However, a classroom full of students and a teacher standing in front of the students with a book, a desk, and such is still a powerful learning method.
But now the debate is which classroom is effective to engage students throughout the learning session: virtual classroom or traditional classroom.
To find out and come to a final conclusion, we first need to look at how both worlds engage students.
So let’s dive in.
What is a Virtual Classroom?
A virtual classroom is a digital space where students and teachers interact, communicate, and engage from a distance. This educational format allows instructors to train students from their homes, while students can attend the class from anywhere.
The instructor usually holds an online class using a robust video conferencing platform that supports live HD streaming capabilities. Various interactive elements are used to capture students’ attention and effectively engage them in an online environment, such as interactive whiteboards, live chat, real-time polls, Q&A, breakout rooms, gamification, and more.
What is a Traditional Classroom?
A traditional classroom is a physical venue, like a school, college, institution, or university campus, where students and teachers gather in the same room, interact, and engage in person. This is a long-established and centuries-old method of imparting knowledge.
Instructors follow the standardized curriculum and ensure all students meet learning objectives. This learning style creates a structured learning environment where the instructor interacts with students face-to-face and engages them through hands-on projects and activities.
Key Differences Between Virtual Classroom and Traditional Classroom
Sr. No | Virtual Classroom | Traditional Classroom |
1 | It takes place online, allowing students to join the class from anywhere with an internet connection | It is held in person, which requires students and teachers to be physically present at an assigned venue |
2 | Interaction between instructor and learners occurs through chat, polls, Q&A, video calls, and more | There is direct, face-to-face interaction between students and teachers |
3 | Learning materials are in digital form – PDFs, e-books, slides, and more | Educational materials often come in physical forms – textbooks, workbooks, and printed notes |
4 | It is relatively cost-effective, involving investment mainly in the online classroom platform, tech gadgets like a camera, a mic, etc & internet connectivity | It can be expensive due to venue, electricity, printed material, and transportation costs |
5 | Students who were unable to attend the live session receive a recording of the lecture, which they can watch at their own pace | If a student misses a live in-person lecture, they don’t get a recording of the session |
How Do Virtual Classrooms Keep Students Engaged?
Virtual classrooms can keep students engaged and entertained even when they are not physically present in the classroom. Some features and tools create an environment for them as if they are studying in a physical classroom. It captures students’ attention, maintains their interest, and encourages them to interact with teachers and classmates.
Let’s know how virtual classrooms engage students during the live session:
1) Interactive Features
Interactive features play a vital role in engaging students in an online learning environment. They encourage students’ active participation, make them curious to learn the concepts, and keep them interested in the subject matter. Today’s modern virtual classroom platforms offer a suite of tools to make learning more interactive and engaging.
- Virtual Whiteboard
Through an interactive virtual whiteboard, students and teachers can collaborate in real-time. The instructor can draw, write, and annotate, as well as brainstorm ideas and have an interactive lesson. Students can also write and draw once teachers allow them to do so.
At the end, the teacher can summarize the key points, ensuring that students have a good understanding of the topic. Indeed, a virtual whiteboard can make learning engaging and more enjoyable.
- Live Chat
Live chat is a great communication feature that allows students to ask questions privately and share their opinions with teachers. If a student has a question during a lecture, they can use the chat box and express their concern to the teacher without disrupting the presentation. A teacher can also use it to share any document with students, like notes, PDFs, assignments, or any important file.
- Poll
Using this feature, teachers can conduct live polls and allow students to vote in real-time to check their understanding of the topic and gather instant feedback & opinions on subject matter. The instructor might launch a poll during class to initiate discussion or at the beginning of the session to test their knowledge. This can be a single-choice question, a multiple-choice question, or an open-ended question.
- Q&A
Virtual classroom platforms offer an exclusive Q&A tool that the instructor can utilize during live classes to encourage discussion in a virtual environment. Students can clarify their doubts and pose questions regarding the topic with ease. With a Q&A session, the teacher and students can have a more in-depth discussion about the subject matter.
2) Networking
Networking is a popular interactive feature that makes students feel more connected to the classroom. This feature gives students a dedicated time where they can connect with fellow classmates, make new friends, and build relationships with them.
Networking features like social lounges and speed networking make it easier for students to connect and build a network. Through social lounges, learners can socialize and have casual talk, share personal experiences, exchange contact information, and create strong bonds with each other. With speed networking, students can connect with multiple classmates in a short period of time.
3) Breakout Room
It is a great feature that splits students into smaller groups and allows them to engage more deeply with the content and their classmates. In fact, this feature facilitates effective collaboration among students. Learners are able to work together on group tasks or projects as well as gain knowledge through discussion and hands-on activities.
Learners sometimes hesitate to speak up and share their viewpoints in front of all. Breakout rooms divide students into groups and allow everyone to openly and comfortably share their thoughts and opinions. Using the breakout room feature, educators can create a dynamic environment where learners will actively learn, participate, and collaborate.
