LEARNING
THROUGH VIRTUAL CLASSROOM
Atasi Mohanty
Madanmohan Samanta
Introduction
In the recent era of
globalization, technological advancement has increased dramatically in every
sphere including mainstream education. These advances have introduced new
educational nomenclature i.e. “virtual education”, “virtual classroom”,
“virtual Universities”, “on line Courses”, “electronic” and “cyberspace
institution” etc. Profound investments in technology in this decade have given
rise to a worldwide explosion of information. Many educational institutions
have been mystified by this information chaos. They are driven by the goal to use newly found
access to global data communication.This step will increase enrolment and will
award a vast range of degrees through massive investments in distance education
programmes. There has been much talk among educators that these acts begin to
modify the students’ worth to the academic world, as the students begin to
assume both the tangible and intangible characteristics associated with those
of a “Customer” as opposed to the characteristics of a student. Marketing
strategies abound that beseech the “students-customer” to take advantage of
“fast, universal access”, “earn a degree in a short period of time”, and other
creative approaches that guarantee satisfaction and quick delivery of the
degree-of-choice. Moreover, in the fast
growing competition in the job market, there have been increasing demands for specialists,
professionals over population, increasing awareness as well as demand for
higher education, shortage of qualified teachers and infrastructure facility.
Virtual classroom has taken a lead role in the teaching-learning process.
Generically, the virtual classroom is a teaching and learning environment
located within a computer mediated communication system. It consists of asset
of group communication and work “spaces” and facilities that are constructed in
software.
Virtual learning,
environments are hugely diverse in size, capability and services offered and can
cater for individuals ranging in attainment, ages, and special needs. Virtual
schools are of three broad categories i.e., independent, collaborate and
broadcast. According to Russell (2001) independent models can often be referred
to as “asynchronous” because they do not rely upon direct communication between
teacher and students, as they do not avail of chat or video conferencing
facilities. Synchronous models usually involve more communication and
collaboration through video conferencing and live chats. Broadcast models allow
students to access lectures or broadcasts on the Internet. All these models offer a wide range of
learning flexibility in virtual environments that serve the individual needs of
the learners regardless of their age, gender, religion, nationality or
disability. A virtual classroom environment successfully mixes up different
media inputs i.e., (a) face to face plus virtual classroom which can vary from
adding system use to enrich on-campus courses conducted to traditional means;
to distance courses where system, use is supplemented by one or two
fact-to-face meetings (b) virtual classroom as the sole means of delivery, with
the use of print media in the form of text books or course notes, and (c)
multi-media i.e., virtual classroom plus video, audio or audio-graphic media.
Thus, there is a move towards
multi-media based interactive learning process and computer assisted
instructional system.
Characteristics
of Virtual CLASSROOM LEARNING
Virtual classroom also
needs equivalent equipment and tools in the form of network-based software
application to allow a group of instructors and students to carry out the
learning process. The sophistication of such software structures vary widely,
from simple electronic mail systems to systems that have been specially
enhanced to support classroom – like experiences, such as virtual auditoriums.
Some of them are well established on the Internet and new ones are still
emerging. No physical boundary is required for getting access to virtual
learning; entire universe is the classroom. But unlike the formal school
learning, virtual learning is a collaborative process and emphasizes on
cooperative effort and interactions. The medium of instruction in virtual
learning in India is broadly restricted to English and Hindi languages, and
occasionally some regional programmes are being telecasted. It would take some
time to develop the software for teaching-learning in vernacular languages. The
output of virtual teaching-learning process depends upon the factors like
students’ motivation for self-learning,
subject expertise and communication skills of the teacher, on-line
problem-solving facility, connectivity to e-library, and use of technology
based lightly interactive multimedia, etc.
