At Harvard's new 'virtual classroom,' students tune in to class from computers anywhere

Harvard University's business school is unrolling a high-tech classroom that lets professors teach live lectures to students around the world.

Housed in a TV studio, the classroom puts professors in front of a towering, wall-to-wall video screen that fills up with live feeds of up to 60 students.

From their computers, students can see the classroom and interact with the professor and other classmates, like a larger-than-life video conference.

Initially the room will be used to host classes for business students while they're on study trips around the world, and to host virtual research presentations.

Eventually officials said they will consider offering new programs taught entirely online through the room.

It's a departure from the types of online classes that are recorded in advance for students to take later.