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Concurrent e-Learning lets teachers conduct classes over
the Internet with technologies that also allow students to interact
with peers and content experts.
Virtual Classroom
Virtual
classrooms duplicate electronically many of the capabilities found in a
real classroom and can provide a cost effective alternative in on-line
form. Virtual on-line universities can unlock the limitations of a local
classroom and expand that that same class topic to a global audience.
The virtual classroom provides a place for
students and teachers
to meet via their computers. Whether students are completing
on-line courses, tests or interacting via forums, chat rooms and virtual meeting
rooms the virtual electronic classroom provides a valid substitute for
the traditional
classroom.
Digital Virtual Classroom Allows:
- A Meeting Place: Students and teachers using on-line web tools attend a virtual meeting place instead of a classroom.
- Ability to take attendance: Record electronically students that
attend class lectures or events.
- Track Compliance: Run reports to verify compliance with mandatory
training.
- Lecture: Teachers can choose from a
variety of web streaming technologies including:
- Interact with students: Students may
indicate when they wish to speak by pressing a webpage button and virtually raising their hand.
Teachers may then allow students to speak through
audio
and video conferencing tools Teachers and students can use
instant
messaging and
chat.
- Quizzes and Polling: Teachers can present questions and polls to students
to students.
- Breakout Sessions: Students can work
together in groups.
- Most companies that sell virtual classroom software provide all of
these capabilities in a single package.
Audio and Video Conferencing
Audio and Video conferencing is a
cost-effective, Web-Based solution that enables a real-time, interactive
Web conference with one or even hundreds of participants.
Audio conferencing can be implemented several ways:
- Via Computers with a microphone connected to the Internet. Common implementations
of this type are IP Audio Conferencing or Voice-over-IP(VOIP).
- Phone conferences. People dial into the same number to participate in an
audio conference.
Video conferencing is implemented in two ways:
- Computers with web cameras are connected to the Internet.
- Special independent video conferencing devices that connect over the
Internet
Chat and Forums
Chat and forum pages allow several people to communicate with each other
through a common webpage. Each
participant uses a computer to type their comments or questions, other participants
seeing these web postings can then reply in kind
Shared Whiteboard Tools
A shared whiteboard allows groups of people to communicate by typing
comments, drawing, highlighting and pointing. Shared whiteboards are a
common feature within any virtual classroom software packages.
Application Sharing
Allows people in a on-line meeting view the same application in real
time on their PC that the instructor is using for his lecture. A teacher
may also allow the participants to take control
of the application.
Instant Messaging
Instant messaging is similar to forums and chat except that with
instant messaging people communicate in real time with one
another. With instant messaging, you can keep lists of people
that you might like to chat with. The list will indicate if they are
online, offline, available for chat or busy. These features make instant
messaging an excellent tool for peer to peer communications.
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