Career Content Provider Launches Online Platform for Live, Remote Ed
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 05/04/20
A
company better known for its college and career education content has
launched an extension to its online application, to help replicate
the live instruction experience remotely. Nepris,
which produces a library of career videos and sets up industry
connections between industry and classrooms, has launched a "virtual
classroom," that combines real-time instruction with K-12
classroom management functionality.
The
Nepris Virtual Classroom allows teachers to set up class periods and
student rosters, participate in live or recorded lectures and create
student discussion boards. The program includes settings so that the
teacher can quickly respond to student bullying, cease
student-to-student chat and end live sessions automatically when he
or she leaves the room. According to the company, the software works
alongside Google Classroom.
According
to one teacher who piloted the new program, "students [were]
less distracted and more focused, just like in a real classroom."
This teacher added that it was "a relief that the video settings
are already in there and I [didn't] have to worry about things like
closing down the chat feature so I [could] just focus on my lesson
and my students."
"Most
school districts resorted to an asynchronous mode of learning,
providing students with worksheets and assignments via email and
other methods, while removing the most important instructional
element: teacher to student interaction," said Binu Thayamkery,
co-founder and CTO of the company, in a statement. "Some
proactive educators took the initial step towards using video
conferencing platforms in the hopes of bringing back live
instruction, but they were quickly met with hurdles that are
prevalent in the digital space, such as lack of control over student
behavior." The new functionality offers educators better control
over the live events, he noted.
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.