Learning in Virtual Vs. Traditional Classrooms

The Covid-19 pandemic changed the dynamics of life as it was known to many. It
changed the educational reality whereby physical classrooms remained closed in many parts of
the world. However, in most of these schools, learning continued. The total closure of
educational institutions and a need to ensure that learners continued to learn made it necessary to
shift from traditional classrooms to virtual ones. The vanish of one-on-one lessons between
educators and learners was quickly replaced using digital technologies to learn. While teaching
and learning content remained the same, a lot changed in terms of the mode of presentation,
engagement, and ways of interaction between teachers and learners. Virtual classrooms differ
significantly from traditional classrooms because they allow for the use of flexible teaching and
learning methods, a wide variety of resources, including digital multimedia, and increased
interaction between teachers and learners that is not limited by distance.
Virtual classrooms allow for flexible teaching and learning in many ways. First, there is
flexibility in terms of time, as students have access to studied material at any time. Students are
allowed to progress at their own pace and attend classes from their homes, thus saving a lot of
time spent commuting to school (Alharthi 25). On the other hand, traditional classrooms do not
offer learners and teachers such flexibility. Learning rigidly takes place within the physical walls

of a classroom. All involved parties must commute daily from their homes to the school
environment. To some extent, it is like learning is limited to the school environment.
Further, virtual classrooms, unlike traditional classrooms, provide a learning environment
that is rich in digital multimedia resources. These resources can be relied upon by teachers and
learners to support visual learning and make learning less monotonous (Alharthi 26). There are
multiple ways of engaging with content, and this breaks the monotony often found in classroom
environments where learners interact with content in limited ways. It is possible for students to
get access to study materials in various forms that match their learning style needs. It allows for
multiple means of representation where teachers have more than one way to provide information
to the learners. Multiple means of representation is a universal design learning principle that
supports the use of different strategies in content delivery to ensure that the diverse needs of the
students are met. While a traditional classroom also supports the use of multiple means of
representation, the teacher does not have a wide variety of multimedia resources to use, as is the
case in a virtual classroom. Thus, the virtual learning environment supports learner diversity in
more ways.
Lastly, virtual classrooms have introduced a new way for teachers and learners to
interact, one that is not limited by distance. Teachers and learners can interact as though they
were in a physical classroom, only that they could be miles away, sometimes continents away
from one another. There is thus increased efficiency in the learning world. Learning happens
from anywhere, and the geographical distance has been bridged through the implementation of
virtual classrooms. Teachers and learners have new and interesting ways of interacting.
Interaction can either be textual, visual, or even audio (Blaine 36). All these modes of interaction
have enhanced the learning experience and introduced a new dynamic to learning that was

missing in traditional classrooms. Students can work together in break-out rooms, interact with
teachers through online meetings and even schedule one-on-one consultative meetings with
teachers if they need scaffolding or additional instruction. A virtual classroom allows the teacher
to create a three-dimensional environment where they can interact with learners. On the contrary,
a traditional classroom allows interaction between the teacher and the student only on condition
that they are both within the same room. Interaction is limited to only face-to-face. Features in a
traditional classroom, such as group discussions where students sit together in groups, have been
enhanced in virtual classrooms by creating break-out rooms. Virtual classrooms allow for more
ways of interacting with minimal effort.
Overall, technological advancements and the Covid-19 pandemic ushered in new ways of
learning. Initially, the reality of education was confined within the walls of a traditional physical
classroom. Today, this reality has changed. The two types of classrooms differ significantly in
how they allow learning to take place. Traditional classrooms are constrained in terms of time
and space. Virtual classrooms, on the other hand, allow learning from anywhere and anytime,
thus enhancing flexibility. Further, virtual classrooms allow the use of a wide variety of
multimedia resources to support learning, but this is limited in a traditional classroom. Lastly,
while virtual classroom interaction can be visual, audio, or textual, in a traditional classroom, it
is largely audio and visual because learners and teachers interact face-to-face.

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Works Cited

Alharthi, Majed Abdallah. “The Effectiveness of Virtual Classrooms as an Alternative to
Traditional Classrooms during the Covid-19 pandemic: Problems and Solutions.” Life
Science Journal 18.5 (2021).
Blaine, Andrew M. “Interaction and presence in the virtual classroom: An analysis of the
perceptions of students and teachers in online and blended Advanced Placement courses.”
Computers & Education 132 (2019): 31-43.