Online teaching: the inside story
Manaswini Sridhar
Advantages of the virtual classroom
Until you experience it, it is rather difficult to comprehend the numerous ways in which technology can help ease the teaching process and at the same time reach out to a larger, more diverse audience. The virtual classroom is becoming more and more popular because of its enormous reach and also because it enables students, sitting in the comfort of their college/school premises, to interact with experts in various fields. It also cuts down on travel time both for the students and the teacher. Satellite education, as it is otherwise known, can reach students across thousands of miles, simultaneously connecting various states in the country. It is also a medium whereby students understand that they are not alone in their struggle as they listen to fellow students from different institutions voicing the same doubts and fears. At the same time, it induces the so-called slow learners to chug faster because in this varied interaction, they can see that they are not doing their best.
The virtual classroom requires the teacher to face a camera in a studio that is equipped with a computer system and a Power Point presentation on the subject to be handled. The studio lis also equipped with a whiteboard which the trainer uses, just as the teacher uses the blackboard in a classroom.
The author is a teacher educator and language trainer based in Chennai. She can be reached at manaswinisridhar@gmail.com.
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Yes, any virtual reality environment cannot replace face to face interaction between the teacher and the taught. Any problem associated with the absence of this most important element of any effective teaching learning can, to some extent, be reduced, by periodic seminars in which students and the teacher meet in real time, face to face and interact with each other like in real classrooms. Well written article that has highlighted important aspects.
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