Designing flexible programmes: the role of virtual classrooms in enhancing online learning

Dr Panos Vlachopoulos, Massey University, New Zealand

When I was in Scotland...

Now that I am in New Zealand

I will share my experiences of using virtual classrooms in two higher education contexts:

1. MSc BOE (Napier, Scotland)2. Med e-Learning (Massey, New

Zealand)

Why live?

• E-mail, online asynchronous discussions, blogs, online recorded audio and video are common means to reach learners online.

• The choice to ‘go live’ should be a deliberate one!

• Synchronous learning should be encouraged and deployed when synchronous learning is suited.

What needs can be served by synchronous interactions?

• Teaching• Collaboration• Support• Socialisation and informal exchanges• Extended outreach(for fully online and for blended learning opportunities; for

meetings and consultancy; for supervision, C&IT Support or Library help desks...)

Teaching

• Use of interactive whiteboard to show and explain slides, emphasise points, annotate slides based on students’ feedback!

• Use the powerful set of emoticons to receive ‘feedback’ and ‘feed-forward’

• Blend videos, slides, web-tours to keep my students motivated!

Collaboration

• Arrange groups of students to work together real-time to supplement other online activities (debates, role plays)

• Provide ‘anchor points’ for vital parts of your online courses ( for example, Education Reading Groups)

• Collaboration between campus-based and distance learners, or between two campus based groups linked via a fast and easy to set up and manage web-conference!

Support

• Virtual office Hours• Feedback tutorials• Library catalogues and e-resources tours• Technical support (if you can! Or bring

someone who can!)• Supervision support for both Masters and PhD

students

Socialisation (informal gatherings)

• Students Clubs

• Theatre, cinema and book critiques!

• (believe or not we even hosted an whisky tasting using Elluminate)

Extended Outreach

• Bring a guest speaker either for your online students, or your campus-based, or both!

• Bring two classes together from different locations, countries or continents!

• Project collaboration• Virtual mobility of students

Does it always work?

• Technology is not very predictable! So, you must be prepared. Have a back up plan!

• E-moderation is vital to the process. The more you are doing it, the better you will become

• There is no magic number of how many, how long, how much! It all depends on your ‘Why go live’ decision

What did our students tell us?

• It’s fun• It’s meaningful• It’s useful• It’s flexibleBut..... Can be frustrating Can be boring Can be a waste of time

So, the choice is yours!

Thank you