VIRTUAL CLASSROOM: A Distance Learning Platform

Czhiellah Anj-Lee Kimsey C. Genita, Ed. D.

Online learning environments can offer learners opportunities for interaction and collaboration distinctly different from face – to – face learning environments. However, the integration of educational technologies also presents challenges and concerns in relation to students’ learning. At present, schools and teachers are doing their best to shift instruction from the classroom to online platforms due to COVID – 19 pandemic. It is a shift to the new form of learning deliveries in which everybody should embrace. With the limited time and resources, DepEd in its most challenging work is eager to make learning continue despite all adversities. They continuously make a way and search for new teaching approaches to support students learning in the new normal setting.

As such, both the students and teachers are discovering the so called “virtual” classroom which is a distance learning platform that enables them to interact by the means of internet. Unlike a physical classroom where the teacher and students are all in the same room, in a virtual classroom, the teacher and the students are all sitting in front of their computers in their comfortable locality. They are able to listen and speak to each other using their computers and microphones through the internet. It is actually very similar to a physical classroom in which when one person speaks, the rest of the people in the room will be able to listen. A student needs to raise hand to request to speak, typically by clicking a button on the screen. Also, there will be a white board where the teacher can write down key words, sentences, and other related terms to the discussions. Thus, to deal with the need for more flexible learning, the Department of Education aimed at providing a richer, more engaging remote learning experience by the creation of the synchronous virtual classroom. The virtual classroom offers the possibility to include expertise outside the institution meaning that students are being exposed to a broader range of views and ideas, because this collaboration and connection creates richer learning experiences among students.

However, we cannot deny the fact that there are shortcomings in online instruction. Teachers who have participated in interactive online seminars may be able to mirror that approach in their own online classes. Similarly, there are subjects which are difficult to teach online. Still, despite the negativities, the Department of Education continues to work on giving the students the opportunities to learn. They believed that online teaching and learning are the possible answers to change the educational landscape and make it more flexible and accessible for a larger group of learners specifically at this time of pandemic. Hence, virtual classrooms are but one of the popular solution to some of the main problems of education. It is an ideal way to get a real connection in real – time from anywhere in the world.

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III at Carangian Elementary School

The author is Teacher