Most of us never would’ve thought a month ago that we would all be working remotely – or from our own kitchen table/patio/wherever we find ourselves working from these days. We’ve all had to adjust our lives to address our new work/learning environment.

While, currently, you are unable to physically visit the library or make use of your favorite study room, you can still have a virtual study room of your own with your study group with Webex – an online platform provided to you by GSU. It’s very similar to Zoom and it allows you to meet with people, virtually, and share your desktop, files, etc.

Learn more about hosting these virtual meetings at https://technology.gsu.edu/technology-services/it-services/collaboration-tools/webex/. You will have to log in with your CampusID and Password to be able to access WebEx. This link also provides the steps you can use to secure the WebEx session on Windows and Mac desktops. You can also download WebEx on your iOS or Android device. It’s very accessible!

WebEx even has a “personal room” that allows you to instantly meet and schedule meetings. You can start this personal room and allow people to pop in and out as they like. I think it’s a great option for a study group. Once all of your group members are in, you can even lock the meeting so no one else can intrude!

Once in a WebEx meeting, you can assign roles to people within the group. For example, you may want to designate someone as the note taker or maybe you want to pass the role to someone else to present. (We used to call this “passing the ball”.) You can present your screen to your peers!

Similar to Zoom, WebEx also allows the user to change or blur their background image. These options may differ depending on what type of device or desktop you use.

Check out these three short tutorials on using WebEx, each under 3 minutes, prepared by law IT: https://insidelaw.gsu.edu/technology/webex-related/! Included are tutorials on scheduling and launching WebEx meetings, as well as an audio tutorial. You can be up and ready to go with your study group session in just over two minutes.