in words and pics...

After three virtual classes I wanted to see for myself how my students were responding to the whole new change. From the other side of the table, as it were. So this morning, I walked down to the school and sat with them as my friend and ex-colleague agreed to volunteer for the class.

The girls were a little shy initially but felt comfortable soon and started to interact as usual. Being seated on the floor did not deter them from carefully taking notes. I remember being such a diligent student only when we had to crack the Pythagoras theorem in school. I was particularly impressed with how comfortable they felt in this virtual classroom. In terms of discipline and in terms of their attention and level of interest there was no difference from a real classroom. In fact, this new way of learning seemed to have created much more interest.

Afterwards I spoke to my friend about how he felt teaching in this novel way. This is what he said:

“I’m impressed by the fact that these girls are very keen learners and refuse to let any learning opportunity be wasted. They had lots of questions and as a group they made sure that everything that needed clarification was in fact clarified then and there.

As a teacher with previous classroom experience I also felt comfortable using the virtual classroom which provided all the essential elements that a classroom needs. In less than ten minutes I was comfortable using the technology, was extremely pleased with the high level of interactivity, and at the end of the class came away convinced that I could actually teach using virtual classroom for an entire year.”

The class was on the basics of punctuation and I wish learning punctuation was as easy as this for me too. Apart from lil glitches here and there, the technology does look like a little wonder of wonders!