Virtual Classrooms

A virtual classroom is a digital learning environment that allows teachers or trainers and students to connect in online in real time.

Virtual classrooms use video conferencing, online whiteboards, breakout rooms, and screen sharing to allow the trainers to hold live lectures and host discussions with students in an interactive setting.

Typically, virtual classrooms offer a cloud-based solution that is part of a larger learning management system (LMS). Our LMS, Brightspace by D2L, does have a virtual classroom environment, but we have opted to use Zoom for virtual classrooms, because more students are familiar with it.

Virtual classrooms are intended to replicate the experience of physical classrooms as closely as possible while also delivering the benefits of technology such as file sharing, instant feedback, breakout rooms, polling, emoji and interaction. For this reason they are ideal for distance, or distributed, learning situations.

Recording virtual classrooms

We advise against recording virtual classrooms for the following reasons:

  • Data protection

  • Recordings are not the most effective method of learning.

  • Classroom sessions are highly interactive and don't really work when watched on-demand.

  • It can be hard to follow a recording of virtual training, especially if there were breakout rooms in the session, as these cannot be captured in the same recording, resulting in the overall recording being disjointed.

  • Delegates can be less comfortable participating when they know they are being recorded - affecting confidence, learning experience, and any sense of confidentiality that we seek to achieve in a classrom.

  • Recordings of training content could be unscrupulously shared, and used by others in place of training they could get from us.

In the rare instances where training is recorded, the ICAEW point of contact will notify delegates beforehand so they can choose whether or not to keep their video (camera) on. The host (or trainer) will control the functionality to record the session.

When you select Record, you’ll have the option to either record to the cloud or your computer. You should choose to record to the cloud as this is easier to share with clients and delegates, and stores it securely. See Recordings + on-demand

Note: If you intend to record a session it is crucial you read this first: Data Protection