Synch AND Swim

SYNCH AND SWIM: The Value of Synchronous Learning Environments (Interact! Build Community! Immediate feedback!) Michael Coghlan BAW 2010 21/1/10

STRUCTURE OF SESSION
historical context
value of synchronous interaction
skills required in a virtual classroom (brief)
applications for synchronous activity (when can you use them?)

WHO’S ONLINE TODAY?

Question:
Are you
A) In your office?
B) In a computer suite?
C) At home?
D) Other?

MULTIPLE VENUE PRESENTATIONS (MVPs) remote students guest lecturer CLASSROOM/ F2F VENUE public space

What is synchronous/asynchronous communication?
SYNCHRONOUS (real time) eg f2f conversation, telephone calls, chat rooms
ASYNCHRONOUS – some delay between initial communication and the reply eg letters, email, forums

Question:
IS ANYONE TEACHING IN FULLY ONLINE MODE?
(Classroom + online =
BLENDED LEARNING)

Synchronous approaches can be a valuable complement to face to face classes!

Changing Methodology
Online/elearning:
Asynchronous
(written) text based
Content focused
Asynch + synch
more voice interaction
Content + process
ca 1998 2010

Asynch Synch Oral Written Minimalist; rapid (evolving) COMMUNICATION AXIS Spontaneous; dialogue Reflective; monologue Structured; expository

COMMUNICATION AXIS Most classroom communications take place here New – have been enabled by technology (only happen online)

The Original Synchronous Environment – plain text chat

Web Conferencing/Virtual Classroom

Range of Synchronous Tools
Instant messengers: Google Talk, Skype, Yahoo, MSN (text + voice)
Peer to Peer/Collaborative Tools: eg Etherpad (documents), Mind Mapping, Whiteboards, etc
Virtual Classrooms
Proprietary: Elluminate, Adobe Connect, etc
Free: Wiziq, DimDim, Vyew

Virtual Worlds: Second Life See Second Life in Education

Your Experience?
Have you experienced the use of synchronous tools in online courses that you have either taught or studied?

Your Experience?
How have synchronous tools been used in courses you have either taught or studied?
small group work?
one-on-one communications?
whole class meetings?
whole class instruction?
other?

Use of Synchronous Tools – Survey
Purpose of Interactions
58% small group work
37% one-on-one communications
35% whole class meetings
16% whole class instruction
(results at http://users.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/synch/surv_results.htm)

Question
Why do you think it is important to include synchronous tools in online courses?

Use of Synchronous Tools – Survey
Why are synchronous tools important?
Approx 50/50 split between pedagogical and social/affective reasons
Pedagogy : immediacy of feedback (30%)

Social/Affective Benefits
Social, community, and personal engagement
personal engagement/motivation (55%)
community building (29%)
improving the social experience (27%)

Tension: Synch v Asynch
Terry Anderson, Toward a Theory of Online Learning:
“… .the major motivation for enrollment in distance education is not physical access, but rather, temporal freedom to move through a course of studies at a pace of the student’s choice.” Participation in ( synchronous events) “almost inevitably places constraints on this independence.”
“ The demands of a learning-centered context might at times force us to modify prescriptive participation in (synchronous events), even though we might have evidence that such participation will further advance knowledge creation and attention.”

Resolving the tension between asynchronous and synchronous approaches
don’t make synch sessions compulsory; use synch for those who want it
use tools that can record or archive the sessions for later retrieval
don’t use synchronous for whole class instruction
use for meetings, one-on-one, or in small groups
offer informal (social) sessions in synch mode
allow student use of synchronous space
offer office hours sessions at set times

Resolving the tension between asynchronous and synchronous approaches
It’s not all or nothing – use both approaches:
Synch for social, spontaneous, decision making
Asynch for deliberation, reflection, considered opinion

The Instructional Challenge:
Methodology: how do you use synchronous tools to maximise their impact?

Skills of the Live Online Presenter
Golden Rule : 6-8 minutes talking at a stretch maximum
Intersperse presentations with questions, polls, other speakers (from the floor), whiteboard activity
Decide how to handle direct messaging – will you monitor/respond? Or ignore it? Dip in and out of it?
Consider working with a producer/co-presenter
More at http://users.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/fll/blog.htm#skills

What kinds of synchronous activities can you use in classrooms?
TEACHING
‘ straight lecture’
Guest lecturers
Oral presentations
Group work
One on one (eg pronunciation)
OTHER
Office hours
Social: student - student

Synchronous Activities – example 1
Live discussion with a musician about their work
Organised by Webhead Aiden Yeh (Taiwan) and Michael Coghlan (Australia)

Small Group Discussion - Intercultural Communication
Streetlife Project organised by Webhead Anne Fox (Denmark) http://streetlife.homestead.com/

Oral Presentations
organised by Webhead Buthaina Al-Othman (Kuwait)
http:// alothman-b.tripod.com/wia_162finalproj.htm

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Conferences, seminars
Workshops and Training sessions
Meetings (much more cost effective than teleconferencing)

NEAR
SYNCHRONOUS
TOOLS

What’s this?

Twitter as a real time search tool?
May 2008: “Twitter beats media in reporting China earthquake."
An almost real time search tool
Now being used by some as an alternative search tool to Google
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29281982@N00/101951607/

TRACKING THE BACK CHANNEL http://www.slideshare.net/mchaelc/tracking-the-back-channel

BACKCHANNEL TOOLS
Direct or instant messaging in web conferencing tools (eg Centra, Elluminate)
Live blogging tools like Cover It Live
Live polling tools like Poll Everywhere
Micro Messaging tools: Twitter , Yammer

Cover It Live

POLLING TOOLS

Purdue University: In-house Application http://www.itap.purdue.edu/tlt/hotseat/

Can you use Twitter as teaching tool?
Teaching with Twitter (Steve Wheeler)
‘ Twit Board’ Notify students of changes to course content, schedules, venues or other important information. (could be done with phone)
‘ Summing Up’ Ask students to read an article or chapter and then post their brief summary or précis of the key point(s). A limit of 140 characters demands a lot of academic discipline. √
‘ Twit Links’ Share a hyperlink – a directed task for students – each is required to regularly share one new hyperlink to a useful site they have
‘ Micro Write’ Progressive collaborative writing on Twitter. Students agree to take it in turns to contribute to an account or ‘story’ over a period of time.
Use the backchannel to provide feedback on classes in real time √
http://www.flickr.com/photos/interplast/141013553/

Some References
Anderson, Terry; Elloumi, Fathi: Theory and Practice of Online Learning (April 2004)
http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book /
Coghlan, Michael; How important are synchronous tools in web-based teaching and learning environments? http://users.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/synch/surv_discuss.htm
Coghlan, Michael ; Moderating Live Synchronous Sessions http://synchfacilitation.wikispaces.com/
Finkelstein, Jonathan; Learning in Real Time http://www.learninginrealtime.com/
Muirhead, Brent; Research Insights into Interactivity, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning , March 2004
http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Mar_04/article05.htm

Contact Details
Michael Coghlan
http://protopage.com/michaelc
[email_address]

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Synch AND Swim

by michaelc on Jan 20, 2010

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Synch AND Swim — Presentation Transcript