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What is virtual classroom learning?
A virtual classroom is an Internet-based learning environment that enables real-time interaction between the tutor and the students while engaging in learning activities.
Simply put, a virtual classroom is a shared online space where learners and tutors can collaborate simultaneously. Videoconferencing is commonly used for these interactions. Participants are provided with tools to present learning content in various formats and engage in individual and collaborative activities. The teacher serves as a moderator in this interaction, guiding the learning process and supporting group activities and discussions.
The most commonly used tools found in a virtual classroom are as follows:
- Video conferencing
- Instant messaging tool
- Breakout rooms
- Participation controls
- An online whiteboard that allows for real-time collaboration.
Synchronous virtual classrooms can significantly improve online learning by addressing learners’ social interaction and psychological safety needs. They can also establish a new learning standard that goes beyond traditional teaching methods and the classroom’s physical space.
The virtual classroom provides numerous opportunities, especially when combined with self-study platforms (learning management systems) or when used in tandem with traditional classroom learning activities. As against asynchronous learning environments, the synchronous virtual classroom gives direct teacher-student interaction, immediate feedback, and engaging activities to increase motivation and active participation. Immediate communication fosters group bonding and a sense of community.
Despite the fact that teaching and learning in a virtual classroom provides a similar experience to that of a physical classroom, it requires innovative learning initiatives and a revamp of the instructional model, which comprises the following features:
- Instruction focused on the student
Because the emphasis is on the content and students must work individually with little collaboration, the lecture, a traditional teaching format, often makes students more passive. This method is better suited to asynchronous virtual teaching, where the teacher sets up video lectures and self-directed activities for students to finish at their own pace. Synchronous virtual classes preclude student-centered instruction in which tutors and learners interact equally – active participation, collaborative work, and communication are encouraged in this type of classroom. The tutor provides independent and collaborative learning opportunities and guides students in developing and practicing the necessary skills. This boosts the learners’ motivation and interest in the learning activities.
- Collaborative Learning
When students work together to achieve a common goal, share ideas, solve problems, or clarify the meaning of concepts, they are engaging in collaborative learning. It opens up opportunities for collaboration in skills development. The emphasis is on interaction, in which common understandings are addressed and precisely developed by investigating differences in the participants’ levels of skills, knowledge, and positions. This approach is linked with an active process of collective knowledge construction when used in a virtual classroom. The group acts as an information source, a source of inspiration, and mutual support.
- A Wide Range of Learning Activities and Content Presentations
This method is similar to segmented instruction in that it takes into account differences in learners’ needs, levels, and learning styles. It encourages the creation of a more personalized learning experience as well as individual success. When a tutor utilizes different sources to present content – text, diagrams, images, video, audio, and so on – it can greatly improve the learning process by providing a flexible learning experience tailored to the students’ diverse needs and preferences. Presenting the content in a variety of media formats maintains the learners’ attention and interest.
What is an example of a virtual classroom?
You are only one click away from your learners’ learning alongside their colleagues from anywhere in the world. With good quality, real-time audio and video, and suites of collaborative tools that can help you transform distracted audiences into more active learners, virtual classroom platforms will offer an opportunity to keep everyone focused and engaged.
When you have a clear understanding of what you need and want, it is easier to peruse these platforms and others with a consistent perspective. We must remember that the finest virtual classroom software for online teaching will not only provide you with a consistent, dependable experience 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but it will also delight your learners and facilitators. Learning is intended to be engaging and enjoyable, as well as collaborative and interactive. Picking the right virtual classroom software for your organization will allow you to transfer knowledge to your learners and achieve better results more effectively.
Common virtual classroom software
Vedamo
Vedamo is an online tutoring-focused virtual classroom platform and learning management system. The virtual classroom is browser-based, so there is no need to download anything to participate. You can even try out a demo virtual classroom without registering for an account. An online whiteboard, screen sharing, breakout rooms, and media sharing are examples of collaborative tools. Vedamo is also compatible with the Google for Education, Canvas, Moodle, and Schoology LMSs.
Adobe Connect
If you’ve been working in the virtual classroom software space for a while, you’ve undoubtedly come across Adobe Connect. Adobe Connect was the industry standard for virtual classroom software, gaining a lot of traction early on in the higher education sector. Today’s web-based version still necessitates Flash. However, there is a client download version that does not. A content management system, an interactive whiteboard, cloud recording, quick polls, and various modules and layouts for a highly customizable classroom are among the features.
