The virtual classroom
There are at least 3 advantages of classroom training that make it more effective than online learning, IMO:
- the knowledgeable instructor who responds to my questions in real-time
- the students sitting around me who also ask questions, getting me to think about the subject in new ways
- and for technology training - access to a hands-on learning environment (labs) that I couldn't or wouldn't create for myself during informal learning
There are other things too - like the dedication of time to learning when I go to a classroom event, but with some discipline I can and have made that happen online as well.
Heads are down trying to figure out how to increase the effectiveness of online learning, in light of the advantages of the classroom experience. Tools like Live Meeting and WebEx can bridge the gap on the first two bullets - the instructor and the students - but they don't close it.
But on the third bullet - the opportunity to work hands-on with the technology - the web is doing a much better job of making obsolete the classroom. Connecting to a Virtual Server platform puts a smorgasbord of operating systems, developer tools, and network and productivity applications at your fingertips - that can be safely run from within the browser of almost any PC (or Mac I suppose). Here are a few sites with free online lab environments for ITPros, and Developers:
You can also find online labs as a built-in component of an online learning course - where the lab is specific to the skills taught in the course. The ones above are stand-alone, and you'll have to get your training (knowledge) and context from other resources - like TechNet and MSDN.
What about online labs IN the classroom? Or, to reduce the time and cost of going to classroom training, would it work for you if the classroom time was about lecture and interaction, and the labs you could perform on your own? Is that getting closer to the best of both worlds?
Why do you like best about classroom training? Vote in the poll, or leave a comment.
