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In knowledge and technology-based economies, teaching and learning are the foundations of future progress. But the digital revolution means that virtual real-time and face-to-face training is very much growing and has a big role to play in case of travel restrictions or even in times of severe weather, political unrest or health crises. All of these argue in favor of mixed training methods.
When you disconnect the act of teaching from the necessity of being face-to-face, distance can be a solution rather than a problem. There are times when bringing teachers and pupils together is not only difficult, but also not a very good idea in the first place. Dedicated remote teaching and training enable programs to continue, without losing the students’ engagement.
At the moment, however, remote teaching still often happens with videoconferencing systems instead of dedicated teaching and learning platforms. Videoconferencing tools typically allow less engagement between a teacher and students, the interactive possibilities are mainly one-directional and, most of all, these platforms require teachers to do a lot of adaptations in their content and workflow in order to convey their message.
So choosing explicitly and well-informed for a virtual classroom technology is key. A platform built for training should meet three criteria. It should:
Traditional, in-class teaching will never disappear. Yet even without outside forces, education and training is changing. Tools such as learning management systems, where students can log in whenever and from wherever they choose, interactive digital content and flexible learning spaces with different teaching styles are all transforming how we pass on knowledge.
The truth is that the motors behind this transformation lie both in lifestyle and management. Universities and corporations can now dispense more knowledge to more people without the need for them to be physically present.
Due to geo-political factors, students have had to become more careful about where they choose to study. EdTech now gives them access to many institutions without or with less need to travel. This is not to overlook corporate training and business schools that are often dealing with busy professionals with very precise time constraints.
As Australian EdTech consultant Peter Westcott put it, “The big change in higher education institutions is that before, it was a privilege to go to university whereas now it’s a privilege for universities to acquire students”.
Distance learning through online on-demand lessons is as old as the hills. But the newer solutions offer far broader benefits and combine well with traditional teaching.
One of the keys to understanding and exploiting the potential of distance or e-learning is to remember that it is not a second-class version of teaching. It can be, in the words of U2, “Even better than the real thing”. It complements traditional teaching and opens new ways of improving the experience for the teacher and student. The combination of a live situation with digital enhancements works perfectly.
The other essential aspect of virtual classrooms and technology-enhanced learning is that it also prepares institutions for situations where normal in-situ classes become impossible. We have seen many examples of these in the past few months alone.
Seeing is believing, so we would be happy to welcome to one of our upcoming free virtual classroom sessions! They are free, only take 45 minutes and give an inspiring insight in the future of learning and the possibilities of our real-time distance learning platform weConnect. Simply choose the moment that fits you best below and join our classroom, no strings attached.