Newrow Smart
Newrow is designed specifically for online teaching – virtual classroom software is at its heart! Through an entirely branded portal, you can develop online courses and interact with your participants in virtual classes and webinars. Virtual classes are entirely web-based – no Flash, no downloads, no installations – and include collaborative tools such as a virtual whiteboard, a content management system for sharing presentations and videos, cloud recording, screen sharing, breakout rooms, live quizzes, real-time notes, and more. Newrow adheres to LTI specifications and integrates easily into all major LMSs. It is definitely worth a look.
How do you teach a virtual classroom?
The demand for virtual classes is skyrocketing and expected to continue. More students want to have access to learning that is tailored to their specific needs. The Internet has democratized learning, and there has never been a better time for people to enroll in online courses, improve their skills, and obtain qualifications.
One of the most important side effects of this democratization of learning is that it is no longer just young people who want to learn new skills. Individuals of all ages are now enrolling in online courses. This new age distinction has had a significant impact on the practicalities of offering online courses.
A greater proportion of older students will have additional responsibilities, such as full-time or part-time jobs and families to support. This means that training courses must become more adaptable to accommodate their students’ existing responsibilities while ensuring that success is still possible.
Technology has greatly aided in this endeavor. Many educational institutions and training providers have invested in a learning platform, such as a learning management system (LMS) or a learning content management system (LCMS), to provide high-quality online courses, many of which are taught in a virtual classroom.
What is the best way to teach virtual classes on a learning platform?
Invest in the appropriate digital tools
Your organization will need to invest in some crucial pieces of technology to expedite a successful online course. Learning management systems and learning content management systems are software packages that will provide your organization with a critical platform to give your online classes.
There is one critical point to remember here: the LMS or LCMS platform you decide to invest in should include a virtual classroom. Virtual classrooms provide you and your students with digital learning space to give live classes to students that can be broadcast directly to whatever tech device they are using, whether it is a tablet, laptop, or smartphone.
Recognize the full scope of your learning platform’s capabilities
You will be able to teach integrated live classrooms that are compatible with Skype or Telephony if you use high-quality virtual classroom software. The virtual whiteboard is likely to be the most useful feature for both tutors and students. This virtual classroom feature allows you to quickly, easily, and efficiently share documents, videos, and exercises. The virtual whiteboard also provides an excellent opportunity for tutors to incorporate additional learning resources, as it can be used to share any application that your students may find useful.
Classes can also be recorded using virtual classrooms. This means that any students who cannot access the virtual classroom during the class will be brought up to speed later.
How does a virtual classroom work?
While you may be new to distance learning, you’ll quickly realize it’s not as mysterious as you first thought. Online classes are generally a combination of live lectures or video recordings and readings and tests that students can undertake on their own time. However, nothing about education in this age is typical, as the pandemic has forced a sudden shift to online learning with very little time to prepare.
How is an online classroom typically structured?
According to experts, the structure of an online classroom varies. However, most online students log in regularly to a learning management system. On this virtual platform, they can view the curriculum and grades, communicate with professors, classmates, and support services, access course materials, and track their lessons’ progress.
Experts advise prospective students to check whether a school’s LMS is mobile-friendly so they can complete coursework whenever and wherever they want. They will also most likely require a strong internet connection and any necessary software, such as a word processor.
Experts point out that the forced shift to remote instruction that colleges experienced this spring due to the coronavirus is not typical of online education. As a result of the pandemic, students are experiencing “emergency remote teaching” in an online format.
How online lectures work
While we recommend accessing your online learning platform from a pc, there is the option of an app to alert you to assignments and more on your mobile device, making it simple and easy to check in each day.
Your weekly lectures are accessible via your online learning platform and may be presented in various formats, like PowerPoint, audio files, video chat sessions, or some blend of these. The majority of your online learning platform classes are asynchronous, which implies you don’t have to worry about logging in and listening to your lectures at a particular time each week.
We would advise that you speak with your advisor about each class’s expectations before the start of the semester so that you are well prepared on day one and that you check your curriculum and your online learning platform for project and homework due dates.
Types of virtual classroom
Online learning is an extensive term that encompasses a range of instructional approaches and environments.
Synchronous Online Learning
Synchronous online learning allows groups of students to partake in a learning activity simultaneously, from anywhere in the world. Real-time synchronous online learning frequently includes online chats and video conferencing. These tools enable training instructors and participants to ask and answer questions instantaneously while communicating with the other participants.
The rapid development of online learning technologies has made this type of community-oriented online learning possible. Before the introduction of computer networks in the 1960s, synchronous e-learning was nearly impossible to execute. These days, synchronous e-learning is highly advantageous because it reduces many of the major disadvantages of e-learning, like poor student-to-student and teacher-to-student relationships and social isolation. Synchronous e-learning is perhaps one of the most widely known and quickest growing types of e-learning.
Asynchronous Online Learning
Asynchronous online learning occurs when groups of students study autonomously at different times and locations without real-time communication. The e-learning methods are often regarded as more student-centered than synchronous, as they provide students with more flexibility.
