By Abstract
The attention and interest of education systems, especially at the university level, have been shifting, of recent, to virtual teaching and learning. This is a mode of learning that enables the teacher and students to interact and communicate without being physically present to each other. The age-long traditional classroom learning appears to be gradually fading away. Nigerian universities have keyed into this new way of learning; though, still immersed in the traditional classroom setting. The thrust of this study is to critically appraise virtual teaching and learning vis-à-vis traditional classroom learning in Nigerian public universities. The study was survey analytic in nature. The study adopted a qualitative method which embraced conceptual frame, literature review, descriptive and comparative approaches. It explored the concepts of virtual learning and its associated term`, as well as physical classroom learning; noting their merits and demerits. These were related to the context of Nigerian public universities. Data were sourced through library materials, textbooks and internet surfing and concurrently analyzed. The findings of the study showed that there is awareness of virtual learning and its benefits in Nigerian public universities but there is poor implementation. This is due to a number of challenges such as infrastructural deficiency, poor funding of education by the government and epileptic power supply, among others. Traditional classroom learning is therefore still in vogue. The study concluded that despite the awareness of virtual learning, its benefits and students’ general disposition to embrace it, Nigerian public universities are not yet well positioned for effective e-learning, compared to their private counterparts. It then recommended, among others, that the government and university authorities should join hands to provide enabling environments for effective e-learning in all of its aspects. It also recommended that traditional classroom learning and hybrid or blended learning both go on for now, until such a time when virtual learning becomes ingrained in the fabrics of Nigerian public universities.
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