Step inside the virtual classroom with unified communications (UC)
1. Step inside the virtual
classroom with unified
communications (UC)
Can your students learn at any time and from
any location? What will the addition of a virtual
classroom do to your university?
2. Why build a virtual classroom
with unified communication?
Students:
Want interactive learning technology
Appreciate speed and convenience
Like interaction with online courses
3. Convenient
– fits around
student schedule
and professor
commitments
Learn at own pace
– complete degree
sooner (or later)
Virtual classroom
is always open and in
session – better access
to classmates, faculty,
and staff
Learning anywhere, anytime
4. Are in different places,
even time zones
Have work/family/
other commitments
May suffer from
learning or physical
disability
Education shouldn’t be restricted by geography
or compliance with a rigid timetable. It should
be open to all, including those who:
6. • One opportunity to attend
• A challenge for students who
need to balance attendance and
work schedules
• Limited opportunity to ask
questions
• Does not suit all learning styles
• May not hear or see everything
• Little variety
• Commute
7. More learning, more variety
Suits different learning styles
See and hear everything
Huge range of multimedia learning
Revisit teaching sessions
More interaction / collaboration
with classmates and faculty
9. Practical session
Form study groups
with participants
not constrained
to one location
Online tutoring
and social learning
10. Recorded lectures
Access to online
course materials
Multimedia
activities
Humanizing online
learning through
collaboration with
classmates and
professors
Discussion forums
Group work
But what boosts student engagement?
11. While social interactions are already
moving from in person to online, how
does the traditional classroom compare
to the virtual UC-powered classroom?
12. Limited time to ask questions
after lecture
No guarantee your question
will be chosen
Self-conscious in large group
Fixed tutors’ office hours
Little one-to-one time with
professor and little interaction
with classmates
Traditional
13. Share and discuss content
Post and respond to questions
on your preferred platform
One-to-one attention
Group discussions
Instant multichannel
collaboration
Unified communications
14. Projects and research
Teacher/student and
peer-to-peer
Crowd-teaching
Connecting satellite
campuses
Staying in touch with online communities
is essential to student satisfaction so focus
collaboration efforts around the following:
15. UC will improve faculty reputation
for gains in:
• League tables
• Admissions – wider pool
of students
• Research opportunities
• International staff and students
attraction and retention
17. With UC, make every moment
a learning moment.
Discover how with The Modern
Student Experience Toolkit
for Professors: How to build
a world-class learning
environment for all students
Download now
The Modern Student
Experience Toolkit for Professors
How to build a world-class
learning environment for
all students
Smart, forward-thinking public sector organizations use
digital technology in order to survive, let alone thrive. Higher
education institutions shouldn’t be left behind.
18. References
Allen IE, Seaman J (2013). Changing course: ten years of
tracking online education in the United States. Babson Survey
Research Group and Quahog Research Group. http://www.
onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/changingcourse.pdf
Cole MT, Shelley DJ, Swartz LB (2014) Online instruction,
e-learning, and student satisfaction: a three year study.
International Review of Research in Open and Distributed
Learning 15: 6. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/
view/1748/3123
Dede D, Ho A (2016) Big Data Analysis in Higher Education:
Promises and Pitfalls. Educause. http://er.educause.edu/
articles/2016/8/big-data-analysis-in-higher-education-promises-
and-pitfalls
ECAR (2016) Leveraging Technology to Better Engage Students.
Educause Research Snapshot. https://er.educause.edu/
articles/2016/8/educause-research-snapshot-leveraging-
technology-to-better-engage-students
Farley H, Murphy A, Johnson C, Carter B, Lane M, Midgley W,
Hafeez-Baig A, Dekeyser S, Koronios A (2015) How do students
use their mobile devices to support learning? A case study from
an Australian regional university. Journal of Interactive Media in
Education 1: 14. www-jime.open.ac.uk/articles/10.5334/jime.ar/
Gorbis M (2016) Thinking about the Future of Work to Make Better
Decisions about Learning Today. Educause. http://er.educause.
edu/articles/2016/5/thinking-about-the-future-of-work-to-make-
better-decisions-about-learning-today
Grajek S (2016) The Digitization of Higher Education: Charting the
Course. Educause. https://er.educause.edu/articles/2016/12/the-
digitization-of-higher-education-charting-the-course
Hanneghan M (2016) The lecture is broken: a manifesto for
change. Innovations in Practice. 10: 1. https://openjournals.ljmu.
ac.uk/iip/article/view/47
Recker M, Yuan M, Ye L (2014) Crowdteaching: supporting
teaching as designing in collective intelligence communities.
The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed
Learning. 15: 4. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/
view/1785
Strachota EM (2003). Student satisfaction in online courses: an
analysis of the impact of learner-content, learner-instructor,
learner-learner and learner-teacher interaction. Dissertation
Abstracts International 64(8): 2746 Key: citeulike: 1029163. http://
www.citeulike.org/user/jrhode/article/1029163
Wilkinson K, Barter P (2016) Do mobile learning devices enhance
learning in higher education anatomy classrooms? http://eprints.
mdx.ac.uk/17589/1/131-344-5-KWchangesmade.pdf