Vokle is a free service for hosting and recording live web conferences. Using Vokle you can host a live conference in which participants can chat with text while you broadcast yourself. You can also broadcast a conversation of yourself and another person who has their webcam enabled. The text chat room can be used to organize a line-up of people who would like to broadcast themselves to the other chat participants. Watch the video below to learn more.

Thanks to Kristen Swanson for telling me about Vokle. By the way, make sure you check out her blog and wiki, they’re both packed with useful information.

Applications for Education
In testing Vokle and by watching recorded Vokle sessions I realized that the real utility of the service would be to host an interview with someone while using the chat area as back-channel for questions. I can see Vokle being used in a classroom to bring in an author, scientist, or other person of interest to your content area. You could conduct the interview and use the chat area for students to ask questions and exchange comments.

Update: Watch an interview with Vokle’s Chief Marketing Officer.

Here are some related resources that may be of interest to you:
Connecting Classrooms Through VoiceThread
Present.io – Free Web Conferencing from Drop.io
Wetoku – Conduct and Share Video Interviews