Tag Archives: virtual classroom

Schrödinger’s Thought Experiment Revisited

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In Zoom meeting or teaching, Schrödinger’s participant is a thought experiment that illustrates an apparent paradox linked to meeting in virtual mode, where a participant is represented by a mute black square on the presenter’s computer screen. In that thought experiment, a hypothetical participant may be considered simultaneously both physically and mentally present and absent, a result which cannot be disentangled until the participant is observed i.e. camera and microphone are open. At that point, the quantum state of the participant crystallizes in the present or absent state.

Disclaimer: the following is a thought experiment and any resemblance to a real life situation is purely coincidental.

Credit: the image is from contactmapping.com.

Is the 21st century class room a virtual one?

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I recently came across this excellent TED talk by Peter Norvig entilted “the 100,000-student classroom”. The popularity of online education should probably not be a big surprise. Instant knowledge, facts through online encyclopedia and so on was certainly a first step. The power of internet clearly bring with it the idea of learning when ready concept. In manufacturing, they would call it “just in time” production. A great example of this can be found in the growing popularity of the Khan Academy (see for example Let’s use video to reinvent education).

This brings numerous questions. Namely:

Will the virtual classroom be limited to tutoring in order to supplement traditional teaching or as a replacement option?

Is there still place for one on one teaching / learning?

If I look at the graduate courses I teach, they tends to be slightly different from one year to the other because of student / teacher interaction. The virtual classroom removes real-time interaction!

Maybe it will force teachers to redefine teaching as to provide a plus-value in order to get students in a dedicated room at a fix time every week for 15-17 weeks in a row (a semester)…

What do you think?

(Note added: While scanning my usual blog lists today, I found that Organizing Creativity also as a post on the virtual classroom)