Basically, there are four
principles to be kept in mind for successful teaching in the virtual classroom
such as dealing with i) media richness, ii) timely responsiveness, iii)
organization and iv) interaction. In the traditional classroom, a pleasing
voice, occasional jokes, dramatic gestures, eye contact with the teacher and
the classroom interaction can help to enliven a long lecture. But in virtual
classrooms, there is only the computer screen and the printed pages. Even if
the multimedia is there, long segments of lecture-type materials are boring.
Hence, in order to maintain interest, the instructor should use written
language in a skillful way by putting some humour and metaphors. It is better
to orchestrate active participation by the students and stimulate collaborative
assignments that involve both social and task-oriented activities. The
instructor should deliver small segments of lecture with print/pre-recorded
materials accompanied with opportunities for students’ participation. Secondly,
unlike the traditional classrooms, the students in the virtual classroom will
not receive an immediate response to their questions and comments. This can be
very frustrating, especially if they are ‘stuck’ in the middle if a mathematics
problem or project assignment. In this case, in order to encourage the
students, the instructor can promote more active participation / interaction
and provide the feedback to students in the virtual classroom more
frequently/daily. In the ideal situation, the conscientious teacher/instructor
can become a “perpetual professor” when he/she could realize that teaching is
continuous, like parenthood, rather than being confined to computer screen,
printed materials or a few specific hours of lecturing. Thirdly, unless the
study materials of online courses/virtual classrooms get organized, students
will become very confused. Therefore, the instructor must establish regular
rhythms and schedules, based on dividing the course into modules which last a
week, a week and half, or two weeks each so that the participants can plan
ahead in terms of when they will need to sign online and when work will be due,
and so that the group moves through the topics in an orderly manner. One basic
strategy to segregate and organize different modules and activities is to use
several conferences for different types of activities, and to have the class
move from one to another as they progress through topics.
Another strategy is for the
instructor to enter the stimulus materials for each week’s work on a regular
basis, with new material predictably appearing at least twice a week. The most
significant determinant of the students’ satisfaction in the online
courses/virtual classrooms is the amount and quality of interaction between the
instructor and the students, and/or among the students. This is not always easy
for the instructor, but if he/she can cajole or coerce the students into this
collaborative approach to learning, then they would share ideas with each
other. This is both the key and challenge for being an effective teacher in the
virtual classroom environment. Collaborative learning is encouraged in case of
virtual classrooms which emphasize group / cooperative efforts among faculty
and students. In this context, knowledge is viewed as a social construct, and
therefore, the educational process is facilitated by social interaction in an
environment that facilitates peer interaction evaluation and cooperation
(Bruffee 1984; Whipple 1987). The “teacher” becomes primarily a facilitator who
structures learning opportunities, serves as a resource, and encourages the
students to work together to build a common body of knowledge. The virtual
classroom/learning environment not only facilitates collaborative learning but
also supports independent learning and generative, active learning techniques
that are self-paced by each participant.
Merits
& Demerits of Virtual Classroom
Merits
For centuries, textbooks
have been the most important teaching-learning tool in all types of schools.
The physical format of the textbook does not easily allow student and teacher
to depart from the prescribed path, or to link to new concepts and ideas from
other disciplines (Liaw 2000). Whereas the virtual textbooks move the learners
beyond content mastery to information seeking and problem solving skills. This
enables the learner to evaluate and synthesize information from diverse sources
and understand and apply the difference between facts and opinions, grasp
multiple and diverse perspectives and draw insights from these and utilize
these within the context of one’s own knowledge base and experiences (Siegel
& Sousa 1994). In comparison to traditional textbook, the Web seems to be
more suitable for learning, where the
information can be delivered in both linear and non-linear format. It can be
presented via multimedia with text, pictures, video, sound and animation. Vast
amount of information can be searched and downloaded from Internet. In
traditional classrooms, most teachers make use of a chalkboard for further
clarification of a point. But the instructor of a virtual classroom may use the
whiteboard to answer questions from students. Such tools allow images to be
displayed, manipulated, annotated, and shared between two learners or among a
whole group (Turoff 1995). An important part of the physical class environment
is the personal interaction as questions are asked by the students. Allowing
all students to ‘hear’ the questions and answers helps everyone to learn and
encourages additional questions. In virtual learning environment, list servers
can be used to redistribute e-mail messages. Usenet newsgroups, computer
conferencing and collaborative work spaces may serve for sharing this kind of
interactions. More dynamic questions and answer interaction can be created
using text-based chat sessions, text-based virtual learning environments
and net-based virtual auditorium or
lecture room systems. The net-based virtual auditorium or lecture room systems
are more sophisticated and provide voice communications and more features of
traditional classrooms such as slides, application sharing and students’
feedback. Virtual classrooms use
videoconferencing, and teleconferencing to make the presentation more
attractive and lively.
