They are advantageous in that they save travelling expenses and can be presented from anywhere. The disadvantage is the lack of direct interaction with networks of your area of specialization or related fields. I actually prefer them and hope they would reduce the high cost of conferences around the world

International conferences, symposiums, etc. are made to have face-to-face meetings and actual on-the-spot presentations and discussions. Other than that, it would not fulfill the purpose. However, due to the current COVID-19 exceptional circumstances, online meetings and conferences can be a temporary solution.. better than nothing.

It will definitely not give the full experience of the conference. However, an added advantage would be the travelling cost.

International conferences are going virtual, thanks to the travel restrictions imposed due to the Covid pandemc. This platform has advantages as well as disadvantages. The advantages to begin with is prevention of spread and transmission of SARSCoV-2. The time, resources and energy in organising a conference can be minimised due to the conference now being virtual. This allows more participants as the registration costs may be lowered thus enabling more keenly interested people to be able to register at more affordable rates. The airfare, travel and stay charges being waived off is a great cost saver. The Pandemic has forced us to downsize and minimise and look at options to conduct learning in a brand new way. Possibly this shall become the new norm.

But the flip side and the downside of this is of course not being able to attend a real conference. Since it does not provide an opportunity of interacting with researchers as a conference would generally do, it may not achieve the desired level of interaction. These are my views which I thought I would share with you.

Joan Nyika , Dr-Ahmed M. Al-Baidhani د. احمد البيضاني , Eranga Harshani Silva , and Mahima Lall thanks all for your reply :)

Marcelino Lunag Jr you welcome

Dear Marcelino Lunag Jr, virtual presentations are unavoidable in current corona times. However, they can never be a fully adequate replacement of International Conferences. These give you the chance to meet famous researchers in your field in person, present your work to them directly and get new ideas (+ do some sightseeing...😂).

advantages would be control of spread COVID, cost, and stay arrangement. But the disadvantages are many more-direct interactions, widened horizon and understanding by meeting experts from around the world, new research ideas generation will suffer.

Distant learning may be an option and possible for other educational fields and conferences or symposia but it has been a dilemma for senior medical students as they would needs face-to-face contacts with patients:

1. Article Medical Student Education in the Time of COVID-19

2. Article Perceptions of students regarding E-learning during Covid-19...

Rather than focusing on disadvantages if we embrace the new normal (i.e. virtual conferences) we can consider how to improve our experiences.

Dear Marcelino Lunag Jr, thanks for initiating this valuable discussion. I agree with Rajkumar Rajendram in that we should currently focus on improving our experiences with virtual conferences. For the future I hope that "real" international conferences will not be completely replaced by virtual ones.

Advantages of virtual presentation: easy, from your country, faster,

Disadvantage: when internet cut off.

Dear sir Frank T. Edelmann , your welcome. thank you also sir.

Advantages - Researchers can participate in the conference (Even it is organized in a foreign country) by staying at his/her own house. In other words 'the boundary does not matter'. Therefore researchers do not need to spend money on air travel and accommodation.

Disadvantage - When a researcher participate in a foreign conference he/she can experience a different culture during his/her stay. That can be another learning experience.

Video conferences differ significantly in organization from conferences organized traditionally, stationary and also have their advantages and disadvantages. Advantages and disadvantages relate to issues of communication, social, economic, technological etc. Scientific conferences are an important factor in the development of science and exchange of experience from scientific research, the possibility of presenting the results of research, conducting discussions and creating international research teams. Unfortunately, however, due to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic (causing Covid-19 disease), the possibility of organizing scientific conferences and trips to international conferences has been significantly reduced or a temporary ban on organizing them in traditional form has been introduced in many countries. In this situation, ICT and Internet information technologies can be particularly helpful now, thanks to which they can carry out videoconferences in a specific, but usually limited scope, i.e. remote conferences via the Internet through the use of specific, available applications and websites. And so traditionally previously held scientific conferences are now being replaced by videoconferences and webinars as well as other forms of remote communication using web portals and computing cloud computing technologies and the Internet of Things. However, remote communication does not completely replace direct communication. When the pandemic ends, conferences will be held in stationary, traditional and remote form via the Internet, in the form of video conferencing. Perhaps the share of conferences organized dually at the same time in a stationary, traditional form and through online media, opinions with the possibility of participation and debates and discussions also via the Internet will increase. Currently, due to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 pandemic causing Covid-19 disease, conferences are organized in some countries via the Internet, in the form of remote, video conferencing through the use of Internet communicators enabling simultaneous remote discussion by many participants of a specific meeting. Videoconferences do not fully replace traditional, stationary conferences, however, when it is not possible to organize and conduct conferences in a traditional form, then online videoconferences can be a good substitute. Videoconferences have their pros and cons. The advantage can be a significant reduction in the cost of organizing online video conferencing. The downside is the inability to talk to the speakers, conference participants in person without using technology. It is to be hoped that the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus pandemic will end soon, the scale of new infections will decrease and then scientific conferences will also be possible in traditional, stationary form.

Greetings,

Dariusz Prokopowicz

Sounds good but it has n number of limitations and problems from the connectivity to interactions. As a faculty I am facing numerous challenges with online education everyday. I personally prefer the conference or seminar instead of webinar.

Thank you very much Dr. Zeashan H. Khan , Anuradha Iddagoda , Dariusz Prokopowicz , Agnishwar Girigoswami .

Save travel costs but Physical absence

It's easier to attend from anywhere in any situation but discussion and sharing might get less importance in that case.

The advantages and disadvantages of Virtual Presentations in International Conferences .

1)You can cover maximum subject matter with in short time

2)You can present diagrams, figures,Condensed data tables effectively

3) Subject knowledge is made impressive in short time .

Disadvantages:

In short time one may not be able to remember data.

Personally, I would soon get tired when attending a virtual conference... I hope thus will not become the international standard in after-corona times.

By considering it as the only solution that is available for most 2020 conferences, it has many advantages such as participating in many conferences from home. However, scientific networking will be highly less comparing with not virtual conferences.

Thank you Dr. Bayan Khalaf for your participation :)

Dear Hermann Gruenwald yes! In fact, I'm wondering why the registration fees for virtual conferences are not significantly lower, e.g. $ 50 instead of $ 250? What are the actual cost which the organizers have?

Dear Hermann Gruenwald I think so, too. At some stage, virtual conferences could even be free for PhD students.

Advantages- 1. Save time 2. Reduce pressure

Disadvantages- 1. Miss a new researcher with meet 2. Miss high-quality presentation

Thank you.

Advantages: Save time and resources. Possibility to participate at more conferences.

Disadvantages: the missing to meet with researchers from research area. Miss direct interaction and visiting of a new places.