asynchronous vs. asynchronous
I prefer asynchronous mostly because a believe in the anytime, anywhere learning environment. Having taught onground for many years I must admit I miss the face to face contact.
Lisa,
Please share more with your discussions. What do you use and how do students interact with you.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
For those schools which do not use synchronous learning screen recording tools are handy to use.
Nancy,
It can be daunting. The issue with synchronous learning is students don't participate in that type of learning and it doesn't take advantage of the power of online learning and that is anytime, anywhere learning. What you need to do is commit to learn and learn well, one type of technology to make the online course interactive. Use it and them move to one more. You don't want to overwhelm you or your students. You are also demonstrating your ability to learn and to be a life long learner.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kelly,
I am also reluctant to step into online teaching.
I find the computer world daunting, at best. I am determined to do it. I have sat in on other instructors classes, and am learning different teaching styles from them. I must agree, synchronous works much better for our students.
The immediate question and answer feature greatly helps the efficiency and progress of the class.
Being together at one time, expedites and improves the students ability to grasp and move forward at a proper pace to finish the course with a good knowledge of the content of the class.
Empowering the student , was a great way to phrase how they should leave the class.
Christopher,
That is always an interesting debate. The LMS is something we use to track students usage of chats. I have actually put questions on the exam that comes from a chat or from a Youtube view. I want them to know I never make students do busy work, everything they are to do is for a reason.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Simone,
Love your statement! I too was skeptical about changing teaching modes ( I have always seen myself as a successful f2f educator). After teaching online for the last 10 years, I now find that as long as you create a comfortable empowering environment. I enjoy the discussion and they are better than the discussion I have in my f2f.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
That is a very interesting question and one that is continuously debated at my university. Currently, students are encouraged to attend chat sessions though they are optional. If they are unable to attend, then they are encouraged to review the recorded archive.
However, there is no way integrated into the system to see which students viewed the archive. I definitely feel the chats are valuable and would love to develop a method to ensure they have read and reviewed the material. Perhaps a discussion board thread could be created to allow them to acknowledge each week the session was viewed.
Jim, I too relate to missing the face to face contact. At the college where I teach, this is the first quarter that I am teaching a virtual class in addition to my on-ground courses. Initially, I felt that I was more of a facilitator than an actual instructor. However, over time (we are now three weeks into our courses), I now truly feel that with student participation and my facilitation/coaching, we are developing a viable on-line community. It is definitely different in many regards from teaching "face to face", but I truly appreciate the fact that via the virtual learning environment, I am reaching a wide variety of students from many different places. In many ways, I am thrilled at the prospect of reaching learners that might not benefit from or are suited to an on-ground course.
Claudia,
I like synchronous and students will say they like it better but the don't always participate. That is my frustration! If I don't make it mandatory, students will avoid it.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
me too. For my learning style I need the interaction for a easy learning. I can learn from asynchronous but take more effort.
Dr. Karina,
My institution does not and I don't use synchronous delivery much. For me it takes away from the anytime, anywhere learning. That doesn't mean I don't work on developing community.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I think that all online schools use asynchronous and synchronous style to teach
Donald,
Do you check to see how many watch the archived sessions? I often wonder why would synchronous components be a part of the course when no one shows up and it counts for nothing? Do students use it? Do you think it is a waste of your time?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I agree with you on both counts, Jim. However, one of the institutions I teach for has a weekly synchronous component that does approximate the F2F experience. Unfortunately, participation is not required for students, so there is usually a low turn-out, but the sessions are archived for later viewing.
Donnie Burnette
Jim,
It is a challenge to change from f2f to online as the contact is different. We have to develop ways to create the relationship with them with anytime, anywhere learning. It is a great opportunity.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
