How to create a virtual classroom
Wondering how to create a virtual classroom?
We are all trying to keep engagement up as we continue with distance learning this fall. I know many of you were thrown into an emergency situation in the spring and this will be the first time teaching an online course.
With that in mind, I’ve been researching like crazy all of the great tools that are available to make online learning effective and engaging. During this research, I stumbled upon these interactive virtual classrooms. I had to make one. There are lots of great tutorials, but I had to watch about 90 minutes of videos to understand how to pull it all together. I’m hoping that we can cut your time to less than half an hour.
It is easy to create a virtual classroom, but don’t let me get ahead of myself. I also want to take a hot minute to remind you that you will need to establish virtual classroom rules for students.
What is a virtual classroom?
What most people are talking about it is an image that looks like a classroom or other space and often features a bitmoji character that looks like the teacher. This image is actually interactive and as students click different parts of the image they will be taken to different locations on the web. Kind of like a classroom landing page.
That is pretty cute, right? But how it is engaging to the students? Let’s take it for a spin.
Let’s play around with this virtual classroom.
- Click on the microscope
- Next on the book
- Then on the clock
- Click on the trap door
- Then on the bacteria on the board
- Click on the calendar
Are you getting the idea? This is much more engaging than just a set of assignments. The students have links to assignments, resource materials, presentations, and more.
How did I make this? These are the steps on how to create a virtual classroom.
Google Slides my friend, but your student doesn’t have to login to Google to benefit from the virtual classroom so keep reading. We are using a hack of a slide preview. Wait, let’s talk about making the slide first.
>>>Don’t want to make your own background. Start with this free classroom template.<<<
The background for your virtual classroom.
- Open Google Slides
- Add a blank presentation (suggest naming building virtual classroom)
- Delete the text boxes
- Then add your background.
- Background Options:
- Make your own using shapes – like I did in this example. If you choose this option download as a png and then insert the png into the background. Video below.
- Click insert >> image >> search the web >> wall and floor
- Find images from other sources like Unsplash, Depositphotos, or Canva.
Adding other objects in your interactive digital classroom
- You can build out the template for your classroom. Adding bookshelves, desks, whiteboards, etc.
- Click insert >> image >> search the web >> transparent whatever object
- Find images from other sources.
- Once you’ve added the main pieces. This becomes your virtual classroom template. I suggest you save again in a new slide presentation so you don’t move any of your background pieces.
- Add a new blank presentation (suggesting naming virtual classroom)
- Follow the insert background steps we did earlier.
- You can add additional object to this basic format at any time and change out things as needed as long as you keep the original image.
Adding links for an interactive experience.
- Next you want to add links.
- Add a shape over any object that you want to link to something when it is clicked.
- Add the link to the shape
- Make the shape fill and outline transparent.
Presenting to students
- Now it is ready for your students, but you can’t just send them a forced copy of the Google Slide for this to work.
- While on the slide copy and paste the url.
- Replace the word edit with the word preview.
- Copy the new url into an incognito window and try out your new virtual classroom.
- That is the link you will send students.
This video walks you through this great hack.
How to make it an interactive bitmoji classroom.
I found a quick and easy tutorial for using your bitmoji to really make the virtual classroom experience feel personalized. You can also try to jazz it up with having your bitmoji do funny things each day or week.
