Virtual classrooms: Education technology for distance education and self-directed content review

摘要

Technological advances in recent years have broadened the options for conveying learning material in situations other than traditional face-to-face classroom delivery, such as distance learning or self-directed learning. In this paper, we report on a major redesign of classroom spaces and technology developments to create a more flexible teaching and learning environment for both lecturer and student, based on previous experiences in using remote tele-lectures and pre-recorded lectures made available to students on DVD. In particular, we report on the application of a novel control system for our virtual teaching classroom and our recently developed VCPlayer technology. These developments allow students and lecturers in tele-lecture situations to interact in new ways, and for students with pre-recorded lectures to engage in self-directed learning.