Best Practices for Improving Communication in a virtual classroom Michelle Gurzynski Ashford University

It is all up to the instructor. “Experienced trainers know that frequent meaningful learner interaction with the content is the main path to learning. From polling options to direct messaging to break- out rooms, the virtual classroom tools offer a plethora of opportunities to engage your learners. It’s up to you to exploit these in ways that lead to learning” (Clark, 2005)

Overview Getting learners to interact within the virtual classroom can be difficult but with a little assistance from interactive tools within the course this task can be easily accomplished. The following slides will introduce tools that can be used to help learners become active learners inside a virtual classroom.

Why use interactive tools? “Having to respond frequently to varied types of interactions in the virtual classroom in and of itself will promote learner attention” (Clark & Kwinn, 2007).

Tools available Polling Chat White Board Input Audio Icons Breakout Rooms Application Sharing

Polling “The polling feature provides buttons that participants click to indicate their selection of two or five response options for multiple- choice or yes-no option questions posted by the instructor” (Clark & Kwinn, 2007).

Polling example Learners answer here Question provided on white board here.

Chat Chat is a great way for instructors to ask open ended questions that require critical thinking and an opportunity for overt learner involvement.

Chat example Students can log in by stating they are there in the chat box or they can answer questions that the instructor provides.

White Board Input One of the great parts of the white board is that the answers are anonymous. This allows the learner to feel more at ease and hopefully they will interact more because of this. Unfortunately it does not allow the instructor to see who is participating and who is not.

White Board Input example The instructor presents a question and the learners type their answers directly onto the white board.

Audio Pro: “Audio participation increases social presence and is the best option for long open-ended responses that would require too much typing to express in chat” (Clark & Kwinn, 2007). Con: “Audio responses are transient, leaving no visual record” (Clark & Kwinn, 2007).

Icons Icons allow the learners to demonstrate their feelings. For instance if they are confused about something they can click on the appropriate icon. Other uses for Icons include: Letting the instructor know you are finished with an exercise. Showing you understand the course material Applauding peers for work well done

Icon example Students click on the appropriate icon when needed.

Breakout Rooms “Breakout rooms allow small groups of participants to work together independently with access to all of the facilities available in the main room. Commonly used for small group work or discussions” (Clark & Kwinn, 2007).

Application Sharing Application sharing allows an instructor and other users such as the learner to open another application in the “application sharing window” this allows the instructor to demonstrate how to use other applications and to also allow the learner to demonstrate their understanding of other applications.

Conclusion “Construct interactions that mirror the job to give your organization the best return on investment. Supplement knowledge questions with demographic, behavioral, and attitude interactions in order to establish social presence, learn about class participants, and acknowledge feelings and opinions as important correlates associated with applying new knowledge and skills” (Clark & Kwinn, 2007).

References Clark, R. C., & Kwinn, A. (2007). The New Virtual Classroom. San Francisco: Pfeifer. Clark, R. (2005, May). Four steps to effective virtual classroom training. Learning solutions magazine. Retrieved September 26, 2011 from 266/four-steps-to-effective-virtual-classroom- training