VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS
Participants in this vRoom session: Evelyn in Venezuela, Larissa in Indiana,
Valentina in Elista, and Teresa ad participants in Yakutsk
What is a virtual classroom?
A virtual classroom is an online meeting space where learning takes place. It's a space where you interact with people through specific media, namely, a computer with a reasonable Internet connection and software that you may need to download when you log in. Some vClassrooms are browser-based and there's no need to download any software. It's the case of WiZiQ that we will be looking at today.)
To hear people and talk with them, you need a headset if you have a PC, or the built-in mic and speakers if you have a laptop.
When a virtual classroom opens you see the following main components:
- the menu bar at the top
- a whiteboard where content is shown
- a list of the participants
- the text chat area where you write your messages and above it a small window where the text from the different participants appears
- a microphone button that you click to speak and click again to give the mic to someone else.
Some uses of a vClassroom
A vClassroom is an ideal platform:
- to have a collaborative session with a distant class
- to have a guest speaker talk to a class about a spific topic or demonstrate something
- to give a presentation for people who are all geographically apart
- to have work meetings with peers
- to organize a conference, or,
- to hold an online conference.
Guest speaker at WiZiQ
Today we have a guest speaker with us, Evelyn Izquierdo* (short bio below) from Caracas, Venezuela. She will show you WiZiQ, a free virtual classroom, and talk about some of its different features.
A short bio
Evelyn Izquierdo is an ESP/EAP teacher at the School of Education of Universidad Central de Venezuela . She holds a Master's degree in EFL and has been interested in online activities since she joined Becoming a Webhead in 2005. After that her teaching life changed for the best. Nowadays, almost all her courses are blended, and a few of them totally online under the Moodle platform. She's been attending several EVO sessions since 2005, both as a participant and as a session moderator. It is a must to attend EVO sessions each year if you want to learn a lot, keep updated, share your online work and experiences, enjoy hands-on activities and have fun with colleagues. Evelyn is currently the ICT coordinator of VenTESOL (Venezuela TESOL) and is also a board member.
Guests during WIZIQ session demonstration: EFL teachers from Venezuela, Valentina Sitnik and Larissa Olesova
Tutorials
WiZiQ tutorial (Evelyn Izquierdo)
The WIZIQ Thursday Session with Evelyn for Yakutsk (click on the link to participate):
Computer lab activities (suggestions)
WiZiQ
- join WiZiQ
- get your free Virtual Classroom
- explore it
- launch a class and invite a colleague to join your class (there is an option to insert an email in WIZIQ)
Other useful links
Elluminate vRoom at Learn Central is a free vRoom that allows for 3 people/computers to be connected at the same time. You need to "register" before you can get your vRoom.
When you have your vRoom, you can do three things: Open your vRoom, Schedule a session and Invite friends to your session.
Comments (4)
Evelyn Izquierdo said
at 6:17 am on Mar 26, 2010
Dear Teresa, Larissa, VenTESOLers and Yakutsk TESOlers, I really enjoyed yesterday's session. It was fabulous to get together in spite of our time differences and distance. Webheads and TESOLers rock! I was watching the recording and enjoyed the session very much again; however, there are two comments I want to make related to the recording itself:
1. When we are trying the board tools, you can hear me but you don't see the drawings; just scroll the page down and you will see them.
2. When I used the navigation option, it worked perfectly in real time, you could see VenTESOL's Ning and watched the Mom video; but, in the recording, we are pull off the room and we cannot get back to the recording. It's strange. It had never happened to me before. If you go back to WiZiQ homepage and open the recording again, and forward it almost till the end, you will continue enjoying the session. It shouldn't be this way. I don't know what happens, really. I am so sorry. Fortunately, it worked very well synchronously.
Hugs to all,
Eve
Evelyn Izquierdo said
at 6:41 am on Mar 26, 2010
Sorry, I meant 'we are pulled off', 'sent off'. Quite strange indeed. Uhmm, perhaps, because my PC was frozen and I had to log off for some seconds.
Evelyn Izquierdo said
at 6:58 am on Mar 26, 2010
Just wanted to add some 'thank you' words. Thanks Teresa and Larissa for inviting me to this wonderful encounter. Thanks also Evelin Ojeda (from VenTESOL) and Valentina Sitnik (from Yakutsk TESOL) for joining the session. I am so sorry we didn't have time enough to hear your voices. Special thanks to Yetzaneth our VenTESOLer in Russia for joining the session. We couldn't find a better ambassador. Hugs, Yetza! Thanks to all Yakutsk TESOLERers for your attention and keep on discovering the Wonderful Web World (WWW).
Teresa Almeida d'Eca said
at 11:17 am on Apr 4, 2010
Dear Evelyn,
I arrived home safe and sound a little over 12 hours ago and loved to have "my three men" at the airport and then talking for over an hour with my parents in spite of my exhaustion. I don't remember such an intense 16 days in my life. What a wonderful experience this "Russian connection" was! :-)
I'm sorry to only get back to you today, a special day, though: Easter Sunday. Happy Easter to you and your family!
I'd like to send a very warm and sincere "thank you" to you for your unforgettable and very professional collaborations during my workshop in Yakutsk. They truly contributed greatly to the success it was. Evelyn rocks and Webheads rock!!! :-))
Thank you also to Larissa for starting this whole process of "The Lisbon-Yakutsk Connection". I hope to be back! I was invited and said "yes" at once. :-)
Thank you also to Valentina and her unforgettable collaboration and commitment: getting up three times that week at 5:00 am to join the workshop live. How brave! And, fiinally, thank you to VenTESOLers in Venezuela and abroad.
Regarding the recording (haven't had time to listen to it), I can only say that these things happen. I usually say that it's good that things don't always run on wheels, so that we're conscious that technical problems may come up. The important thing is that most of of the recording is there and, believe me, the participants were awed by it all and their eyes were glued to the projection the whole time, not to mention the fun some of them had when they participated hands-on in the whiteboard. Finally, as you say, it worked very well synchronously and that was our main objective.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! :-))
Hugs, Teresa
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