The virtual classroom
There are at least 3 advantages of classroom training that make it more effective than online learning, IMO:
- the knowledgeable instructor who responds to my questions in real-time
- the students sitting around me who also ask questions, getting me to think about the subject in new ways
- and for technology training - access to a hands-on learning environment (labs) that I couldn't or wouldn't create for myself during informal learning
There are other things too - like the dedication of time to learning when I go to a classroom event, but with some discipline I can and have made that happen online as well.
Heads are down trying to figure out how to increase the effectiveness of online learning, in light of the advantages of the classroom experience. Tools like Live Meeting and WebEx can bridge the gap on the first two bullets - the instructor and the students - but they don't close it.
But on the third bullet - the opportunity to work hands-on with the technology - the web is doing a much better job of making obsolete the classroom. Connecting to a Virtual Server platform puts a smorgasbord of operating systems, developer tools, and network and productivity applications at your fingertips - that can be safely run from within the browser of almost any PC (or Mac I suppose). Here are a few sites with free online lab environments for ITPros, and Developers:
You can also find online labs as a built-in component of an online learning course - where the lab is specific to the skills taught in the course. The ones above are stand-alone, and you'll have to get your training (knowledge) and context from other resources - like TechNet and MSDN.
What about online labs IN the classroom? Or, to reduce the time and cost of going to classroom training, would it work for you if the classroom time was about lecture and interaction, and the labs you could perform on your own? Is that getting closer to the best of both worlds?
Why do you like best about classroom training? Vote in the poll, or leave a comment.
Comments
Anonymous
July 15, 2008
I'm in Salt Lake City (at the e-Learning DevCon) and enjoying sitting in the classroom -- kind of funny, considering the topic. Benefits: I'm forced to focus just on the topic -- no mail, browsing or other interruptions I get immediate visual feedback from the instructors and other students I feel a very strong connection with the group ================ I just presented a session to 25 people, and really enjoyed writing on the whiteboard and encouraging lots of feedback from the group. This is much harder to do online. But I did have to wait in Atlanta for weather for five hours, and my luggage didn't arrive here until 3AM.Anonymous
July 16, 2008
yes - all of these things reduce the deficiency of online learning. But they are still a long LONG way from the benefits of attending a class. When you manage to get real inter-student and student-tutor interaction you might jsut start to approach equivalence. I get so SO much out of chatting over coffee with other students. Online chat is a poor approximation of this kind of communication.