Virtual Classroom

Jefferson faculty members enhance the learning experience of their remote students by using virtual classroom and videoconferencing technologies. AISR uses Adobe Connect software for virtual classroom services.

Most courses call for live, synchronous sessions that allow your distant students to respond and interact with you and/or your campus-based students in "real time." The virtual classroom is perfect for classes that have synchronous meetings, such as lectures, or for online office hours or review sessions.

Virtual classroom technology, sometimes called webcasting, is used to host an online session with a presenter and participants in multiple locations. It supports a shared desktop and PowerPoint presentation, breakout rooms, polling features, text chat and session recording/archiving. Audio and video may be one way or include all participants.

You can originate a virtual classroom session from your home, office or classroom computer. Remote students can sit at a PC, hear the faculty member's audio presentation and see slides as they are being shown to the class. Remote students are also able to send their questions and comments back to their teacher using a chat window. For classes that require student presentations, remote participants can be enabled to speak and present to the whole class electronically.

Note that the cost of related support services is covered for all University credit courses.

If you only teach students remotely from your office or home, request an orientation to the virtual classroom so you will be comfortable using the application before your first session with the students. Contact AISR Education Services at edservices@lists.jefferson.edu.

If your class takes place in a traditional classroom, but includes remote students as well, take advantage of our trained media support staff to coordinate the interactions of the remote students so you can focus on teaching. Contact Medical Media Services at 215-503-7841 or admin.mms@jefferson.edu for more information.

To add Adobe Connect to your class, contact Kathy Day at kathleen.day@jefferson.edu. Please allow two weeks since this product is licensed on a per instructor basis.

Adobe Connect Support Documentation

• Faculty Quick Start
• Faculty Interface - This reference illustrates the location of Connect tools for Hosts and Presenters (under construction)
• Student Quick Start - Post this within your Adobe Connect Folder for the student to access.
• Student Interface - This reference illustrates the location of Connect tools for Participants

Before class

• Creating a course menu link - This demonstrates how to create a link in the left navigation area of your course in Pulse. (This may have been done for you when you requested Adobe Connect for your course.)
• Audio Set-up - This demonstrates how to set up and test the audio and web cam features of Adobe Connect.
• Uploading Content to Adobe Connect - Follow these steps to upload and share PowerPoint files (PPT and PPTX), Adobe Acrobat files (PDF), image files (JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP) and video files (SWF and FLV).

During class (under construction)

After class

• Administrative interface for Adobe Connect - Use this link to make your class recordings public. Be sure to save this URL in your favorites. (Log in using your Jefferson email account and the password emailed to you when your host account was established.)
• Make your class recording public - This demonstration shows you how to make your class recording public. Making the recording public generates a URL that you will post inside your course on Pulse so students can view the recording.
• Adding the URL of a recorded session to your Adobe Connect Page - This demo shows you how to add the URL, associated with your recording, to your course on Pulse.