Virtual Meeting - Everything you need to know - VRTUZ

In the advanced world, virtual meetings are usually held when students are in different locations. While virtual meetings have increased in popularity for delivering and grasping education, they’ve also become a common place for friends and family. Virtual meetings can be held with anyone and anywhere.

A virtual meeting is notably different from a traditional in-person conference where every student is together in the same physical classroom, but on the other hand, people are still brought together in a dedicated virtual meeting room.

Why do we need virtual meetings in educational institutions?

Relationships are important among students of the same class to form and maintain. As the adoption of hybrid education models rapidly increases, more students are in remote locations than ever before. Many of these students have never visited the classroom or met their classmates in person.

In many situations, the on-site visits and other forms of communication have been rendered unnecessary as classes, exams, assignments, projects, and tests can all be handled with virtual meetings. These digital capabilities can save time and money, along with implementing numerous enhanced qualities among students. But because of these advanced ways of teaching-learning, in-person connections may be lost. Team collaboration tools have also come a long way, and the top vendors such as VRTUZ are working regularly to digitally reclaim some of the aspects that may be lost through a lack of in-person connection.

Among many other lessons, the COVID pandemic has also taught us that virtual meetings can go a long way towards bridging the gap of physical distance in education. Enabling video during virtual meetings can lead to more effective teacher-student and peer-peer collaboration, as they can socialize, cooperate, and learn without losing the important elements of body language and facial reactions that can be invaluable when gauging the feelings and opinions of others.

What tools are required for a virtual meeting?

Typically, a user would need a PC, laptop, or mobile device with a microphone or camera, online meeting software, and an internet/data connection to schedule a virtual meeting and invite others. This person can invite others who can further join with an active connection. Virtual meetings are flexible and capable of accommodating students who can only join with their voice even via a phone connection.

Virtual meeting software can run via mobile or desktop apps and within internet browsers. There are a lot of vendors to choose from and, like all forms of software, quality and features will vary.

Types of Virtual Meetings?

As mentioned earlier, there are various types of virtual meetings. The host decides on the virtual meeting style for achieving their goals for a specific meeting. They are able to decide that the presenter needs to have the entire focus of the attendees. A virtual meeting solution must have a wide range of available options to customize how a meeting is hosted and attended. There is also a handful of meeting types that can be tweaked to fulfilling the needs of students as well as the institution.

1.    Video Conferencing

Video conference is a very popular type of virtual meeting as it involves face-to-face interaction between the educator and students. These virtual meetings present high-quality video and audio for participants so that they are able to see and hear each other as though they are in the same room.

This type of meeting is best when it is important to see body language, facial expressions, and other physical cues. As a result, this is one of the best forms of virtual meetings if you want to facilitate higher school or university students and relationship building.

2.   Web Conferencing

Web conferences are very similar to video conferences and can involve face-to-face meetings. But the main difference is it is a way of online collaboration on projects by using capabilities such as sharing and whiteboarding.

Brainstorming sessions are a part of web conferences and can be more efficient than in-person gatherings. With the help of cloud-based collaboration solutions ranging from simple Word documents to feature-rich digital whiteboards, students can meet while also focusing on the same shared resource – all in real time and from their comfort.

3.   Webinars

While webinars are a variation of web conferences, they are mainly one-way virtual meetings with hosts or panelists presenting to attendees. Settings for webinars can be arranged so that students cannot be seen or heard, giving hosts the uninterrupted focus of them. The hosts have great control over webinars and can decide to open up audio or video permissions for others at any time. This is mostly done if there are Q&A sessions at the end of the presentations.

4.   Teleconferencing

One of the simplest and barebones types of virtual meetings is a teleconference. These are meetings that are audio-only and are the more modern versions of a “conference call.” Due to no video-calling being involved, teleconferences need less technology and can be better suited for quick and informal calls that do not require screen sharing or other visualizations.

Teleconferences still take advantage of features within virtual meetings by offering ease of use and simple, secure connectivity for students and educators.

How can educational institutions work smarter with VRTUZ?

With VRTUZ, your university can experience all the benefits and features of a leading institute-grade collaboration platform and with our comprehensive virtual meeting solution, your students will be fully enabled to learn together from anywhere.

Teachers and students will be able to engage with each other like never before, creating an even, and more productive, collaborative study environment. You can also share with students a new channel to learn about different subjects and chapters, and allow them to interact directly with each other.