For such reasons, students who may not have flexible schedules often prefer asynchronous e-learning because it makes it possible for them to use self-paced learning; they can set their learning schedules and are not expected to learn at specific intervals other students.
Fixed E-Learning
Fixed e-learning is fancy terminology for something you’re probably already familiar with. “Fixed” in this sense means that the content used during the learning experience does not shift from its original state, and all enrolled students receive the same information as everyone else. The materials are preordained by the teachers and do not adapt to the students’ preferences.
Adaptive E-Learning
Adaptive e-learning is a unique and innovative type of e-learning that allows for the adaptation and redesign of learning materials for each learner. By taking into account, various parameters such as goals, student performance, skills, abilities, and characteristics, adaptive e-learning tools enable education to become more personalized and student-centered than ever before.
Interactive Online Learning
Because interactive e-learning allows senders to become receivers and vice versa, it effectively enables a two-way communication channel between the parties involved. Teachers and students can change their teaching and learning methods based on the messages sent and received. As a result, interactive e-learning is significantly more popular than linear, as it allows teachers and students to collaborate.
Advantages of virtual classroom
The virtual classroom is at the core of online degree programs, serving as a convenient, central location for your university courses to take place. While there are several foundational similarities between an online university experience and a traditional campus-based education, learning in a virtual classroom provides many advantages that traditional college degree programs do not. Here are a few advantages:
Coursework is available at all times and can be accessed from any location
You can study and finish your coursework at any time and from any place that works with your hectic schedule. If you’re away on business, you can do your homework at the hotel while waiting for a connecting flight or in between meetings. You only need a laptop or other digital device.
Structure and freedom combined
Online degree programs are designed on a weekly assignment and due to date structure, whether posting homework, projects, papers, taking an online test, watching a faculty presentation, or partaking in discussion with classmates. However, within the program’s framework, you have the flexibility to choose the best times to participate that work with your schedule.
Effective time management
Working adults who need to balance family life and work with the new demands of going back to school will find an online education welcoming environment. You immediately save hours per week by not having to commute to campus classes—and that’s just the beginning. Returning to school improves your time management skills because you must be disciplined and find time to study.
A broader perspective on the world
Online degree programs draw students from all over the United States and the world, bringing various perspectives from various cultures with them. You may also be able to work collaboratively on group projects and work collaboratively with international classmates. Insights into other problem-solving approaches, attitudes, and business cultures can help you improve how you approach problems and opportunities.
Improved digital skills
You will improve your knowledge and skills in your field of study while also honing your digital skills on the most advanced online learning technology. As you continue to learn and study online, you will gain confidence and become highly productive using interactive online tools such as homework drop boxes, online tests, e-mail communications, collaboration tools with faculty and classmates, and instructional videos by faculty.
Disadvantages of virtual classroom
A virtual classroom enables technology-enhanced learning. The term “virtual classroom” refers to online or correspondence learning in which, despite the absence of a physical classroom, classroom-like learning and teaching take place. Virtual classrooms are widely known with digital technology for a variety of reasons. They do, however, have several drawbacks.
Lack of Socialization
The social interaction that comes with spending some time with peers, irrespective of age, is a crucial component of physically attending school. Learning through a virtual classroom has the same disadvantage as homeschooling in terms of a lack of socialization for the student. You may learn a lot at home and on your schedule, but your educational experience could suffer if you aren’t around your classmates.
Problems with Technology
Technology issues are always inconvenient, but they can be extremely disruptive when they occur in the middle of a virtual class. A virtual classroom is only as great as the technology that powers it. If the learning software does not work well with your computer, or if your Internet connection fails during a lesson, you may find yourself spending so much time working with the software or fixing your connection than learning the material.
Lack of Structure
Though not everyone enjoys getting up early and going to school, the structure of traditional education can be beneficial. Taking online courses in a virtual classroom necessitates a significant amount of self-discipline. If you are easily motivated, this may not be a problem for you. However, if you are prone to procrastination and find the traditional school structure beneficial, you may find it difficult in a virtual setting.
No Hands-On Learning
While some subjects can be taught effectively online, others warrant hands-on experience. Students can learn about science experiments by reading about them, but they may not get the full experience unless they experiment themselves. Many subjects are not well suited to virtual classrooms because they are best learned through hands-on experience.
Difficult Interaction
Though virtual classrooms allow students to communicate with instructors and other students online, it is not the same as standing in front of a teacher and having her make clear a problem for you. Similarly, many people learn best in groups, so group projects are prevalent at all levels of education. A chat with a classmate online may not be as beneficial as discussing the subject at a table at lunch.