Virtual Classroom

The website I found outlines ten benefits to a virtual classroom. As someone who takes and enjoys virtual classes, I found this website to be very interesting. One of the benefits the website gives is that the student will have access to the best teachers in the country without being hindered by their location or worrying about the reputation of the school. The website also states flexibility as one of the major benefits of a virtual classroom, which is what attracts me most to a virtual class. I would rather be able to do my work when I want and at my own pace, then be told when to be somewhere. Other benefits outline on this website are cost savings, the fact that thousands of students can learn from one teacher, and the fact that the income of the teachers will increase.

I think virtual classrooms are a very important new technology. As it is here at FGCU, I think that most schools, including high schools, should make at least one virtual class mandatory. It allows students to experience a new type of learning that is becoming more and more popular. It also provides students with new knowledge of the Internet and computers that they may not have access to outside of a virtual classroom. For example, I have never had any experience with blogging or creating my own website until I took this class. It is my belief that the younger the student is when he or she experiences and begins learning about the Internet, the better off they will be in the long run, especially in this era. Teachers especially should be required to take a virtual class, as they may one day be asked or want to instruct a virtual classroom.

There is a great deal of research that has been done on virtual classrooms, and much of the evidence is in support of them. As with any topic, more research could be done to determine more about the benefits and detriments to using virtual classrooms. Personally, the only knowledge I have about them is what I have experienced in the classes I have taken online, and before I were to instruct a virtual classroom, I would need to do more individual research.