Virtual Classrooms

In a world of technology

Once upon a time, the only way to attend class and learn your academics was to sit at a desk in a school building with paper, pencils, and books on hand. Nowadays, we have expanded our educational options from physical to physical and virtual. What is virtual? Well, due to rapidly advancing technology, a new way has been made for classes to be conducted via internet. At first, this method wasn't so popular. Many educators thought and said, 'How could a teacher monitor students and assess what they were learning and whether they were learning or not?'These questions danced around in little circles until it was put through a test drive. After proving to be successful, the popular demand made virtual classrooms a reality.

VCRs are now common in higher education courses. This option works for these group of students because they are more capable of handling their own work independently - compared to younger, grade school students, who need someone to physically monitor their work.

How does a VCR work?

Virtual Classrooms (VCR) enable learners to transcend the boundaries of time, space, and location. While physical classrooms require students to be in a certain place at a specific time, the asynchronous learning options of a VCR allow students to access lessons anywhere, anytime. All a student has to do is log on to a computer and access his or her class site. With the simple key of a username and password and a few clicks, the student is then connected with his or her classroom. This option is especially beneficial to students who cannot attend class because of a specific reason. The student may have an illness, they may work at the times a physical, or should we say traditional class is in session. Maybe they have children who need to be supervised at home. There are many reasons why virtual classrooms are popular and have become a favored option to many.

A Form of Asynchronous learning

In an asynchronous classroom, learning does not take place at the same time. Virtual Classrooms enable students to participate on their own times. Since VCRs take place on the internet, they are often accessible 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. The work is posted at one time by the Instructor, then left for the students to complete at a later time.

What does a Virtual Classroom consist of?

Virtual Classrooms have tons of features. Virtual Classrooms vary within content, structure, tools, navigation, and purpose. Depending on the class, this interactive form of classroom may include all or some of the features of technology listed below.

-E-mail
-Discussion boards
- Chat rooms
-Whiteboards
-Video/audio conferencing
-Instant messaging
-Podcasting
-Teleconferencing
-Weblogs
-Wikis

Not everything is all about technology in a VCR. Within these technological components, A VCR contains class activities and assignments. In addition, it may have wonderful options to keep organized.

virtual classrooms may contain:

-class activities
- group or individual activities
- discussions and chats - quizzes, tests, and surveys
- homework activities
- assessments
- virtual field trips

Class organization:

- important info for students and parents
- calendar/timetables
- unit overviews
- student grades
- student homepages