This report was requested by Professor Dr Michael Lee, Dean of Engineering Faculty, during the monthly meeting on 20 April 2020.
The purpose of this report is to provide the most suitable online solutions to be selected in order to connect with the students effectively.
The faculty would like to consider providing a learning platform for online classes. This pandemic has caused massive setbacks to education. In order to continue lessons smoothly, online classes are considered to be a very critical step forward for the university. Hence, a learning platform can be useful for students to study and connect with the students effectively.
This report will compare and contrast several options. The learning platforms to look at are Zoom, Microsoft Team, TutorRoom and EzTalks.
The first video conferencing platform that will be compared is Zoom. Zoom allows users to schedule sessions to let users arrange their time effectively. It can save time and reduce unnecessary trouble. It is convenient for students when they cannot attend classes. Besides, Zoom has a screen-share option, which allows teachers to share their presentations with the whole class. Students are able to get up to speed with the teachers’ presentation and understand the progress of the lesson.
The second video conferencing platform that will be compared is Microsoft Team. Microsoft Team enables teachers to share files. Students can get information from their teachers with ease. Furthermore, school administrators and staff can be engaged with relevant topics with the “Staff Teams” function. They can coordinate the efficiency of school management.
The next video conferencing platform that will be discussed is TutorRoom. It has a function called “Whiteboard Functions”. Teachers can use different colours of writing instruments to illustrate their points. This emulates teacher-student interactions similar to classroom learning. Students can also learn about the subject faster because of the interesting presentation. TutorRoom also offers uploaded lessons. Teachers can make recordings of lessons to help students do revision.
The final platform that will be discussed is EzTalks. It is free for up to 100 students in one classroom. It offers fluent high definition video/audio chatting along with an Instant Messaging function. It also offers polls, surveys and recording functions to help the teachers better understand their students’ grasp of understanding towards the subject that was taught.
There are four learning platforms that are being considered in this report. Zoom has a schedule meeting function and it has a screen-share option. Microsoft Team can share files and it has a Staff Teams function. TutorRoom has whiteboard tools function and offers upload lessons. Lastly, EzTalks has Instant Messaging function as well as polls and surveys for students to express their opinions towards that particular class.
In my opinion, I would highly recommend the faculty to use Zoom because it has a schedule meeting function and a screen-share option. However, this learning platform has a disadvantage which is that it can last for up to 40 minutes only.
