Picking a virtual learning software for your school or organization is an important yet overwhelming decision. A suitable platform enables efficient and productive teaching and effective learning outcomes. The good news is, we have summarized the seven best virtual classroom software for 2021 and 2022. Keep reading to find the one that suits you the most!

1. Why Virtual Classroom Software?

Before we get started to rank existing virtual classroom software, it is important for us to make clear what a virtual classroom is as well as its advantages

Nowadays, virtual learning is an increasingly mainstream choice for conducting classes. It provides flexible scheduling, supports self-paced learning, and allows immediate feedback. It also promotes social learning through integration with many collaborative tools, such as instant messaging and QA forums. Most virtual classrooms support multiple forms of learning to ensure better participation and knowledge retention. In the long run, virtual teaching can be integrated with traditional teaching to establish the Online-Merge-Offline (OMO) learning model, empowering educational development.

According to eLearning Industry’s article Virtual Classrooms vs. Web Conferencing, in web conferencing apps, people can connect anytime and anywhere with their webcams and microphones – sounds convenient and efficient? However, in classrooms, teachers and students need more than basic functions of screen sharing and communication – they need purposeful features for education.

 

One key advantage of virtual classrooms is that they are highly customizable. Teachers and institutions can launch personalized learning plans for individuals through do-it-yourself workflows.

Virtual classrooms are also designed for interactive engagement. They come with collaboration-based tools that allow for more immediate application of learning while facilitating peer interaction. Other advantages include comprehensive feedback measurements, flexibility, tablet compatibility, and so on.

2. Five Criteria for Choosing a Virtual Classroom Software 

A good virtual classroom should ensure that students participate as actively as they do in traditional classrooms. The software should come with elements that encourage learners to interact, prompt them to ask questions, take tests, and use gamification modules.

In addition, virtual classroom software requires an instant messaging function to give users a real-time channel to connect. In a lecture, the IM function enables users to register questions and respond immediately.

Attendance reports enable teachers to obtain relevant data easily and quickly. They can collect data such as class duration as well as in-class student interactions. The data can also be fed back to administrators and parents to keep them informed about student learning.

The software should allow access from any device: a mobile phone or a tablet of any operating system, Android or iOS, which can maximize the support for education continuity. In addition, students can join ongoing classes via laptops or mobile phones.

The backup option helps teachers store student data as well as track their performance. With this feature, live lessons can be recorded, and students can conduct learning at their own pace. In addition, by uploading the lesson to the cloud drive, teachers can instantly access the courseware on different devices and share them with students.

Teachers and learners do not tend to opt for software that are hard to use. Therefore, online classroom software must come with intuitive designs, so digital classrooms can be constructed successfully and effortlessly.