Virtual classrooms are more
accessible, flexible and convenient in their approach towards education,
students and teachers. Virtual learning environment encourages freedom of
expression and students are more open to communicate and express opinion and
would often thrive in these environments. Studies have shown that online
learning has a valuable learning experience due to its novelty effects, which
creates a perception of increased value (Wright et. al. 2000). Recent research
found that online courses supported critical thinking skills, leadership,
communication, problem solving and ethics.
Often the students’ prefer the delivery mode and work at their own pace
and take time to analyze and synthesize the learning materials. Research has
shown that students take online classes because they are able to get the course
schedule they want to fulfill the degree requirements.Moreover, multimedia use
has made the virtual learning more interesting and lively, thus has paved the
way for fulfilling the emerging needs of higher education (i.e., mass
education, professional education) in 21st century India. Online courses offer
more flexibility, convenience and access to students. Virtual classrooms
promote collaborative learning attitude among students. Through Web based learning, vast amount of
information can be searched, reorganized and downloaded from decentralized
worldwide digital libraries. Also the quick delivery feedback ability of the
Web can make learning more effective (Liaw 2000). Through virtual collaboration
researchers can also share data visualization and create documents collaboratively
producing and editing text in real time.
Demerits
Learning in virtual
classroom is not natural and spontaneous rather artificially created. The
teacher in the virtual classroom is present in virtual image, not physically.
Thus, virtual classroom lacks the human touch. The virtual students seem more
frustrated, not only from the technology but from the inability to ask the
teacher questions in a face-to-face environment. As the virtual learning
environment lacks human face-to-face interaction, critics are of the opinion
that probably it has a long-term effect on the children’s emotional development
and interpersonal relationship when they would be grown up as adults in
society. It is thought that children will miss out on the important friendships
that are usually formed in traditional schools and this will lead to poor
social skills in adulthood. Virtual classrooms are suitable for higher learning
only, not for primary level children. For availing the facilities of virtual
learning the learner has to be matured, self-motivated, computer literate and
well versed with the components of virtual classroom. Primarily the teacher in
the virtual classroom follows the Lecture-cum-demonstration method with
multi-media use which is suitable for higher level courses. It is not suitable
for lab-based and activity oriented courses. There is no scope for testing the
entry level behaviors; thus a teacher cannot judge the degree of disparity
among students. Also the differences in learning styles and ranging aptitude levels
would result in further discrepancy. Subsequently, some students would learn
less effectively in virtual environments and thus would require more
individual/personal contact with a teacher. Moreover, as more numbers of
schools and universities are now operating online, it is becoming increasingly
difficult to judge and evaluate the academic virtue and quality of education
provided by them. In a virtual classroom set up, the role of a teacher is
significant but students’ response is secondary. Hardly the teacher does have
the scope to get an immediate feedback regarding his teaching. In virtual
classroom, the teacher’s communication skill is more important than any other
competencies i.e., managerial or interpersonal or liaisoning skills. There is a
little scope for the all round personality development of the children.
Individual caring, counselling, emotional sharing mentoring etc. are absent in
virtual classrooms with the teacher only present on the audio-visual screens.