4) Multimedia Content
When it comes to enhancing students’ engagement, multimedia content comes out on top because it makes the learning effective, interesting, and appealing. Multimedia content like images, videos, infographics, and audio enrich students’ learning experiences. Using multimedia content, you can easily design content to suit students’ different learning styles and preferences, making the content understandable to a wide range of students, enabling them to fully understand the topic.
In a virtual classroom, an instructor can use video to explain complex concepts or procedures to students. Using images and infographics, teachers can present data and information in a visually appealing and easy-to-understand manner. An audio file, like a voice note, can be used to provide learners with spoken instructions, feedback, or commentary on the course content. Indeed, multimedia content will help create a more personalized and effective learning experience for learners.
5) Gamification
54% of U.S. educators strongly agree that game-based learning is a must-have. Because it makes the learning highly interactive and engaging in a virtual setting. Leaderboards, points systems, badges, and challenges are the game-like elements that not just encourage students’ participation but also promote friendly competition.
Many students are motivated by competition, which leads to greater participation in the classroom by questioning and answering. When students engage in game-like activities, they are more likely to recall what they have learnt, which aids in knowledge retention. Thanks to gamification, learning is more exciting and entertaining than ever before for students and trainers alike.
How Do Traditional Classrooms Keep Students Engaged?
For centuries, traditional education has been considered the most reliable and effective method, and it continues to be so. While virtual classes are on the rise, traditional classes will not cease to be relevant because of their face-to-face meetings, hands-on learning experience, and direct support from the teacher. It creates a more effective learning environment that may be lacking in the virtual classroom.
Let’s know how the traditional classroom engages students in real-time:
1) Direct and Face-to-Face Interaction
Since the teacher and students are in the same room, direct and face-to-face interaction occurs among them. Teachers can make eye contact and use gestures to capture and maintain students’ attention throughout the class. While teaching, instructors can easily read students’ body language, behaviors and then adjust content delivery accordingly and make them easily understand the topic. A teacher’s supportive attitude in the physical classroom can really influence students and encourage them to concentrate better on the subject matter.
2) Hands-On Learning & Activities
Hands-on learning promotes experiential learning and enables students to explore the concepts better. Students get an opportunity to explore materials and handle objects, and eventually learn best through doing. When students touch and feel objects, their understanding and retention of information increases.
Students can have a hands-on learning experience in various subjects, including mathematics, history, science, language arts, and more. Learners have to complete a hands-on project in a group or individually, depending on the purpose of the assignment.
3) Classroom Discussions and Debates
Traditional classrooms allow students to have face-to-face discussion and debates on the subject matter. Since students are physically present in the same room, their participation will be at a high level when they discuss any topic. They can interact, communicate, and collaborate well with each other.
For example, if the teacher is giving a lesson on AI, they may encourage the students to discuss how AI will help in their academic performance. Students will discover which tasks and how AI can enhance their academic success.
Which Classroom Promotes Higher Engagement?
We can’t objectively establish which class promotes the highest engagement because the way they both engage students is different. Virtual classroom and traditional classroom- both formats are adept at capturing students’ attention, keeping them engaged, and increasing their participation.
In both worlds, students can get a high-quality education, gain knowledge, and broaden their understanding of the topic. The only difference is that in a virtual setup, the students and teacher will not be present in the same classroom to interact and communicate with each other.
Final Thoughts
The strategies of student engagement in virtual classrooms and traditional classrooms are somewhat similar. In both models, teachers can deliver high-quality lessons, engage students in group projects and collaborative activities, as well as allow them to ask their queries and clarify their doubts.
In a virtual classroom, students perform tasks remotely, whereas in a traditional classroom, they must be physically present throughout all activities, but keep students well-engaged during the live class.
FAQs
In a traditional classroom, students often find it easier to socialize as they are physically present in the same room. Being in the same physical class naturally allows them to interact and engage with each other.
However, virtual classrooms also allow students to interact and socialize once the instructor gives permission, but because they are online, they lack the opportunity to engage in organic interactions.
- Students can join the classes from anywhere in the world
- Learners can get the opportunity to connect with and build a network with students who are from different cities, states, and even countries
- Virtual classes remove the travelling expenses of students
- Students can learn lessons from international instructors
- Students get access to recorded lectures of a virtual classroom, allowing them to rewatch and study lessons at their own pace and convenience
- Students can meet the instructor face-to-face and address their concerns instantly
- Students can easily engage with classmates before or after class, even during the session, while performing group activities
- Students get to learn from a designated room where they are less likely to be distracted by distractions that are often found in virtual classrooms, such as family members, pets, and TVs
- Learners can access the lab to complete science projects and experiments things
- Students get direct support from peers for group projects, lab activities, and hands-on experiments
Absolutely, while online learning has grown and become popular, in-person classrooms still offer numerous benefits. It creates a learning environment in which students love to learn and increase their focus in the classroom. A traditional classroom also facilitates invaluable face-to-face social interaction with peers and teachers, which is less likely to happen in an online classroom. When students learn together in a physical room with their classmates, they learn key skills from them, such as time management, communication, listening, leadership, and many more.
