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The Classroom: Virtual vs. Physical

I believe a physical classroom is much more beneficial as it can provide hands on experience and knowledge that cannot be passed on by books. Knowledge can also be passed through personal experiences of guest lectures and in class case studies that are done through group involvement of fellow classmates. This method will teach you without the requirement of memorization and hard work, it is almost automatically learnt when one is involved in what they learn.

However I believe a virtual classroom has come a long way, with improvements in chatting abilities for group work and teaching software. It has also come a long way in providing assistance to those with disabilities to have a chance to learn as well. It also helps those who are unable to commute long distances to go to classes, allowing distance education courses that can be available for all, rather than the some that are fortunate.

The virtual classroom is a by-product of digital innovation and cultural transformation, however we should not keep both virtual and physical classrooms separate, like what we are experiencing now, and we need to combine them. This course is a great example of this as we have lectures, group projects and a Wikispaces community to put all of us together virtually. Wikispaces is a great example of a web 2.0 leap that has virtualized our society.

-Dinesh Manikkavasagar