There is little scope for direct teacher-student intervention and two-way
communication. The factors, like subject expertise, communication skill,
expression through body language, personality, skill of holding students’
interest and attention play a very crucial role in virtual learning and the
success of the programming course primarily depends on these factors.
The whole system of virtual
classroom education is based on technological advancement and operations and
any sort of technical fault will create chaos in the education system. Even if
the learner gets Web-based electric textbooks, often they do not provide all of
the details that users need. Sometimes also insufficient emphasis given on good
human-centered design of the interface and huge amount of overloaded
information create frustration among the users. Another disadvantage with
online courses is that students may encounter problems with software
compatibility, connection, connection speed, server unreliability, computer
problems etc. If students encounter problems they may become easily discouraged
and dissatisfied with online education. Moreover, the misconception persists
that online courses are easier. But in reality, online courses are equal or
more challenging than traditional face-to-face courses because the primary responsibility
for facilitating learning shifts to the students. Thus, if a student is not
motivated and matured enough to be reflective and evaluate his won learning
strategies, he or she may not succeed in
virtual education. So, the students need to be self-motivated to keep on track.
(Wright et. al 2000).No face-to-face contact with classmates or instructors can
lead to feelings of isolation or lack of connectiveness.
Future
Challenges & Opportunities
Researches have
found out some new trends for future which may have a beneficial impact
on Web based learning, such as “Haptic Interfaces” “New Networks” and
“PDA/Wireless Connections”. Haptic interfaces are not widely used in current
Web based learning environments but are found in some commercial games (Bussell
2001). This technology has come to include tactile feedback for example, smooth
and rough textures; and force feedback - kinaesthetic - sensation movement
resistance and muscle tension. Many learning resources employ the sense of
touch to involve learners for example children’s books with textures,
illustrations or embossed letters or the wide use of sand, modeling materials
in the classroom. The haptic technology can benefit the children with special
needs especially visually impaired and also be used to successfully teach
concepts in physics and math. It allows for a more interactive learning
experience which could be potentially implemented across a wide range of
subjects. The other future prospects in Web based learning is new network which
can offer opportunities to virtual
learning environments. For example,
“Tele-immersion” is the technology that will allow people in different
parts of the world to feel as if they are sharing the same physical space
connecting the real places in real time through the development of
“tele-cubicles.” With such practices
virtual learning environments would be able to make the real time tutorials and
teacher-pupils meetings/interactions/discussions. The above techniques can also
be used in new curriculum areas less suited to a virtual learning environment
and with the objects even though these are miles away. Thus, it accelerates the
interactive learning in virtual classrooms. Of course, these developments
require much more organization and imaginations than simply placing text on the
Web.Future developments in virtual learning environments may also embrace
wireless and portable devices. The benefit of portable devices would mean that
students would be able to collaborate and share solutions, thus fully acting out
the learner’s roles of apprentice and peer-tutor as described by (Hung 2001).
Students can also fully utilize a PDA by taking it with them for reference –
for example a student on a biology field trip could use their device to
identify an unfamiliar organism. Wireless local area networks, can also be used
to provide access to virtual learning environments while allowing the learner
to choose their own personal learning location. The future of virtual learning
environments has many possibilities. If issues of cost and programming would be
resolved one can undertake self-directed learning using a range of senses. New
networks can allow students new opportunities way beyond those offered by the
Web in its current state, but careful planning and innovations will be required
to ensure that the potential for the scope of delivery is reached.
Conclusion
The future of virtual
learning environments has many innovative and exciting possibilities. At the
same time adventures in learning call for creative and potent environments where individuals share
meaningful knowledge and experiences in constructing new information and ideas.
These adventures foster mutual collaboration that allows learners to apply
newly acquired learning in the design of insightful, cognitive processing
without detachment/ obscurity from real-life situations. A judicious blend of
both traditional and virtual learning environment with special attention to
students’ needs and satisfaction can create constructive and creative learners,
teaching community and learned society.
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