It cannot have escaped anyone’s notice that the technological changes taking place at a rapid pace are radically transforming the educational scenario in the world. Before long, the face of a classroom will be something quite different from the one that exists today. When anything new is introduced, the adults indulge in it first. Until they are fully convinced about its soundness and suitability, it is not introduced to children. The same thing happened with computers. The advantages of computers are so widely agreed upon now, that people insist on using computers for educational purposes. Yet, changes in education are comparatively slow and we have not yet done away with the tedious activity of writing. It is time one starts thinking about replacing paper notebooks and pens with laptops. Similarly, children are not yet trusted with internet, because they are not old enough and matured enough to decide what is good for them and what is not. Of course, by limiting access on the net, it will be possible to allow students to use internet constructively and positively for learning. One significant aspect of computers is a virtual world. A virtual world is an interactive simulated environment accessed by multiple users through an online interface. Virtual worlds are also called "digital worlds," "simulated worlds”. A virtual world, unlike a real world, is a simulated experience. It has numerous features that make it suitable for learning purposes. For example, it allows the users to share space. Several users can participate in an interactive session at a given time. The interaction takes place in real time. The interaction is active wherein users can build, share and develop customized content. Some virtual worlds have been created for educational purposes. In most cases, educational worlds are sponsored by academic institutions or non-profit organizations, although some educational worlds are sponsored by corporations. Educational worlds come in a wide variety of forms, including 3D recreations of museum and gallery spaces, computer programming tutorials, virtual libraries, and meeting spaces for online university courses. Active Worlds Educational Universe is one of the oldest and largest networks of educational worlds. Adobe Atmosphere is also being used to build virtual worlds for educational purposes. A great example of a corporate-sponsored educational world is Mokitown. Virtual classrooms have become common in distance education. Distance education is fast gaining popularity and the interactive classroom sessions which were the sole monopoly of real traditional classrooms are now extended and have become possible in distance education. After all, a real learning experience cannot be any other than a teacher actually facing the students and explaining things. Distance learning students no longer have to miss this privilege. Let us look at how a virtual classroom works. Students enrolled in a particular course log in at a given time from anywhere in the world. The teacher is logged in at the same time, and is provided with a computer in a sound-proof studio which is specially designed for the purpose. The necessary software is installed in the computer. As the students log in one-by-one, their names and/or numbers appear on the screen. The teacher begins to speak and all the students can hear the teacher. Every lesson can be supported by a ppt. which is prepared in advance and the students can view the slides. In case any student wants to ask a question, he can ‘raise a finger’ which is seen as a pop-up by the teacher. The student can type the question. The student’s voice cannot be heard by the teacher, but the student can type and communicate. The teacher can answer the query orally or type the answer. All typed communication can be viewed by all the students so there is active participation. In addition to the ppt, the teacher can switch to the whiteboard and use it for sketching, writing key words, drawing figures etc. exactly like a blackboard in a traditional classroom. The ppt also enables teachers to show videos, play sound tracks, show graphs, illustrations etc. Thus, except that the teachers cannot see the students and cannot see each other, the virtual classroom is not much different from a traditional classroom. In this virtual classroom, students from different parts of the world attend a session together. Did we ever imagine that this could have been possible? There is no need for the students to go out in the sun and rain, worry about reaching in time and so on. Sitting comfortably at home, one can participate in a session. Hot discussions sometimes take place among students through chatting. Although it is virtual, one gets the feeling of being in a classroom and learning together. The best teacher in the world for a particular topic or subject can conduct the session, thus enabling students all over the world to get the benefit of expertise. With passing time, there will be additions, modifications and improvements in virtual classrooms. You may not have to miss a session if a teacher has to travel for some purpose. Virtual teaching learning sessions are also conducted via skype. Perhaps, virtual classrooms will become the tradition. So let us look forward and be prepared for a virtual learning experience.
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