We are experiencing the era of the meeting
Connection is the topic of the moment. From video conferences to house party, never before have the platforms used to communicate with others been used.
Thanks to Covid-19, from the world of school to that of companies to that of entertainment (just to name a few), we are all constantly connected on video: not to stop, to continue learning, to be able to work, to maintain a vital level of sociability.
This sparked a run-up to the choice of software to use (Zoom, Teams, Jitsi, Webex, Adobe Connect, Skymeeting, Gototraing, etc.).
The tools for training
But the choice of the software is only one of the many aspects that must be taken into consideration when deciding to activate a digitalization process of training.
Opening a conference and talking, perhaps by showing your desktop, is a perfect approach for a meeting between friends and colleagues who exchange views, but it is a really too simple choice if we plan to deliver a course.
Simply transposing what we teach into presence in a remote mode is not enough.
Why choose a virtual classroom
Also too often videolesson e VIRTUAL CLASSROOM they are used synonymously, even by training professionals.
Instead, these are two similar tools, but decidedly different if you analyze their characteristics in detail, and there is no doubt that - for those who want to make effective training - the only possible choice is theVirtual Classroom.
| VIDEO LESSON | VIRTUAL CLASSROOM | |
| COMMUNICATION | Open to everyone | Regulated and guided by the teacher |
| MICROPHONE MANAGEMENT | It requires a shared and respected discipline | Regulated and guided by the teacher |
| PARTICIPATION RULES | Shared by participants | Structured and managed by the teacher |
| DURATION OF THE LESSON | Possible time limitations (especially in free environments) | Modulated according to educational needs
Ability to schedule several sessions |
| DIDACTIC MATERIALS | Speech and screen sharing | Ability to share pre-loaded content, use whiteboards, conduct surveys, etc. |
| EVALUATION OF LEARNERS | Subjective evaluation of the teacher | Ability to record attendance, to associate a final test, to assign certifications, etc. |
| ANNEXED SERVICES | Lecture recording | Teacher training and technical support, registration and conversion in Scorm of the lesson, tutoring in the classroom, etc.
|
How to choose and design a virtual classroom
Didactic communication requires the use of a tool that allows one governance.
So it is necessary, in addition to having a stable and effective tool, also a serious one training planning, which is up to the technical means we have available.
Choosing a virtual classroom therefore means:
- set a priori like people will have to participate and communicate
- choose times suitable for the training we have to provide
- decide ahead of time dynamic classroom
- choose the instruments with which to train inside the classroom
The lesson in the Virtual Classroom requires the effort to organize in advance the dynamics of our lesson in detail.
Only with a serious didactic planning we will be able to make full use of all the possibilities offered by a Virtual Classroom, which are many.
Just to give some examples:
- intervention modulation (control of having everyone speak, control of who intervenes and who does not)
- verification of understanding,
- explanation micro-slot
- tutorials (seeing what the participant does)
- show the execution of activities
- interactions (working together, collaborating to build new results)
- gamification, with learning challenges among the participants
- individual insights by appointment