The Virtual Classroom Experience

As part of my normal Friday schedule, I would first go to my math class from 9:35-10:30, then walk down the stairs and attend my English class from 10:40-11:35, and finally go to my last class of the day, biology, from 11:45-12:40. Last week, however, my Friday schedule was a little different. instead of having to go to my English class right after math, I just needed to go straight to the library and log on to this virtual classroom on blackboard. this was done because our teacher couldn't attend class, but he still wanted a class to take place, even if it is done virtually.

I actually found this experience to be fun because it allowed me to talk more openly and freely than when I talk in class, which I don't, because I'm pretty shy. See, when I'm online, I can be this confident type of person who can say and do whatever she wants because I feel more free in writing and expressing how I feel without anyone to judge me when I am speaking in front of an audience or having a discussion in a classroom.

Next, the way the blackboard virtual classroom was setup was pretty fun as well. Not only could you talk to other students from your classroom, you could also ask questions that you felt needed to be answered using the question tool, or draw things on top of the discussion area to create a more fun place to talk. I, as well as many of my other classmates, contributed to drawing fun pictures and writings anonymously when we didn't really have much to say while there was a discussion. Although this was partially distracting, it also allowed the students to connect on a more personal basis rather than just a discussion about digital natives.

Although there were a few problems with the virtual classroom such as not being able to join it (i had to switch to a different computer because some computers don't support this, other students couldn't even join the session) or the area where you could write was small in comparison to the drawing section, this type of communication and discussion served to be much better in the long run because it allowed us to learn to speak to others through Internet and not just face to face, this was relevant to what we were talking about at the time (digital natives), and it took a different approach to learning and may have even lead to a more powerful discussion within the virtual classroom.

Overall, this was a very fun experience for me and I look forward to joining a virtual classroom again and being able to speak about how i feel about certain things and drawing when I don't know what to say. This was a great learning experience and I'm glad I was introduced to this type of communication.