VirtualClassrooms

GaryPage(MET511Winter2011)

Intherealmofeducationtoday,thetermvirtualclassroomhasbecomepartofthevernacularusedby
educators.Manyeducatorshoweverstilldonotknowexactlywhatavirtualclassroomis.Aswell,those
thatareusingvirtualclassrooms,manyarenottrainedorhavedevelopedtheskillsneededtousethis
learningenvironment.
Avirtualclassroomisnotaphysicalentitybutavirtualentityviatheinternet.Studentsattendclasses
notbysittinginaclassroombutbyloggingintoaclassroomviaawebbrowserorsoftwareapplication
forexample.Theliveteachergivesinstructionandstudentsmayprovidefeedbackthroughrealtime
voiceinteractionand/orusingtextchat.Instructorsmayuseavirtualwhiteboard,multimedia,etc.to
enhancethestudent'slearningexperience.
Thewantandneedtoeducatestudentswithoutthosestudentsphysicallybeinginaclass,orvia
distance,hasseeminglyalwaysbeenpartofeducation.Theemergenceofwebbasedtechnologiesallow
forthisinwaysthathadpreviouslynotexisted.Formanyyears,distanceeducationwasdoneinastatic
environment.Studentsreceivedmaterialsandcompletedlearningtasksontheirownwithvirtuallyno
interactionwiththeinstructororotherstudents.Aswell,feedbackontheirprogresswaslimited
sometimesonlycomingintheformofthefinalassessmentofthecourse.Virtualclassroomsallowfora
dynamicenvironmentwhereinstructorsandtheirstudentsinteractdynamicallyinrealtime.
Withtheuseofalmostanyevolvingtechnology,therearechallengesandlimitations.Avirtualclassroom
couldconceivablyhavestudentsfromanywherearoundtheWorld,althoughsomemightprefertobe
sleepingdependingontheirtimezone!Learningcanbebothsynchronousinrealtimeand
asynchronousviaarecordingofaclassroomsession.Manyvirtualclassroomsoftwareapplicationshave
beendevelopedspecificallyforthispurpose.NooneistryingtouseMSWordasavirtualclassroom!MS
PowerPointisusedinmanyofapplicationsforthepresentationofcontentbutnotastheactualvirtual
classroomitself.
Ashasbeenthecaseindistanceeducation,thereremainsadegreeofisolationforboththeinstructor
andthestudents.Eventhough,theclassisrealtimeandboththeinstructorandstudentsareableto
interactthroughvoiceandtext,theabilityofstudentstointeractastheywouldinaphysicalclassroom
isstillnotthere.Usually,alloftheinteractiontakesplacebetweentheinstructorandaparticular
studentorgroupofstudents.Theabilitytotalkamongstyourselvesthattakesplaceinaphysical
classroomisbasicallynonexistent.
Withoutbeingincloseproximity,thereisanimpersonalfeelingandlackofphysicalinteractiontovirtual
classes.Therelationshipsthatdevelopbetweentheinstructorandstudentandbetweenthestudents
themselvesisnotthesameasaphysicalclassroom.Experiencedteachersinaclassroomareableto
noticewhenastudentisunsureorinneedassistancewithoutthestudentconsciouslydoinganything.
Experiencedteacherscantellfromthelookonstudentsfaceorfromtheirbodylanguagewhetheror
nottheyunderstand.Inavirtualsetting,thereismoreonusonthestudentletitbeknowntheyneed
assistance.Althoughtechnologyisconstantlychangingandtheuseofwebcameraswillundoubtedly
finditswayintoavirtualclassroomsoon.
Likeanytechnologyintodaysworld,thepaceofchangecanbeadetrimenttouseofthetechnology.
Manyteacherswouldliketousethesetechnologiesbutwithoutpropertrainingand/orinservicetime,
theydonotadoptitsuse.Infact,Tufteindicatesalackofapplicationknowledgecanequatetousinga
tool,suchasPowerPoint,inasimplifiedway(Tufte,2003).
Insummary,virtualclassroomsafford(Gibson,1966)thedistanceeducationalcommunityalearning
environmentthathaspreviouslynotexisted.Asthetechnologyistrulyinearlystages,thefocusshould
beontheaffordancethistechnologyprovidesatthispoint.Thesophisticationofthistechnologywill
increaseovertime.Theabilitytoeffectivelyusethistechnologywillaswell.Instructorsneedto
experienceandusethemedium.Themoreitisusedthemoreeffectiveitsuseforlearningwillbe.
References
Gibson,J.J.(1966).Thesensesconsideredasperceptualsystems.Westport,CT:GreenwoodPress
Tufte,E.R.(2003,September).PowerPointisevil.Wired,11(9).