Learning Tools | News

Virtual Classroom Service Now Available for Free

• By Leila Meyer
• 08/23/12

The online teaching and learning platform WizIQ is offering a free one-year membership for K-12 and higher education teachers and their students at qualifying institutions.

WizIQ is a cloud-based service that works through any Flash-enabled Web browser or the WizIQ iPad app. It enables teachers to deliver live or self-paced courses and administer tests online or to support their traditional classrooms. According to the company, teachers can use WizIQ to flip their classrooms, hold virtual office hours, offer homework help to students, conduct parent-teacher conferences, and more. Participants can conduct six-way video chats or audio chats for an unlimited number of attendees. The chat interface also supports screen sharing, whiteboards, polling, and drawing tools.

The free service provides features equivalent to WizIQ's Solo Pro Premium account. Key features of WizIQ Virtual Classroom include:

• Ability to create synchronous and asynchronous online courses using videos, PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, and PDFs;
• Video conferencing, enabling teachers to offer homework help, host parent-teacher conferences, and enable students to collaborate online for projects;
• Ability to host virtual guest speakers presentations in the classroom;
• Screen sharing and shared whiteboards; and
• 15 GB of free cloud storage for class recordings.

To sign up, teachers must provide an e-mail address associated with their educational institutions. A complete list of eligible e-mail domains is available on the WizIQ site.

Teachers can get more information and sign up for the free service on the WizIQ site.