*First of all, if you haven’t checked out the free lessons that are going on at the moment, you can do so by clicking here. It’s in testing right now, so don’t expect everything to be perfect, though we are definitely moving in that direction at a nice and quick pace!

One thing that’s been really fascinating about eduFire’s One-to-Many classroom testing is the culture that’s being built up around it. Live video learning hasn’t been done a whole lot, at least not with the same amount of accessibility that eduFire is providing, so it’s pretty new phenomenon. I was thinking about the differences between this and traditional classrooms. Remember your high school days? I decided to compare eduFire with those turbulent times, and I hope you help me out and do the same! Here’s what I came up with:

Everyone Wants to Learn Something:

This is definitely something you don’t see in a traditional learning environment. In school, I have memories of all kinds of people: There were the kids that raised their hand and went “oooh ooh! Pick me!,” there were the kids that just feel asleep all the time (that would be me), there were those that played games on their fancy calculators, and then there were a bunch of kids who were somewhere in-between. All of these people, no matter how bummed they are about school, still want to learn something. Most likely, that thing isn’t being offered at their school. All the people who join in on eduFire one-to-many classes are there because they want to be there, and because they are interested in the subject. Pair that up with eduFire’s rock star teachers (who are also here because they are passionate about the thing they are teaching), and you have yourself a winning combination.

The Students Can Help Each Other During Lectures:

Remember how you would always get scolded for talking to your classmates during a lecture? I certainly do. In a one-to-many class, students can chat to each other in a chat box, without interrupting the teacher (though the teacher can disable this feature if they wish). Although there’s always a class clown typing in the funny remarks, there are also those who ask questions and provide more information. I don’t know how many times someone has typed in a question, and even before I noticed it they got their answer from someone else in the class. Even better, students who are familiar with the subject often add to the lecture by filling in missing information, giving examples, and providing links to websites that give more detail. If you tried to do these things in a traditional classroom, you’d get your wrists slapped with a ruler (figuratively or literally, depending on where you are from / what generation you grew up in).

It’s Easy to Distribute Information:

In a traditional classroom, the teacher hands out papers, tells you to do problems out of a book, and murders trees. Murder! That’s something we’re trying to avoid. With eduFire, it’s so much easier to distribute the power point presentation to the students, as well as homework, review sheets, and links to more resources (isn’t the Internet great?). With the click of a button, everyone can download the materials, paper is saved, and there’s more time to learn.

Most Classes Don’t End When the Bell Rings:

Five minutes before class was over, I would be packing up my backpack sneakily and quietly, so I could get out the moment the bell rang. Out of all the one-to-many’s I’ve attended and taught, I don’t think there’s a single one that hasn’t gone over the “normal” one hour scheduled slot. Most times, people stick around to talk, ask / answer questions, and continue learning. Like I said, people want to be here and want to learn, and this only makes things better and helps build a vibrant community! Not to mention you are meeting other people who are interested in the same things as you.

So What About You?

Have you attended a one-to-many class yet? Have you taught one? What do you think is different from a traditional classroom setting? How has it affected your life? I look forward to hearing more about your experiences in the comments section!

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