What is a Virtual Classroom?

A Virtual Classroom is an online teaching and learning environment where staff and students can present teaching and learning materials, engage and interact with one another, and work in groups together.

Virtual classrooms offer synchronous (live) video and audio interaction between staff and students for online learning. They include a variety of tools, such as breakout groups, chat, screen sharing, and presentation tools to create engaging learning experiences.

There are currently three virtual classrooms in use at the University:

• Collaborate 
• Microsoft Teams 
• Zoom 

These platforms enable teaching staff to host a range of online learning activities such as seminar discussions, small group collaborative learning and interactive lectures. Students will be told by their tutors which virtual classroom to use to access any online teaching shown on their timetables.