Exploring the Virtual Classroom: What Students Need to Know (and Teachers should Consider)

Exploring the virtual classroom: What students need to know (and teachers should consider)  was written by Garry Falloon for the MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching.  In this paper, Falloon conducts a study of 22 students over a 16-week semester during an online class.  His goal was to see if the virtual classroom was as effective as a regular classroom on campus.  What he found was that learners suffered a sense of isolation and disconnect which adversely affected their performance.  The researcher used Adobe Connect Pro and the program iShowU HD to conduct his online classes through.  Although the researcher himself was the professor of the courses, he allowed an independent research assistant to carry out all interviews.

From the interviews, Falloon found students didn't feel comfortable interrupting the professor during his online lecture, or the emoticon for hand raising was not registering on a timely manner.  When the emoticon did come up the moment had passed and the question not asked.  The professor also was frustrated with the lack of verbal feedback and was unaware if he was "coming across" to his audience.  The researcher concluded that more research needed to be done to identify "best practices" for virtual classroom use.

I think that a mix of what we do and some virtual interaction would be very beneficial.  It would create a more personal feeling and interaction would be quicker.  From what the study said, some students had difficulty with the computer program itself.  If that is the case then a better format should be investigated in order to get the most out of the class as possible with technology being an interference.