What virtual classrooms are

Just in case you’re one of the 93% who has never participated in a virtual classroom and are keen to know what on earth they are, here’s a quick primer. Virtual classrooms are applications of web conferencing technology, which allows computer users to communicate in real-time over the Internet or an intranet. Web conferencing is typically more than a simple text-based chat room; it allows groups of users to communicate in voice or video and to share all kinds of resources, such as slides, documents, electronic whiteboards (to which all users can contribute simultaneously), shared applications or even whole desktops, synchronised web surfing and much more. Virtual classrooms extend this technology to add the sorts of features that make real-time, virtual training a practical option, including polls, questions, surveys (virtual happy sheets), break-out sessions and record-keeping.

Virtual classrooms are offered by a number of major US providers, including Centra, WebEx, PlaceWare, InterWise, LearnLinc and, in the UK, NetTutor. You’ll also find virtual classroom modules built into many learning management systems. All provide the core functionality required to make a success of virtual training, although clearly there are many differences in the details and in the price your organisation will have to pay. The extent to which web conferencing has become mainstream, particularly since the events of 9/11 brought home the risks of air travel, has been borne out by the decision in May for Microsoft to acquire PlaceWare. Watch this space to see just how much web conferencing functionality ends up built-in to future versions of Windows.