The document discusses the integration of synchronous and asynchronous learning environments, highlighting their definitions, advantages, and tools. It emphasizes the importance of both communication modes in education, suggesting strategies for combining them effectively to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. The document also provides various examples of tools and practices for educators to implement in their teaching.

1. SYNCH AND SWIM:
Blending Synchronous and
Asynchronous Learning
Environments
Michael Coghlan
BAW 2013
24/1/13

2. WHO‟S ONLINE TODAY?

3. Bagan, Myanmar, Jan 2013

4. The Andes Egypt Buenos Aires
Cape Town London NY
Australia Hawaii India

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

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

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

8. SYNCHRONOUS ASYNCHRONOUS

9. 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, Facebook

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

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

12. ASYNCHRONOUS TOOLS
 Email
 Forums, discussion boards
 Blogs (eg Blogger, Edublogs)
 Wikis (eg Wikispaces, PBWiki)
 SMS

13. ASYNCHRONOUS TOOLS
SOCIAL MEDIA/NETWORKING
 Facebook (tip: use the Groups feature)
 Google+
 Foursquare etc (Geolocation)
 Flickr (images)
 YouTube (videos)
 Slideshare (slides)

14. ASYNCHRONOUS VOICE
VOICE BOARDS
1. Wimba: try the board at http://tinyurl.com/4lnh9fn
2. Nanogong (esp for Moodle users)
http://gong.ust.hk/nanogong/
Free
1. Voxopop: Aiden Yeh‟s Advanced Listening Group at
http://tinyurl.com/4hzw2of
2. Voicethread: examples at
http://voicethread4education.wikispaces.com/9-12
3. Podcasts (eg Podomatic; see http://michaelc.podomatic.com/)
4. See list at
http://baw2013.pbworks.com/w/page/59955947/Week2

15. VIDEO LITERACY
See also Ustream and Google Hangout

16. Synchronous approaches can be extended
beyond the face to face (f2f) classroom

17. The Original Synchronous
Environment – plain text chat

18. RANGE OF SYNCHRONOUS TOOLS
 Instant Messengers: Google Talk, Skype,
Yahoo, MSN (text + voice)
 Peer to Peer/Collaborative Tools: eg Google
Docs (documents), Mind Mapping,
Whiteboards, etc
 Virtual Classrooms
 Proprietary: Blackboard Collaborate
(formerly Elluminate), Adobe Connect, etc
 Free: Wiziq, Vyew, Big Blue Button

19. Web Conferencing/Virtual
Classroom

20. Virtual Worlds
See
Second
Life in
Education
See also
OpenSim

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

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

23. Social/Affective Benefits
Social, community, and personal
engagement
 personal engagement/motivation (55%)
 community building (29%)
 improving the social experience (27%)
(results at http:// michaelcoghlan.net/synch/surv_results.htm)

24. 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.”

25. 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

26. What kinds of tasks/activities work best with
ASYNCHRONOUS? SYNCHRONOUS?

27. 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

28. 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:// michaelcoghlan.net/fll/blog.htm#skills

29. What kinds of synchronous activities
can you use in classrooms?
TEACHING OTHER
 „straight lecture‟  Office hours
 Guest lecturers  Class to class
 Oral presentations  Social: student -
 Group work student
 One on one (eg
pronunciation)

30. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
 Conferences, seminars
 Workshops and Training sessions
 Meetings (much more cost effective than
teleconferencing)
 Weekly Webhead sessions at Noon GMT
http://learning2gether.pbworks.com/w/page/32206114/volunteersneeded

31. NEAR
SYNCHRONOUS
TOOLS

32. What‟s this?

33. Twitter as a real
time search tool?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29281982@N00/101951607/
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

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

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

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

37. Cover It Live

38. POLLING TOOLS

39. Today’s Meeting – Your
Feedback
http://todaysmeet.com/elearning11

40. Can you use Twitter as
teaching tool?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/interplast/141013553/
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 √

41. 21 st Century Skills
http://atc21s.org/index.php/about/what-are-21st-century-skill

42. 21 st Century Skills
 Decentralized decision-making, information sharing,
teamwork and innovation are key in today’s
enterprises
 Whether a technician or a professional person,
success lies in being able to communicate, share, and
use information to solve complex problems, in being
able to adapt and innovate in response to new
demands and changing circumstances, in being able
to marshal and expand the power of technology to
create new knowledge and expand human capacity
and productivity.

43. http://rheingold.com/netsmart/

44. http://aruljohn.com/fun/communication/

45. THE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
ASYNCH SYNCH
 Email (one to one; one to many)  Chat or Instant Messaging tool (in LMS)
 Discussion tool (many to many; forum – in  Virtual Classroom
LMS eg Moodle; Facebook, etc; Voice –
Voxopop, Voicethread ) NEAR SYNCH
 Teacher or class blog  Twitter, Yammer
 Podcast site (eg Podomatic)
 Flickr (or other photo site)
 YouTube Channel
 SMS – for messages, reminders
Optional Extra
 Collaborative Workspace (wiki, Google
Docs)

46. A Webheads Theme Song
CHORUS
Webheads – all over the world
Webheads – we’re all over the world
See http://webheadstheme.wikispaces.com/

47. Contact Details
MICHAEL COGHLAN
http://michaelcoghlan.net
e: michaelc@chariot.net.au