Now that you are familiar with
- What synchronous and asynchronous teaching methods are, and
- The advantages and disadvantages of each,
how do you decide what to teach synchronously and what to teach asynchronously?
Let’s start with an activity.
If you had to teach someone to make Maggi, which parts would be synchronous and which parts would be asynchronous?
Hint: Think about what you want your students to be able to do, how they will best be able to learn that, and what resources you have at your disposal.
There are two questions that must be answered while deciding whether to teach synchronously or asynchronously:
A. How should the content be split?
- Method: In which way is the content best delivered?
- Purpose: Why are you using this content? What do you want students to do during the session?
- Constraints: What are the technological bottlenecks you are working with?
- Outcomes: What would you like your students to produce once they have engaged in the learning activity?
SYNCHRONOUS LEARNING
Synchronous learning may be preferable when it is important to have the following:
- Exchange of perspectives
- Peer learning
- Classes where you play the role of a mediator or facilitator
- Community building exercises
Examples of synchronous classes include:
- Debate
- Socratic Seminar
- Student group work or group discussions
- Discussion of sensitive issues
ASYNCHRONOUS LEARNING
Asynchronous learning may be preferable when it is important to have the following:
- Developing a common foundation before class
- Assessing students’ prior knowledge on a topic
- Students going through the content at their own pace
- Students spending time thinking about the material
Examples of asynchronous classes include:
- A reading
- A video
- A pre-recorded lecture/podcast
- An online self-paced course (like this one!) to gain background knowledge
B. How can I use asynchronous learning to aid my synchronous sessions?
When asynchronous online school work is combined with synchronous in-classroom time, the class time is not spent sharing content. The teacher speaking to the learners is not the source of the content. The content is shared with the students asynchronously, they take time to go through it on their own, take notes, and reflect on it. The class time is then used for discussion, questions, application etc.
To do this, you can collect information about students from asynchronous lessons, which then help you conduct better synchronous lessons. You can collect information on the following parameters:
- Whether the student completed the work given during the asynchronous lesson
- What sections of the content the students are comfortable with
- What kind of doubts the students have regarding the content
This approach is also called the blended learning approach.
Usually synchronous learning works in settings when students and teachers have access to devices and the internet to be able to conduct the sessions. In case of low access to device and internet connectivity, asynchronous learning works best because students can access the material in their own time.
REMEMBER: Whichever route you go, the goal must still be a strong presence in your online course. Holding a synchronous “office hour” or live lecture once a week is not a substitute for an almost continuous presence in an online classroom. Just as the dependence on asynchronous tools to enable you to be an absent teacher is not really teaching.
Whether you rely on synchronous, asynchronous or a combination of both approaches in an online course, the most important thing you can do is communicate – communicate clearly, effectively and frequently. Remember, it is not about the technology, it’s about the teaching!
