Blog Post #3

Original Blog Post from the "Innovative Educator":

SUNDAY, JULY 1, 2012

A virtual classroom that’s more intimate than face to face

...In this case, it meant that the instructor had planned for a way for all of the students contribute virtually face-to-face. It also meant that students were focused.  It was as though they were all in the front of the class.  The author who wrote about this experience explained that though it may be hard to believe, there was closer intimacy in this virtual classroom than many of those he’d experienced in the classroom. He attributes that to being the case possibly because of the close-up of each person’s face and he got a sense that each student knew they were expected to contribute which raised the bar for all. ...

My Response:

The virtual classroom seems to be taking on new meaning as programs are generated to allow more interaction and less down time.  Within the realm of producing 21^st century learners, this type of instruction is an excellent way to engage students in a setting where they will most likely find themselves at some point in their careers.  With this classroom, we are strengthening the notion of cooperation and collaboration and allowing students to take on responsibility in the classroom outside of just their grades.  Students are being held responsible for interacting and contributing to the setting as opposed to only listening and regurgitating information.  This post has interested me in looking further into Google Hangout, and finding different ways to incorporate these ideas into my own virtual classroom.

http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2012/07/virtual-classroom-thats-more-intimate.html#comment-form