ti­cipant speaking rights, they can speak directly to others during the event. Other in­ter­act­ive pos­sib­il­it­ies with webinars (also known as online seminars, web con­fer­ences, live webcasts, or web in­ter­views) include chats, surveys, file sharing, or down­load­ing.

How does a webinar work?

Before an online seminar can take place, the speaker must first set up an ap­point­ment and inform the desired par­ti­cipants about it. Usually the number of par­ti­cipants is limited, so people that want to take part in the webinar must register. The provider then sends a con­firm­a­tion e-mail to all selected users, which contains further in­struc­tions along with the necessary login data and/or access link. It is also common practice to send a reminder message just before the web con­fer­ence starts. When the webinar begins, par­ti­cipants connect to the web con­fer­ence room, which requires a standard internet browser. In rare cases, however, it may also be necessary to install a specific client ap­plic­a­tion and use it for the webinar session.

Note

Con­nect­ing to a webinar is usually only possible for a limited period. Usually, access is stopped ap­prox­im­ately five to ten minutes after an online seminar has begun. Therefore, if you register for a lecture and only start the login procedure after the deadline has expired, you won’t be able to take part. Just like in real life – it’s important to be punctual!

Once you’re connected to the webinar room, you can follow the live broadcast. Typically, you can switch between several windows that present different contents or perform different functions. Normally, there’s the main image, which shows present­a­tion slides or the speaker’s screen for example, and there’s also a slightly smaller window in which the speaker can be seen live. Ad­di­tion­al windows may include a list of attendees, a chat feature, or allow access to shared files. If it is a recording, live stream and com­mu­nic­a­tion elements are obviously not part of the webinar.

Image: Screenshot of a webinar
Example of how a webinar could look. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Online_Am­bas­sad­or_Ori­ent­a­tion_(Webinar).png

In principle, par­ti­cip­a­tion in an online seminar with all internet-enabled devices is possible. Suf­fi­cient bandwidth is required due to the large amount of video and image content. However, mobile devices such as smart­phones or tablets may not be supported, requiring the use of a desktop computer instead. As already mentioned, the con­nec­tion is es­tab­lished via standard web browser or special client software, which in this case has to be iden­ti­fied and provided by the organiser. It ad­min­is­trates the data transfer and webinar using the ap­pro­pri­ate ap­plic­a­tion.

The technical re­quire­ments for webinar par­ti­cip­a­tion

In principle, par­ti­cip­a­tion in an online seminar with all internet-enabled devices is possible. Suf­fi­cient bandwidth is required due to the large amount of video and image content. However, mobile devices such as smart­phones or tablets may not be supported, requiring the use of a desktop computer instead. As already mentioned, the con­nec­tion is es­tab­lished via standard web browser or special client software, which in this case has to be iden­ti­fied and provided by the organiser. It ad­min­is­trates the data transfer and webinar using the ap­pro­pri­ate ap­plic­a­tion.

Tip

If you can’t log in to a browser-based webinar due to the browser being used, this may be because the installed version is not up to date. In this case, it should be updated first. There is also the pos­sib­il­ity that this internet browser isn’t supported, which means you will have to choose an al­tern­at­ive – at least to attend the webinar.

To be able to follow the webinar, par­ti­cipants usually only need speakers or a headset for audio playback. If you want to com­mu­nic­ate directly with the speaker and other par­ti­cipants, you also need a mi­cro­phone or webcam. In some cases, however, it is possible to dial in via telephone and listen to the present­a­tion this way.

Note

If you want to create a webinar yourself, you will find special webinar software on the Internet. In many cases these can also be tested free of charge.

The features of online seminars at a glance

In summary, the following features make online con­fer­ences in­ter­est­ing for or­gan­isers and par­ti­cipants:

  • Real-time audio com­mu­nic­a­tion via VoIP
  • Text com­mu­nic­a­tion via chat
  • Un­com­plic­ated present­a­tion of slideshows or screen content
  • Video streaming
  • Sharing and down­load­ing of ad­di­tion­al material
  • Practical pos­sib­il­ity of recording complete lectures and sharing or viewing them af­ter­wards 
  • Creating and making surveys or quizzes available

Webinar: ad­vant­ages and dis­ad­vant­ages

Even if the contents could the­or­et­ic­ally be the same, online seminars differ from con­ven­tion­al face-to-face seminars. They offer some ad­vant­ages compared to classical lectures, but they also come with some dis­ad­vant­ages: the webinar format scores par­tic­u­larly well when it comes to not being dependent on a certain location. This saves time and money for both the speaker and the par­ti­cipants, since they don’t need to travel to the seminar location. Depending on the context of the webinar, anonymous par­ti­cip­a­tion is possible in many cases since you only have to enter a valid e-mail address.

On the other hand, you’re much more dependent on tech­no­logy, which isn’t always so reliable. If the par­ti­cipant’s device is broken or the internet con­nec­tion isn’t working properly, they can’t take part. If the technical problems are on the organiser’s side, the webinar might have to be cancelled or at least postponed.

The following table sum­mar­ises the ad­vant­ages and dis­ad­vant­ages of webinars:

Webinar ā€“ AdĀ­vantĀ­ages Webinar ā€“ DisĀ­adĀ­vantĀ­ages
Saves costs through no longer having to travel to and from the hotel, overnight stay, room booking, etc. Technical problems can lead to the event being cancelled, or prevent parĀ­tiĀ­cipants from joining in
Simple and automated reĀ­gisĀ­traĀ­tion The parĀ­tiĀ­cipantsā€™ mood and moĀ­tivĀ­aĀ­tion is difficult for the speaker to determine
Easy to exchange inĀ­formĀ­aĀ­tion before, during, and after the event ParĀ­tiĀ­cipants could easily be disĀ­tracĀ­ted i.e. due to their surĀ­roundĀ­ings, or because they know they arenā€™t being watched
Anonymous parĀ­tiĀ­cipĀ­aĀ­tion is possible InĀ­terĀ­acĀ­tion between speaker and parĀ­tiĀ­cipant is often reduced to a minimum
In theory, there is no limit to the number of parĀ­tiĀ­cipants (in practice, the maximum number of parĀ­tiĀ­cipants depends on the technical conĀ­diĀ­tions) Time frame is almost always binding ā€“ sometimes it isnā€™t possible to log in later.
Ability to share or download adĀ­diĀ­tionĀ­al digital material at any time during the webinar (non-binding)
Easy to evaluate and store presented content

In which areas are online seminars useful?

If you look at it one way, webinars do not differ in any way from classical face-to-face seminars: both formats offer a good framework for sharing teaching content with a large number of people within a very short period of time. It is therefore hardly sur­pris­ing that online seminars play an important role in e-learning. Uni­ver­sit­ies and language schools offer webinars in a wide variety of subject areas, making it a lot easier for teachers and students alike. Online seminars and lectures provide the perfect basis for suc­cess­ful studies, es­pe­cially in distance learning courses. However, teaching and learning via the internet is not the only ap­plic­a­tion scenario where the ad­vant­ages of webinars come into their own. The online present­a­tion format also demon­strates its strengths in the following areas:

  • Present­a­tion of products
  • Press con­fer­ences
  • Meetings
  • Online in­ter­views with multiple people
  • Software training courses
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