What is a virtual classroom and how does it work?

A virtual classroom is an online space where a teacher and learners meet at the same time, see and hear each other, and work with shared material. Technically it is a video conferencing system, but one built around teaching rather than business meetings.

A normal video call gives you audio, video, chat and screen sharing. A virtual classroom usually adds tools that teachers use every day:

• Presentation and whiteboard: upload slides or PDFs and draw or annotate on them, sometimes with learners drawing too.
• Breakout rooms: split the class into small groups and bring everyone back.
• Polls and quizzes to check understanding during the session.
• Roles: a moderator or teacher controls who can speak, share or present.
• Recording so absent learners can watch later.
• Attendance and activity data, often linked to a learning platform such as Moodle or Chamilo.

How it works in practice: the teacher creates a session (often from inside the course), learners join from a browser link, and everything runs in real time. Most modern tools, including BigBlueButton and plugNmeet, run in the browser without installing anything, using a technology called WebRTC.

What you need: a recent browser, a headset or microphone, a webcam if video is used, and a stable connection. The organiser also needs a server or a hosted service to run the software.

A virtual classroom is synchronous (live). Recorded courses and self-paced e-learning are a different format, although many organisations combine both.