Blending Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Environments

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SYNCH AND SWIM: Blending Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Environments Michael Coghlan BAW 2014 25/1/13

description

Presentation as part of Webheads EVOnline sessions, January 2014

Transcript of Blending Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Environments

Page 1: Blending Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Environments

SYNCH AND SWIM:

Blending Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning

Environments

Michael CoghlanBAW 2014

25/1/13

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WHO’S ONLINE TODAY?

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WHERE ARE YOU?

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WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE?

The Andes Egypt Buenos Aires

Cape Town London NY

Hawaii IndiaAustralia

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WIRELESS IS EVERYWHERE

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Question:

Are you

A) In your office?

B) In a computer suite?

C) At home?

D) Other?

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MULTIPLE VENUEPRESENTATIONS

(MVPs)

remote students guest

lecturer

CLASSROOM/F2F VENUE

publicspace

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Question:

IS ANYONE TEACHING IN FULLY ONLINE MODE?

(Classroom + online =

BLENDED LEARNING)

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IS BLENDED BEST?

Face to face? Online? Blended?

Evidence inconclusive. Check resources at http://tinyurl.com/q4lxqwv (courtesy of Curt Bonk) and decide for yourself

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SYNCHRONOUS ASYNCHRONOUS

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What is synchronous/asynchronous communication?

SYNCHRONOUS (real time) eg f2f conversation, telephone calls, chat, Instant Messaging

ASYNCHRONOUS – some delay between initial communication and the reply eg letters, email, forums, Facebook newsfeed

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Asynch

Synch

Oral Written

Minimalist; rapid (evolving)

COMMUNICATION AXIS

Spontaneous;dialogue

Reflective; monologue

Structured; expository

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COMMUNICATION AXIS

Most classroom communications take place here

New – have been enabled by technology (only happen online)

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ASYNCHRONOUS TOOLS

Email Forums, discussion boards Blogs (eg Blogger, Edublogs) Wikis (eg Wikispaces, PBWiki) SMS

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ASYNCHRONOUS TOOLS

SOCIAL MEDIA/NETWORKING Facebook (tip: use the Groups

feature) Google+ Foursquare etc (Geolocation) Flickr (images) YouTube (videos) Slideshare (slides)

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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

3. Voxopop: Aiden Yeh’s Advanced Listening Group at http://tinyurl.com/4hzw2of

4. Voicethread: examples at http://voicethread4education.wikispaces.com/9-12

5. Podcasts (eg Podomatic; see http://michaelc.podomatic.com/)

6. See list at http://ict4elt2014.pbworks.com/w/page/70331411/Week2

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*** VIDEO LITERACY ***

See also Ustream and Google Hangout

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Synchronous approaches can be employed beyond the face to face (f2f) classroom

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The Original Synchronous Environment – plain text chat

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RANGE OF SYNCHRONOUS TOOLS

Instant Messengers: Google+, Skype, Facebook

Peer to Peer/Collaborative Tools: eg Google Docs (documents), Mind Mapping, Whiteboards, Gaming

Virtual Classrooms Proprietary: Blackboard Collaborate

(formerly Elluminate), Adobe Connect, etc Free: WizIQ, Vyew, Big Blue Button

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Web Conferencing/Virtual Classroom

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Your Experience?

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

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Question

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

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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)

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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.”

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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

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What kinds of tasks/activities work best withASYNCHRONOUS? SYNCHRONOUS?

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Resolving the tension between asynchronous and synchronous

approaches

It’s not all or nothing – use both approaches: Synch for social, spontaneous, decision making

(CONVERGENT THINKING) Asynch for deliberation, reflection, considered opinion

(DIVERGENT THINKING)

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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

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What kinds of synchronous activities?

TEACHING ‘straight lecture’ Guest lecturers Oral presentations Group work One on one (eg

pronunciation)

OTHER Office hours Class to class Social: student -

student

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Conferences, seminars Workshops and Training sessions Meetings (much more cost effective than

teleconferencing) Weekly Webhead sessions

(Learning2gether) http://learning2gether.pbworks.com/w/page/32206114/volunteersneeded

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NEAR

SYNCHRONOUS

TOOLS

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What’s this?

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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/

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BACKCHANNEL TOOLS

Direct or instant messaging in web conferencing tools (eg Centra, Blackboard Collaborate)

Microblogging Tools: Twitter, Yammer Live blogging tools like Cover It Live Live polling tools like Poll Everywhere

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Purdue University: In-house Application

http://www.itap.purdue.edu/learning/innovate/tools/hotseat.html

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Cover It Live

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POLLING TOOLS

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

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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/

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21st Century Skills

http://atc21s.org/index.php/about/what-are-21st-century-skills/

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21st 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.

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http://rheingold.com/netsmart/

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

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THE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

ASYNCH

Email (one to one; one to many) Discussion tool (many to many; forum

– in LMS eg Moodle; Facebook, etc; Voice – Voxopop, Voicethread )

Teacher or class blog Podcast site (eg Podomatic) Flickr (or other photo site) YouTube Channel SMS – for messages, reminders

Optional Extra Collaborative Workspace (wiki,

Google Docs)

SYNCH

Chat or Instant Messaging tool (in LMS)

Virtual Classroom

NEAR SYNCH Twitter, Yammer

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A Webheads Theme Song

CHORUS

Webheads – all over the worldWebheads – we’re all over the world

See http://webheadstheme.wikispaces.com/

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Contact Details

MICHAEL COGHLAN

http://michaelcoghlan.nete: [email protected]