WiZiQ Blog

New Virtual Classroom is Out

We would like to announce that today (25th of June) we upgraded our Virtual Classroom. The classroom now has a clean new interface, which is more user-friendly with easy upload and content sharing, new whiteboard conception, new chat box, and many more things. With the new changes at the backend the online classroom is also faster than it was in the old version as it is made using Adobe Flex technology.

So, to start at the beginning…

New design for the Virtual Classroom

We created a totally new outlook for the whole classroom, choosing colors which are good for the eyes, new icons and clear shapes.

Live chat

In the old version many times it was a problem to read the text after a long chat but now the chat-box is resizable. Other changes are the multi-line input box and also the option for text-size to be modified. In the premium service you can also send private messages in any session through the same text box, but by specifying an attendee or classmate.

Navigation bar

No more Whiteboard tab or Content tab as it was in the old Virtual Classroom; we put them together in one, the Whiteboard. Next to the new tab button you can find the Content Manager and the Content Upload icons. Using these you can easily get your documents and pictures into the Virtual Classroom from the Content Manager or directly from your desktop.

If you take a closer look, you can also recognize two arrows for undo and redo. If you made a mistake like deleting something, you can easily redo it.

Navigation for documents, PDFs and PPTs

If you uploaded a PPT, Word/Excel Document or PDF, which has more than one page you can navigate between the pages with this new navigation. We also had it in the old version, but now it’s more visible, and has bigger icons for easy clicking.

New shapes

As you can see we have some more new shapes for easy drawings for teachers/students talking about mathematics, geometry, physics, etc. These shapes make it easier to communicate for teaching/learning these sometimes hard subjects.

Whiteboard Tabs

Now, if you opened a tab, you can also close it, just click on the right side of the open tab where the red X appears.

Easy color and size changing in the tools

Recently, sometimes it was hard to change the color and the size of the shapes. Now with this new design it’s just a few clicks to familiarize the shapes you want to use.

Transfer audio/video/whiteboard to attendees

Now we made the audio/video transfer easier for the teacher as it’s just one click to transfer control to attendees, and you can choose to transfer just audio, or audio&video. Transferring whiteboard control to attendees will be available in the premium service so it won’t be visible to everyone.

Extension of the session

Teachers can extend the lesson with an easy click anytime during the session in different timings like 5, 15, 30, 45, 60 minutes.

Hope you like this new design and we invite you to share your opinion or suggestions about the Virtual Classroom to enable us to develop it in a way you like it! Just leave a comment here or in the WiZiQ forum.

Virtual Classrooms vs Traditional Classrooms

A typical traditional classroom

As students and teachers, we all have had the experience of being in a traditional classroom. You can see and interact with your classmates. Every movement or sound around you is visible or audible to distract you.  The usual scene of flying aeroplanes, caricatures, jokes etc behind teachers' back especially when they are writing on the board, punishments, getting grounded  and what not. You are getting bored but dare not leave the lecture in between. Or else maybe as a teacher you want to extend your lecture but the schedule holds you.

Virtual classrooms – A teacher’s perspective

Now the scene has changed. In the Virtual Classroom, a teacher can address a strength of about 200 without having to shout, without getting distracted and everything is under control. Imagine how much time is saved! As a teacher, you can upload PowerPoints, Excel sheets, Word documents and PDFs. Just a click away!  Not to forget using as many boards as you want to, getting connected to the Internet, loading videos--probably everything that a teacher requires is a click away. You are constantly facing the students. There is no din and noise to be borne. No disturbance and yet you can interact with the taught!  It is for you to decide whether a student can talk or not. Sounds like a wow science fiction! No it is no Teaching Story 2050, it is a reality in 2008. And that too without any investment! As a teacher you have the right to select your pay package and you can teach globally. What else would a teacher desiring to take up online teaching as a profession want!

Friendly learning tool for students

For a student there is no distraction except your own concentration span. Look, see, hear and if you wish, you can request for a recording of the lesson.  This means you don’t have to scribble the notes! Well, if you are feeling tired, you can go away, refresh yourself and re-join again. The best part is that you have the right to select and appoint your teacher from thousands of teachers around the world. That sounds great!  You can interact with people from all around the world, share experiences and learn a lot through each other. Well, the advantage of knowing about different cultures and places, and making pals is always there.

