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"I ‘met’ with my instructor and classmates over a piece of software called Centra, which provides an excellent forum for online discussion, presentation and voice/text/video interaction."
- Reuben Cleetus
VTMIT Graduate |
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Regular Discussion Sessions with Faculty and Peers |
Experience a learner-centered approach, enhanced by the latest in multimedia technology. Synchronous sessions are held in real-time using software that connects you with your instructor and classmates at
a specific time/day - usually one evening per week (eastern standard time) for each course.
CentraOne is a powerful tool for online multiple-user interaction and course organization that includes real-time two-way audio, application sharing, web browsing, white boarding, and text chat. In other words, by sitting at your computer with a head-set and the proper software (free!), you can talk to your professor and classmates just as if you were meeting around a seminar table.
Instructors can import PowerPoint files and walk through them just like in a traditional classroom setting - stopping to answer questions along the way. Groups can break off to brainstorm and then return to the larger group to present. Centra can be used for scheduled class times, as well as for impromptu meetings with study partners. With the growing popularity of internet-based video and teleconferencing, the interactive skills you learn while participating in your Centra-based course are sure to prove beneficial to your future professional efforts.
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What do Virginia Tech students think of the online discussions sessions?
 "I was worried for technology reasons but I just think this was the most relaxed presentation I have ever given. It seems wrong to be sitting here in my pajamas drinking a cup of coffee giving a presentation for class. It’s great I love it! I wish every presentation could be like this one." - Lindsay Miko
"I was concerned from a technology point of view as to whether this would be an impersonal, slow experience. But I think it rapidly became very natural and interactive. I think it was really a great experience." - Jim Hunt
"I just thought this was a lot easier than I had expected it to be. I really enjoyed doing this and I thought it was a neat way to interact with the whole class while taking an online class. I have done that before but we had never had the opportunity get to do something like this where we could all talk to each other and give presentations with out actually meeting." - Sara Collins
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