Students now expect high quality development opportunities. In the past, much of this type of training and development would have taken place at conferences or in the classroom. Though effective, this method can be inefficient in terms of budgets and time investment. Fortunately, today all this has changed thanks to the possibility of online training and access to a virtual classroom system integrated into the training platforms.
Online courses are excellent for organisations who want to provide comprehensive training opportunities . They’re more cost-effective than traditional courses, require less time out of the office, have a more flexible timescale and aren’t at risk of cancellation due to low uptake. They’re also very popular as organisations can choose to manage the administration of these courses in house, cutting out third party training organisations all together.
As online courses have grown in popularity, the technology around them has rapidly developed. One of these developments is the growth of virtual classrooms, integrated into training platforms, which allow debate with other participants, students can attend live classes, ask trainers… The educational platforms, these are digital spaces that allow course participants to engage with course materials, , and watch presentations or videos. Educational platforms with integrated virtual classrooms offer participants a really valuable online base for their learning activities. When they’re utilised effectively, virtual classrooms can turn online courses into learning experiences that are just as social as traditional face to face courses.
In order for course participants to be able to engage with all these benefits, their course providers need to invest in a virtual classroom system. A virtual classroom system is the software framework from which a virtual classroom can operate. These pieces of software are often cloud hosted (or SaaS), which means that course participants can access them from wherever they are.
Any organisation who is offering regular online training could benefit from investing in a learning management system (LMS). These pieces of software make the entire course administration process easy: both for administrators and course participants. One key benefit of this type of management software is that most pieces of LMS software have an incorporated virtual classroom system.
So why invest in a virtual classroom system?
#1. Consistent virtual classrooms enable course participants to jump straight into a new course without having to familiarise themselves with a new piece of software.
Since virtual classrooms are integrated into the main training platform, teachers can make the learning experience more comfortable for their students. In the virtual classroom tool, teachers can add the educational material they want and use it in their online classes.
Online classes, integrated into their courses and activities, are taught in virtual classrooms with videoconferencing, whiteboard and file repository that allow centers to combine the best of online teaching and traditional teaching for a more effective and 100% practical learning.
#2. A virtual classroom system facilitates discussion between course participants.
The social component is also very important during learning. Virtual classrooms allow students to be in contact with their classmates, discuss, share doubts and help each other. Students can access virtual classrooms whenever they want, day or night, wherever they are and, once online, they can talk and practice with other students who are also connected at the time.
#3. Cloud-based virtual classrooms make it easy for course participants to study wherever they are.
Through this cloud-based space, students and teachers can communicate with each other very easily, from anywhere and at any time. These typically include communication tools, such as video and audio chats and instant messaging. Virtual classrooms are also a space to host training resources and practical exercises. Since students can access from different devices, they can take advantage of any moment to continue with their course, access resources and contact the teacher and classmates, for example, from their mobile.
#4. When an organisation uses a virtual classroom system it creates a consistent training centre for their employees to access.
When we integrate virtual classrooms into our training platform, we facilitate contact between students and teachers. Students no longer have to wait to meet the teacher in person to let him know their doubts. With a virtual classroom, you can set schedules in which the teacher will be accessible without having to wait for face-to-face classes.
Interested in what virtual classrooms can offer? Take a look at the features of our market leading learning management system.