Virtual Class

The internet provides the opportunity for different methods of interaction among learning communities. John Dewey has highlighted the importance of interaction in learning where he views interaction as taking place when students reshape and personalize the information they have received from others in a learning community.

In his book titled “E-learning: From Theory to Practice”, Michael Moore discusses the multi-dimensional interactions within a learning community, i.e. among students, between students and teachers, and between students and the teaching content. Anderson and Grison, current faculty member of the Athabasca Virtual University, expand upon these interactions and include the interactions among teachers, between teachers and content, and between contents. The sum of all these interactions creates a complex web whereby innovative methods for e-learning are developed.
Although an e-learning environment is student centered and the role of the teacher is that of facilitator and guider of knowledge; however the interaction between teachers and students is of critical importance in improving the learning quality. In this light, in planning the teaching and pedagogy based on innovative information technology effort has been placed in utilizing all interactive tools, i.e. visual, audio, text, animation, and multimedia.
Virtual classes encompasses the interactive tools mentioned above and through the use of specialized software and comprehensive technical support, students have the opportunity to directly interact with professors and teaching assistants to create learning on a real time basis.