What is virtual classroom training? Benefits, key features, best practices

Distance learning has been around for a while–but when the world had to abruptly convert to using a virtual classroom set-up in 2020, many educators’ training was not geared to adjust to a virtual learning style. So, for many people (especially young students), the jury is still out as to whether a virtual classroom and virtual learning and training are net positive.

However, with a little bit of adaptation and some attention to best practices, virtual learning proves to be a self-evident good. It’s the latest and best evolution of an idea that the educational field has been working on for quite some time. Virtual classrooms can be used worldwide as a safe, convenient, productive, and cost-effective learning solution. Let us show you how.

What is virtual classroom training?

The vital factor for virtual classroom training is the virtual classroom, an online space built on video conferencing and collaboration tools where students and educators engage with each other and with learning materials. However, a virtual classroom is considerably better equipped than a video conferencing call or online learning class. Traditionally, online learning/e-learning was more likely to be self-paced while virtual learning implies much more interactivity between instructors and participants.

Advantages of virtual classroom training

The important distinction of a virtual classroom is that it’s not a distance learning solution where one simply follows along through a list of video clips. At Kaltura, we’ve often promoted the benefits of a “lean forward” learning style. Especially in video and/or online-based learning, interactivity is the crucial ingredient. This both leverages the ability to address different styles of learning and preferences–and also doesn’t leave learners feeling stranded in a one-way video lecture they can easily “check out” of.

When delivered optimally, virtual learning has several clear advantages over in-person classes. Virtual classroom training is particularly convenient regarding time and location, and especially if you are teaching skills or job functions to adult learners, this is a major benefit.

Neither teachers nor students need to travel to the same physical location for learning to happen if a virtual location is available. Similarly, while the class or course will most likely happen in real-time, there’s still less time cost “overhead”, so to speak, when eliminating trip time. Just jump right in when it’s time to start.

Likewise, scheduling between students and instructors becomes easier, and with a high-quality virtual classroom environment where resources, and often class recordings, are continuously available, review, study, and tutoring become less tied to specific availability times.

Accessibility and variety are also positively influenced by virtual classroom training. Accessibility is much higher in that learners are (hopefully!) offered a safe and comfortable learning space in a combination of a user-friendly virtual classroom and their own home.

However, the human touch and interactivity features prevent their course from feeling impersonal or mechanical–being able to ask your instructor questions goes a long way! Meanwhile, variety is improved by opening up the potential for collaborative learning (either from fellow students, co-instructors, teaching assistants, etc.) as well as making use of a range of media types that can be geared towards different levels of ability and different learning styles.

Additionally, a virtual classroom training environment is open enough to facilitate a range of different topics and courses, creating the possibility that your classes and training can cover more than one or a few subjects.

Finally, while some endeavors in virtual learning have proven a mixed success, there’s strong evidence that employing multiple contacts and techniques in a course makes it possible to better reach students, who may have diverse learning styles. Combined with courses structured toward strong engagement of learners, these have an overall positive effect on learning retention and outcomes. High-quality virtual classrooms are built with these exact factors in mind.

Key features and components of virtual classroom training

Any high-quality virtual classroom applications should provide the following:

Ease of access- The quicker that course participants can access their learning environment, the better. A simple link and credentials are ideal–if students are obligated to download and install software, they can experience difficulties that take focus away from the learning materials.

A user-friendly interface- This goes together with ease of access. A simple, intuitive interface keeps the focus on classes and content, allowing participants to easily communicate and/or collaborate with classmates and instructors. If the interface is too complicated to learn, it results in a poor overall learning experience.

Efficient structure for teaching and learning- Virtual courses and classrooms should have similar structures and connect to an overall hub but have the flexibility to provide unique features and course material relevant to different subjects. Instructors and administrators should be able to customize and organize to best suit their needs.

Content security- Virtual classroom solutions should help companies, organizations, and educational institutions to maintain control over their content. Security measures such as access control and authentication should be present to prevent unauthorized use as well as access to sensitive data.

Best practices for organizing & planning virtual classroom training

Instructors and educators usually have their work cut out–and scenarios of virtual classroom training are no exception. Here are some recommended best practices for preparing and structuring your courses and priming the lessons for best effectiveness:

• Know your “audience”- Make sure you have defined goals and prerequisites for your training and can verify when they’ve been completed. The better you know and understand your learners, the more effective you will be. Keep the curriculum on track as best you can and check that everyone is “getting it.”

