Virtual Classrooms
"It's student driven. They set the pace. It's like a high school class except it's computerized . . . lecture, quizzes, mid-terms and tests are all on the computer” (Charmoli). In this quote, Lance Jewett it describing some of the benefits of a virtual classroom. He is a teacher for an alternative school of online classrooms in Manton, Michigan. Many people have differing opinions of Virtual Classrooms, but as Jewett points out, virtual classrooms are “student driven” meaning the student has almost complete control over the pace and atmosphere he or she wishes to learn. With this, it is necessary to look more in depth at virtual classrooms for one to gain a better understanding such as; what are
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Many times class rosters are accessible on the online classrooms platform. This allows students to access to their fellow classmates as well as a way to contact each other. This also provides contact information for the instructor of the course. Another feature is access to announcements provided by the instructor. This gives the instructor a quick and easy way to let students know of any changes or important events. There is also a section for course information, course documents, and assignments which will provide the students with any important details of the class or assignments that may be required. Probably one of the most important features of an online classroom is its form of communication. Most platforms will use a whiteboard or discussion board in order to hold class discussions and provide a form of input from both students and teachers. Tools for the students use are also very important. Digital drop boxes make it possible for students to forward assignments to the instructor without the use of email and attachments. Calendars allow students to record important dates and keep track of what is planned for each online lesson. A student information section is also readily available to provide a profile on students as a way of recording personal information. Some platforms will also provide small amounts of web space to host a homepage for students and
To obtain answers to the concerns previously listed, an 8 week study of students in an online class was conducted. This study consisted of monitoring online communication and classroom activity among students with different backgrounds with geographical location and age being two of the main contributing factors.
Class Websites: Class websites are a great communication tool that allows the teacher to communicate with parents, students, and the global community at large. These websites can be used to communicate basic information, such as the teacher’s background and classroom policies (Dunn, 2011, pg. 60-62). Different levels of complexity allow teachers to decide the purpose of the website and how much time needed
To be specific, in the absence of the communication with their teachers, it is hard for the students to succeed in their learning. Healy, Block, and Judge (2014) states that online education limits the opportunity to share ideas, collaborate with others, and to communicate effectively. Communication with the teacher and other students is significant for a student because it is helpful to improve learning efficiency through asking question to the teacher, sharing ideas, and experience with each
This class was one of most effective classes for teacher in 21 century because it teaches how to integrate technology into classroom and shows how much technology changed face of classrooms. Now student doesn’t have to come to actual classroom or even teacher. Online classrooms start to become so popular because students and teacher in both side can reach to the class at any time.
(1) What is the book about? It talks about advance application and developments in the online class room. You will find that most new communication technologies were for recreational or personal use. Over time, they have been employed for education and knowledge applications. They examine a variety of applications in detail. The Author also talks about the impact of PowerPoint and Discussion forums. They share ideas for effective questioning strategies in the online class rooms.
TeachLivE is a virtual classroom with simulated students that replicates a variety of actual teaching experiences. There are a diversity of students including a student that is an English-language learner (ELL), a student with a learning disability, and students who are unintentionally disruptive. Students participating in this experience act as a teacher with prepared lesson plans for elementary and secondary classrooms. The teacher is graded on written, oral, and nonverbal (gestures) communication with the provision of directions for instructional activities. The teacher is also evaluated on teaching and learning enthusiasm, acceptable knowledge of content for the specific subject taught, and appropriate or professional clothing. The teacher is expected to move around the room to involve all students while clearly identifying objectives to keep students on task.
This section of the encyclopedia talks about what students and teachers can contribute to online learning environment. It talks about who the average online learner is and the online relationship between the student and the teacher, and the student and their peers. Above all the author stresses that thinking differently is important to make online education work.
Currently, students around the country, even the world, have the choice to either attend a class face-to-face with a teacher inside a classroom or computer-generated classes in online colleges or Universities. Even though they are similar, the differences between the two are somewhat remarkable. Obviously both types of learning require instructions and some form of assessment and they differ in terms of the learning process and communication.
To summarize, the topic presented in this article is about online courses which are widely used in colleges providing easy access to course materials, classroom discussions, and feedback to instructors. The course materials and activities may be accessed from any computer, whether it is from the University or from the comfort of your own home.
Online teaching is defined as any educational activity that requires a student to complete some learning or assessment activity via a personal computer and a connection to a network (Murdoch University Academic Council 1999). This network connection is usually to the Internet (Demirdjian 2002). It is a seen by the Murdoch University Academic Council as a teaching and learning technology, not a method of study (2002), but this depends on how it is to be used and by whom. For example, distance education student using online teaching would be more inclined to see it as a study method than a QUT student who uses online teaching to download and print lecture notes to attend a lecture on campus.
There is a lot of poor communication in online classes. There will be students who will never email the instructors for more details about an assignments, or, there will be older students who don’t know how to email the instructors for more details. If the student doesn’t understand an assignment, and never emails to ask for more details, can result in a poor grade for the lack of knowledge in knowing what they’re doing. There’s one final drawback to not having social interactions with instructors; Students can potentially miss out on building relationships that can result in helpful guidance and recommendation letters down the road when needed.
E-Learning is trying to provide a more individualized, self-paced, self-directed learning experience (Clark). A survey by a Sociology Professor at CSU-Northridge showed that students in his virtual class performed 20% better than students in his traditional class (Clark). On the other hand, issues concerned with E-Learning includes the fact that students may not be as motivated since, another survey found out that only 66% of the students involved with E-Learning earned credit with a passing grade for their classes (Washington
However, advocates of classroom learning believe the online method isolates the students from one another as well as their professor minimizing the overall value of taking the course. They also claim that students learn better when working together with their instructor and their fellow classmates. Students learn better when they are given the opportunity to ask questions, join in class discussions, and they move the process of learning forward through their participation. Face-to-face advocates firmly believe that this kind of interaction is not possible over the Internet; and for many types of education, e-learning will never meet the potential of live human interaction in the classroom. An article in the New York Times titled, “Second Thoughts on Online Education,” backs up the points made above. A recent research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, comes to the conclusion; “A rush to online education
Non-traditional students are finding it easier and easier to maintain a job, a family, and pursuing a college career at the same time. This is possible because more and more non-traditional students are receiving an education using distance learning, as opposed to traditional, in-the-classroom teaching. Distance learning is basically taking college level, credit-bearing courses via the Internet. One of the most obvious advantages of distance learning is that it puts the classroom in your home, office, or wherever you can find a computer and log on to the Internet. However, there is much controversy regarding the quality of the courses being offered on the Internet versus the quality of
For the majority of people, it is difficult to imagine what life would be like without the internet. The world of education has also undergone tremendous change since the advent of the internet. It allows students to quickly obtain a vast amount of information on every subject. They also get the convenience of going to class and completing assignments, permitting them to schedule their time with great flexibility. The internet has become one of the easiest, fastest and most effective tools that can be used to explore and comprehend more about the world; however, it is not without problems. The uses of the internet by students changes their thinking patterns, distracts their attention and reduces their interpersonal skills.