What is its value and application?

How is it accomplished?

Who is responsible for making it happen?

When can I find the time to do it?

Works Cited

AL main page

According to Matthews,  "The 'virtual classroom' is a relatively recent development in distance learning. It is usually based on computer groupware, or can be operated over the Internet. In general, the student uses a local computer (usually from home) to access a range of services and facilities. These include online registration, dissemination of prepared course materials, access to online video materials, and communication with instructors, tutors, and other students via e-mail. 'Classes' and discussion groups are conducted in online chat rooms; assignments and exams are e-mailed to the instructor. Discussion topics are posted to discussion or bulletin boards; students comment on the selected topics, and they may also post new topics. "

With all the possible variations of asynchronous learning, there are a number of   asynchronous learning environments which can support web-based teaching.  These include:  CyberProf, Lotus Learning Space, Mallard, NetLearning. POLIS and Web CT.  Direct links to each of these environments can be found on the How is it accomplished? page.

In essence, each of these environments provides teachers with the tools to develop online coursework.  Granted, most of us could develop our own coursework and post it via our school servers, but the asynchronous environments offer more options than posting homework, or making course material available online.   In most of them, the teacher can present material in a variety of methods (as noted in the table above), assess students on their mastery of the material, provide feeback, and develop remediation, when needed. 

However, individual teachers are not the only ones developing coursework to support asynchronous learning.   Hudson Massachusetts Public Schools, the Concord Consortium Educational Technology Lab and a growing number of high schools throughout the nation  have been working on the Virtual High School.  As Educational Leadership explains, The "virtual high school is built on a simple concept.  Each school in the collaborative selects one or two innovative and technologically adept faculty members to teach over the Internet. These teachers receive training in how to teach netcourses, engage students, maximize the use of Internet-based resources, and utilize the best in multimedia technology. In exchange for releasing each teacher to teach one netcourse, the school is able to register 20 students to take netcourses offered by any of the participating schools. Because the teachers for these 20 students may be in 20 different schools, each school provides release time for a site coordinator who acts as a guidance counselor and technical advisor for students in that school who are taking netcourses." (Berman and Tinker).