This is all that WiZiQ has done to the Virtual Classroom and is constantly on the march to do much more.  Just register for free and enjoy teaching and learning in a new environment.

Supreet Seher

Live Class Module for Moodle Updated

We updated the Live Class module for Moodle on the 13th of May. The old version of the module has been replaced with the new one on both the download locations:

• Latest version on WiZiQ
• Latest version on Moodle

Do you need to upgrade?

The latest versions of the Live Class block and activity for Moodle only address known installation issues. So if you already have a working installation, you don't need to get the latest version and we highly recommend that you do not as it does not include enhancements.

If you have tried to install in the past but have faced issues, you should download again and try now.

If you still face installation issues

If you face problems in installation, first check if you are installing the latest version. If you downloaded the module after the 13th of May, then you are.

Every server has a number of variables, which could get in the way of a successful installation. Simply mail us the following information to support@wiziq.com:

1. Site URL
2. Admin login and password
3. FTP URL
4. FTP admin login and password

Related Posts

You might also like to read more posts related to the Live Class module:

Using WiZiQ's Live Class Modules with Moodle
Best Web Conferencing Software for Moodle

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Jagdeep Singh Pannu

Web 2.0 Usability - WiZiQ's New Console

Your Dashboard

Don’t be surprised when you see the new interface on WiZiQ. As an online education portal, WiZiQ has been striving to provide a simpler and more user-friendly console for teachers and students. Are you wondering what is new on WiZiQ now? Let’s take a closer look.

When you have signed in, you can easily find all the main functions in the top navigation including “Home, Members, Test, Content, Sessions, Profile”. Simply click the down-arrow next to the main items to see what you want.

Your Sessions

The sessions you have scheduled or joined are shown directly on your home page. Also you can easily view the recording of the public sessions you have attended. If you want to know what is new in our Public Sessions, look below and yes, there you go! The list of public sessions! No click needed!

Your Network

Under your profile on the top left, your “Topics of Interest” are shown so that students can easily get access to the teachers of those topics and teachers can network with other teachers. Moreover, it is easy to spot active teachers on WiZiQ now. “Active Teachers” is a popular and encouraging feature among teachers because they can get more exposure. WiZiQ would be working more on this feature in upcoming releases. For students, finding your ideal teacher is just - type in the topic and search!

Your Inbox

Want to see who has sent you a message? Now we have categorized all messages so that with a simple click of your mouse you can view messages in different categories.

Your Tests

Are you ready for challenges? Except for attending sessions, you can also test your knowledge by taking our tests. In “Tests”, put in the topic and ready, steady, go!

If you are impressed by these useful features and handy settings, just type in your friend’s email address and invite them so that they can share the experience too! Your comments on our platform are what we treasure the most. Please feel free to tell us what you want and what you think needs to be improved. Hope you enjoy teaching and learning on WiZiQ.

Stanley You

Harman Talks about WiZiQ with Meri Walker

Harman Singh, Founder and CEO of WiZiQ, shares his vision with Meri Walker in an interview for Mawstoolbox, a site for teachers to learn about how they can make a career teaching online.

Meri has put up this interview on her site here: No More Forbidding Licence Fees...

Jagdeep Singh Pannu

Web 2.0 Tools for Instruction and Learning by Nellie Deutsch

Nellie Deutsch is doing a public session on WiZiQ: Web 2.0 tools for instruction and learning from Israel. The session is about using Web 2.0 tools in education and Nellie encourages participants to share their experiences using Web2.0 tools for teaching and learning.

The session will be held on 05:00 am Saturday April 5, 2008 in Israel time (4th of April in some time zones), and in other time zones, it translates to:

1. 2:00 am in GMT
2. 10:00 p.m. Friday April 4, 2008 in EST
3. 07:00 p.m. Friday April 4, 2008 in PST
4. 07:30 a.m. Saturday April 5, 2008 in IST

You can click here to enrol yourself in the session and we hope you can make it to the session; if you cannot, you can still see the recording, but you will miss being part of the discussion, so we highly recommend that you attend the session for, shall I say, live, synchronous participation. Nellie, as we know, has been actively involved in using and testing the latest technology in education, so you can have a lot of questions answered on the subject.

Jagdeep Singh Pannu