Virtual Classrooms

Virtual classrooms seem to be the way of the future! Recently, I read an article and wrote a review about how teachers feel isolated because they do not have time to reach beyond the four walls of their classrooms. With Web 2.0, these barriers of isolation are slowly being diminished. Now, teachers are able to share ideas with other teachers online, upload lesson plans, ask for advice, and receive feedback. Let's just face it, time is a teacher's worst enemy. As a fifth grade teacher, I know that I am constantly against the clock. However, Web 2.0 makes it so much easier for this professional dialogue to occur. Teachers should never have to be in their profession alone.
For my final project, I decided to look more into virtual classroom sites, such as Haiku, Yugma, and VYew. Honestly, I never knew that these sites existed! After researching them, I found that teachers can use these sites to upload lesson plans, post discussion forums, give students immediate feedback, host online classes with a live chat, and utilize an online gradebook. They actually remind me a lot of the Moodle site that we use for Teaching with Technology. Again, I think that these sites will help to break down the barriers of isolation that teachers are feeling. In this sense, this site will also foster a collaboration amongst students because they can work together on a similar project, give each other feedback, and provide each other support. I believe thaty Virtual classrooms are the way of the future, and it would be interesting to see more teachers incorporating these sites into their classrooms.