Physical versus Electronic Classroom (or meeting room)

A Comparison of Two Learning Environments

Learning Environment Function	Purpose	Physical Classroom	Electronic Classroom
Lecture, class discussion	Disseminate information, facts, data Stimulate thinking and learning	Classroom	Private conference
Study groups	Enhance learning through collaboration	Study groups	Private conference
Private and shared notes	Create and sharing documents	Work book, paper documents	Composition software, Electronic notebooks, Personal files
Visual Information	Diagrams, drawings, images, spreadsheets, etc.	Hand-to-hand sharing of materials, overheads, slides, etc.	Binary file attachments, multimedia playback
Notifications, Bulletins	Reminders, alerts, memos	Due date notices, participation actions, memorandums of procedure or information	Bulletin Boards, Public Conferences, Mass email
Personal communications	Transitory material, one to one among students or between students and teacher	Office hours, hallway conversations	Email Messages
Teacher/Student lounge	Informal exchanges, socialization	Coffee houses, public events	Public conference, “Café”
Identifying affinity groups and common ground	Identify common interests, experiences, backgrounds to serve as ice breakers and rapport builders	Clubs, interest groups, classroom introductions	Membership directory, Personal profiles, Resumes, Biography exercises
Q & A	Encourage independent thinking and active participation	Face-to-face discussion questions	Questions / Responses within conferences
Selection for assignment	Manage distribution of unique assignments	Circulate assignment sheet or make arbitrary assignments	“Sign-up” conference or Selection software
Document handling	Allow distribution of study materials and selection of portions of a long document to be worked on by several individuals	Photocopy machine, printing press, physically handed out	Computer document (shared electronically or as paper printout)
Role playing, simulations	Enable experimentation, learning games	Requires knowledge of rules and process in face-to-face classroom. Possible through dramatization or improvisation exercises.	Pen-name signatures. Posted rules or rules-based software.
Anonymity	Encourage self disclosure, allows non-threatening review of mistakes	Impossible in face-to-face classroom	Anonymous signatures
Assignment tracking	Determine who has read and done what	Presence in the classroom, manual tracking of submitted assignments	Membership status. Semi-automated or automated software tracking.
Exam	Introduce a time-controlled question set	Written, proctored exam	Computerized timing, testing and scoring
Grade book	Create and provide access to student grade record	Instructor tracks manually, student must ask instructor	Computerized grade book, read-only access for students
Learning Outcomes Tracking	Measure actual learning and performance changes	Requires manual capture of verbal or physical behavior demonstrating change from baseline	Semantic / linguistic analysis on automatically created and captured transcript

Academic Version, Release 3.0

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