Evaluation of teaching design in synchronous virtual classrooms

Abstract

This work describes a research study developed to assess teaching designs and methodologies used in a course of the University Lecturer Training Plan at the University of Extremadura (Spain) called Virtual Learning and the environments in Synchronous Virtual Classrooms (SVCs). Training was given in three editions in different university campuses. The participants, 40 lecturers at UEx, belonged to different subject areas, and so the variety of responses from such a heterogeneous group was broad. Data collection is carried out using the focus group technique, with which SVCs were evaluated for use in both teaching and research. The main findings pointed to the need to reduce both connection time and the number of tools used, the importance of the use of free software, and a positive assessment of the possibilities and advantages of SVCs for teaching and for data collection in qualitative research.