The impact of virtual classroom laboratories in CSE

Abstract

In order to gauge the pedagogical implications of conducting Computer Science practical sessions remotely, the Division of ICS at Macquarie University conducted a formal experiment using a virtual classroom environment called Macromedia Breeze Live. Research results indicated that students who completed their practical in the virtual classroom: i) felt they performed significantly more collaboration, ii) expressed a preference for this mode of practical session over regular laboratory sessions, iii) felt that they learnt significantly more from their classmates and iv) felt that they learnt significantly more from the practical supervisor than students in the standard classroom. Reasons for these results are proposed in the pedagogical context of offering Computer Science practical sessions online.

Teaching and learning in live online classrooms

“…Computing programs at Northwest Missouri University [10], Macquarie University in Australia [4][5][6] [7], and George Mason University [14] have complemented asynchronous online education with synchronous sessions in their programs by using Saba's Centra Live, Adobe's Acrobat Connect Meeting, and an open source product entirely developed in the CS Department at George Mason University, Network EducationWare (NEW). We examined three web conferencing platforms, Acrobat Connect Meeting (formerly Macromedia Breeze at the time of our evaluation), Elluminate Live!, and LearnLinc.…”

Groupwork activities in synchronous online classroom spaces

“…Since then, there has been numerous reported successes of CSCL, including the development of systems such as the CAROUSEL algorithm review and feedback platform [6] and the VorteX collaborative design system [8] to take advantage of the espoused benefits of collaborative processes. The use of Virtual Classrooms to facilitate synchronous online learning has also achieved educational outcomes beyond those possible in face-to-face contexts [3,4].…”

“…An incremental approach to difficulty (both technically and collaboratively) is recommended to avoid ineffective activities that result from student inability to share their ideas using the tools provided. 4. Adopting an explicit and planned approach to developing students' virtual classroom competencies (either by modeling or direct instruction) can improve the effectiveness of their collaboration and thus the quality of their learning.…”

Independent, synchronous and asynchronous an analysis of approaches to online concept formation

“…Virtual classrooms have been trialed in computing courses to provide remote laboratories and full online classes [4,5]. Their synchronous and rich media nature enable the "tightly-coupled" interactions required for collaborative learning of procedural knowledge to occur [11].…”