Setting up a place for students to meet and ask questions is a good ideal unless students lead each other astray. I prefer getting an email, text, or phone call when there is a question. Each means of contact elevates the importance of the question.
Content delivery is important regardless of the type of teaching that is going on.
Wether involved in synchronous or asynchronous teaching expectations must be discussed and students must be able to understand where and how to access information in the course. Communication between instructor and student must be often.
I have learned that whether the class is synchronous or asynchronous, teachers need to have great communication with their students. Students must be able to feel that they can have their questions answered in a timely fashion. Content needs to be organized and presented in a manner that promotes learning.
Communication is key to successful learning - whether you are teaching a synchronous or asynchronous course. Also, it is important to remember that what the instructor implies is not always what the student understands. This is why communication is always important.
The healthy communication is the key for a successful online course, whether its face-to-face virtual meeting or 100% online.
Organization of a course, and providing a framework or "map" of the course direction is even more important in an asynchronous course.
I teach in an asynchronous environment. Organization is the key! It is important to set up the course in a chronological, week-to-week manner and to have each block (week) organized in the same order (learning aids like PowerPoints and videos, discussion boards, assignments, quizzes, etc.). There should also be a student lounge-type discussion board for students to post questions and interact informally with each other. I liked the idea of an FAQ discussion board. I plan to further investigate this idea and implement it in my online, asynchronous environment.
Both synchronus and asynchronus method have advantages and disadvantages, But organinization is most important. If organized properly it will be a good learning tool.
It is very important to establish the rules and guideness of a course at the beginning.
Organization and accessibility are important forlearning.
In this module, I have learned the importance of consistency in course design, activities, and teaching style and its relationship to learning outcomes. I will evaluate the components of an effective teaching pattern in my online courses:
(a) learning outcomes, (b) communication, (c) centralized location, (d) content delivery, (e) submission of assignments, and (f) questions and answers.
Really, distance education in its minimum or maximum expression will now be ahead in our lives. Determining if the course is synchronous or asynchronous must vary according to the purpose, the audience and the availability of resources to make it a quality one.
My personal opinion, not all students can study with an asynchronous method, there must be commitment, time and concentration to achieve effective learning. There is a population of students who have to study synchronously in a real-time environment in order to achieve this learning and be focused on the subject.
Whether synchronus or asynchronus a course will only be successful with consistency and communication from the instructor.
There are apprpraite moments for both synchromous and asynchronous learning. Some students like the live interaction with the instructor, howveer, some students (may be due to time zone differences) are unablet o be live, but should still have the benefit of having a lively discussion and interaction via a recorded lecture. There are positives to both types.
Communication and organization are the key to a successful online course in both syncronous and asyncronous.
A pattern of teaching basically characterizes how an instructor provides information to students and how his/her virtual classroom practice becomes obvious as it is repeated consistently over a period of time.
I learned that to organize a course content you have a differents methods to develop the material.
It is important to have both synchronus and asynchronus sessions as synchronus allows for freer communication and helps to ensure that students understand the concepts or instructions and it allows them to learn from each other. asynchronus allows for aldult learning and gives freedom to the student to respond at a time that is best for them.
