Developing Awesome Virtual Classrooms: A Case Study

This case study is an example of how a teacher can make a virtual classroom a powerful tool for learning,
collaborating and yes even fun. In this case study I'm going to show a small sub-section of what a teacher &
students can do in an ETG virtual classroom using one assignment as an example. You can use this case study as a
jumping board to develop your own ideas and really make your class pages exciting and useful. It's not that hard
and once you get started you may even start to enjoy yourself!

This is NOT a guide on how to get started with ETG. For help getting started, have a look at the "ETG Guide for
Teachers". I'm assuming that readers have already created a virtual classroom and explored some of the features
of ETG and now are looking for a way to make their classrooms more interactive and relevant. 

Picture this - one teacher with 30 students per class and 5 classes to teach! Not a pretty picture. This teacher is
overloaded with work and since cloning is out of the question they're looking to technology for help. They don't
want a site that requires hours of training, but one that's easy to use, reliable and also has plenty features.
Our teacher, Mr. Gold, has created virtual classrooms for all of his classes. He's now wondering what to do next?
Some background - Mr. Gold has grade 10 to 12 English and Geography classes (this study is equally relevant for
teachers at any level however).

The first step to getting students involved is to have them register for the site and join the classroom. Mr. Gold
has both a blackboard and a SmartBoard in his classrooms. He shows the students how to register for the site and
how to find the virtual classrooms. He writes down the site address and the name of the virtual classroom on a
corner of the blackboard for all to see. This is really all they need. Once they register there's a searchbox on the
landing page and they just type in the name and then click through to "Join Classroom". Here are the sequences
of steps that your students will need to take to join your class.
1. Look it up - This is the landing page users see once they login. They type in the name of the class in the
'Find your Classroom' box.

2. Click on the Class link

3. Click on ‘Join Class’
To make sure the class is utilized (and to save paper) Mr. Gold says that the next assignment will be posted on
the site and only there. There will be no handouts. Although most students have access to a computer, not all do.
 However the school has a lot of public access computers in the library. His students all register
and join the class that evening so they can access the assignment details.

Everyone is now familiar with the site and they bookmark it. For some this may seem to be the
end, but it's really the beginning of what you can do with a virtual classroom.  The virtual
classroom isn't just a place to post notes and dates, although it's a good place for that. It's also a
place to engage students in a way that one cannot do during regular class hours since there are limitations to
time and the method of interaction.

The Assignment - The student's assignment is based on the Dickens book "Great Expectations". They must invent
a character who befriends the main character and write a summary of his background and a short story involving
the two. What does this involve? So many things! 

To create an assignment in his virtual classroom, Mr. Gold clicks on 'Add' from the Assignments widget. He then
fills in the details about the assignment, inputs the due date on the calendar, and sets the assignment to 'Open'
meaning it's new. The 'Read Access' as always is set to 'Group' so everyone in the class can see it. Have a look:
Class Pages - To really understand the assignment and excel at it they need to know something about the people
and living conditions of 19th century England. Mr. Gold creates a Page in the classroom which has a short clip of
the "Great Expectations" movie, some photo's of London in the 19th century and posts an article on living
conditions at the time. His students can now use this information as a starting ground for learning more. Here's
what his Page looks like:
To create a Page, Mr. Gold clicks on 'Add' from the Class Pages widget. His Page has a YouTube video, images and
links to articles on the net. Creating a similar Page is very easy: The following image shows a blank Page with a
text editor at the top.  
 To upload videos or embed content click on 'Source', then copy the code into the page.
 To upload a picture, click on the icon that looks like a photo then upload the file from your computer or input
the address of where it resides on the net. 
 To insert a hyperlink you can either copy and paste the address or highlight the text that you want to be
hyperlinked and then click on the icon with the globe and a chain link on it.

Class Files - Since many of his students like to read online or using their iPads or other similar devices, he uploads
a readable PDF version of the book. They can now read the book online and add comments if they like.
To upload a file he clicks on 'Add' from the Class Files widget. He located a free copy of the book in embeddable
form from Scribd.com. He then clicked on 'Source' from the editor and pasted the code into the editor and then
clicked 'Save'. 
Polling - The polls feature in the virtual classroom allows the teacher to ask his students questions about anything
they're learning and keeps them engaged rather than passive observers of what the teacher is doing (like
conventional classrooms). Here's an example.
To create this poll Mr. Gold clicks on 'Add' from the Polls widget and fills in the details.
Discussion Boards - Mr. Gold starts a conversation in the discussion board by providing his students with links to
a couple great resources and then asks them for their feedback. He does that by clicking on 'Add' from the
Discussion board widget. There's an option for discussion board posts to allow comments or not. Allowing
comments means students can add their opinions, ask questions and also provide resources. Even though he set
this discussion post to open (to allow comments), he still has control over what gets posted and can delete
inappropriate content.

Here's what adding a comment looks like and the ensuing conversation that starts up afterwards.
Students start to add their comments and resources and the discussion board gets interesting.
Shared Calendar - While the assignment Mr. Gold created shows the due date, he wants to make extra sure that
no one forgets so he creates an event on the shared calendar. The calendar widget prominently shows dates
pertinent to the class. He clicks on 'Add' in the Calendar widget and uploads the assignment date. 

The virtual classroom starts to evolve into a place where students, teachers and even parents can check out what
everyone is learning and add their thoughts. In a regular classroom students can't watch videos, post comments
or start and engage in conversations. It's just not the way a conventional classroom can work. 

It's not ALL fun and games in Mr. Gold's class. Work has to be done too and he knows that some students will find
any way possible to get out of it. This is why he uploads all the required readings, assignments and test dates to
the virtual classroom. This way, students have access to the info 24/7 and they also get email updates whenever
items are posted so there's no excuse for not getting it. Furthermore, he invites parents to join the virtual class so
that they can follow along with their children and make sure they know when things are due.

Have a look at the virtual classroom now that things are in motion.
The virtual classroom takes Mr. Gold's class to a higher level. His students are asking her fewer questions (in
person), which means fewer interruptions to answer the same questions over and over. They're also enjoying
their work more and getting better grades. Students, Teachers, Parents and Principals are all happy. Case closed.