How Virtual Classrooms Impact Education

Learning has taken on an altogether new meaning and approach with virtual classrooms or, as I often call it, distance education in real-time avatar. Skype, Youtube, Schooltube and a plethora of other learning tools today is helping classrooms move towards creating a global education community.

How?

Consider this- a school in the United States that is learning about say, Mahatma Gandhi, logs onto Skype in the Classroom and connects to a class in Mumbai that is studying about the freedom struggle. Not only are they exposed to information that is perhaps more authentic, both the students and the teacher can pose their questions to their learning partners here in India and receive immediate response.

You can also connect through sites such as Classle.net to share and engage students in group activities just as on Facebook or Twitter, providing a safe virtual environment for children to learn.

Virtual classrooms such as this can help create a web of educational interconnectedness that can only make the students smarter.

Why?

Because students participating in a virtual classroom not only increase observational power and acute understanding of things, they are motivated to actively seek out information online then hunting through a big fat encyclopedia. It makes learning fun. Period.

A virtual classroom doesn’t take away from the effectiveness of the physical classroom. If anything, it only makes it more fun and adds to the lecture. Play a pre-recorded video of the day’s session. Pause the video if a student has a question and get back to session without losing enthusiasm or your train of thought. You can then use the rest of the class time for activity, worksheets or exercises relating to the subject.

I wish…

That schools here in India upgrade their systems to include virtual education. We don’t have the concept of a field trip in this country. It’s too much money spent and too much responsibility for the teacher. Which is why virtual field trips can do really well here. Imagine the entire fifth grade of a school in Pune visiting the Niagara Falls without budging from their seats. It certainly would make subjects like Geography a little more engaging, don’t you think?

                                                                     

Digital Learning- Youtube in Classrooms

Growing up in the 90’s, there weren’t a lot of audio visual aids in schools to supplement learning. Educational videos played on the VCR were restricted to nursery rhymes and basic counting.

Cut to the present- Youtube makes a grand entry into classrooms giving students access to a plethora of information from around the world.
Take Youtube Edu for instance. It hosts hundreds of videos from several universities that include lectures, research and speeches by world famous personalities. Often online lectures are part of the university coursework and one can gain access to such material from leading institutions like Stanford, MIT or the Indian Institute of Technology.

Teachers too seem to find it a great way to further explain a subject. Youtube for Schools draws material from Youtube Edu, giving access to school teachers to create educational playlists. Children can watch these videos minus the distraction of cartoons, music or adult content unsuitable for their age. Teachers can also save plenty of search time on Youtube Teachers where educational videos are segregated according to subject and grade levels. By streamlining what children can view online, it provides a safe and vibrant learning atmosphere.

One may record a math or science lecture and upload it on Youtube for the students to review at a later time. If you’re learning about say the ancient Harappa or Greek civilization, a video can help explain better than a textbook. Even those who may not otherwise fare well have been found to respond better to audio visual content and do better than before. You could also prescribe videos for students to watch at home and use the time in school to answer doubts and questions. Whether it’s Show and Tell, class presentations or even guest lectures- Youtube is a creative, fun way to learn. And best of all, it’s free.

I wonder though how feasible this movement would be in India where basic infrastructure needs to catch up let alone internet access in every class. Although a few select schools might be taking baby steps towards a digitized classroom, do you think such a model would work well in the Indian context?