• Organize the content- It’s important to keep things straight to the point in a virtual class, or you risk confusing your audience or, worse, losing their attention. Make sure the content you deliver is relevant, organized, and clear. Prepare an agenda and stick to it. Additionally, you can pre-prep application windows and demonstrations, and share your agenda with the class. If time permits you can even run through a pre-class checklist and make sure everything is ready.

• Practice, practice, practice- It is encouraged to run through a rehearsal of your presentation(s), especially for new courses and new instructors. It’s even better if you can do it in front of an audience of more than one. You don’t need to present everything word for word or moment by moment but run through main points/topics, transitions, and presentation elements. Overall this builds confidence in your material and tools. The good news is, the time you spend in actual instruction does additionally count as practice. It should become easier the more accustomed you are to doing it. But a quick rehearsal run-through will never hurt.

Some additional best practices individuals should employ while delivering instruction include:

• Develop your voice and personal teaching style- “Voice” is meant literally and figuratively. You want to both make sure you are communicating loud and clear and cultivate an engaging way of communicating. It is t is always best to keep things brief and to the point in an online session, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use a personal touch and use analogies and anecdotal stories to demonstrate your points.

• Keep the class engaged- Solicit specific interactions regularly from the whole class, possibly every 3-5 minutes or whenever a topic is being concluded (before moving on). Specific questions are often a good choice! Set ground rules for stepping away from the “room” so students don’t appear to be present but unresponsive. If possible, choose a virtual classroom training platform with interactivity features such as emoticons, breakout rooms, and interactive polls or quizzes so learners can interact.

• Pay attention- Responding to questions and feedback is important; if you encourage students to participate you need to react to their participation! You may not need to address everything right away but set respectful rules for how questions and feedback will be addressed. Your virtual classroom should be equipped to notify you when feedback and requests come in from your students. You can work towards being able to consistently address different requests and feedback. If your group is large, you may want to include a moderator or co-instructor.

Meet Kaltura’s virtual classroom training platform

If you’re looking for a virtual classroom training platform, we’d also like to introduce our advanced, industry-leading solution Kaltura Virtual Classroom. You might even say it’s “a class act”. Our virtual training solutions are versatile enough to be both a platform for schools and universities as well as an optimal virtual training format (particularly at enterprise level) for businesses and organizations.

Kaltura Virtual Classroom is a modern classroom designed for the future–an easily-branded continuous learning space that’s easy for students to reach with just a click. Within our virtual classroom training environment, we enable a digital whiteboard, breakout rooms, and moderated Q&A to keep learners focused, active, and interactive. This continuous virtual classroom space means you can set up branding, playlists, quizzes, and whiteboard activity just once. When you leave and come back, everything will be just as you left it.

Advanced video features ensure learners have access not only to live-streamed instruction but to “out-of-class” activities, reviewing, and catch-up. Live classes can also be recorded for everyone’s convenience and can incorporate automatic transcriptions. Course material will also be as accessible as possible, allowing students to review it on demand. Built-in pro editing tools will also give you the option to reuse and repurpose your content where appropriate.

To ensure your virtual classroom training group is eminently easy to manage, we also offer moderation control. And last, but not least, Kaltura loves data. Advanced analytics show you how engaged your class was, when, and where in the session. This gives you the insights to decide what’s working best and optimize your lesson plan to be more effective next time. Best of all, Kaltura Virtual Classroom integrates with all standard Learning Management Systems.

For ease of use, we’ve also ensured our platform is browser-based (and includes a dial-in option). It requires no special gear, software, or technical skills to get up and running. If you’d like to find out more about Kaltura Virtual Classroom and decide whether it’s an ideal virtual classroom training solution for you, we also make it easy for you to try a free trial.

In summary

Online learning is here to stay, even if we’re still ironing out some of the wrinkles. Using a high-quality virtual classroom training solution and employing these best practices, we’re confident that virtual learning will produce increasing educational dividends over time. After all, virtual classroom training can allow students to have a quality learning experience from anywhere, at any time.