Synchronous v. Asynchronous

Julie Meloni published a cogent post recently (on the always useful ProfHacker blog) regarding the relative merits of various online discussion tools. Noting that instructors predominantly use asynchronous technologies for discussion--discussion boards, blogs, listservs, etc.--she goes on to sat that "asynchronous communication is by far the more popular model if for no other reason than the barriers to implementation tend to be much lower—many of these tools are free and require minimal hardware and software." The implication here, it seems to me, is that once conferencing technology reaches a certain level of sophistication and buy-in, use of older, less efficient asynchronous communication will diminish markedly if not completely go by the boards. That may be, but I would submit that asynchronous may also be popular because it is peculiarly suited to the online environment. Students are attracted to online- and distance-learning options for their flexibility. Having, perhaps, jobs, families, or other binding commitments, they gravitate to courses that allow them to make their classroom contributions on their own time. Having students show up at an appointed time for a chat or conference somewhat defeats that flexibility. This is to say nothing of the fact that, as the e-learning project matures, classes will tend to become more, not less, geographically diffuse, with students enrolled from all over the country and the world. This fact will make that 3 pm Eastern chat still more problematic.


All of this is not to suggest, certainly, that instructors must choose either asynchronous or synchronous and stick with their choice forever. It is only to point out, like Meloni, that there are a lot of options out there and the more varied instructors can be in their approaches to online discussion, the better.  

On Writing Effective Online Discussion Questions

Yesterday, Professor Peterson pointed me in the direction of an article co-authored by former SLIS faculty member Diane Neal on the topic of composing effective discussion board questions. In "CREST+ Model: Writing Effective Online Discussion Questions," Neal and co-author Lynn Akin propound a method for coming up with good questions. Basically, as I read it, the model calls for instructors to take into account cognitive learning needs of students, desired learning outcomes, course readings, and students' experiences, all the while varying the styles and types of questions asked. If you're having trouble sparking vibrant virtual classroom discussions, this brief paper is well worth a read. While you're at ti, you may well wish to go ahead and check out other (free) offerings from the journal in which it was published, the Journal of Online Teaching and Learning.

Curt Bonk's e-learning resources

Yesterday NCCU's Center for University Teaching and Learning hosted a webcast by Indiana University education professor Curt Bonk, a leading voice in distance ed. The CUTL will be making the webcast available on CD-ROM in the coming weeks, as I understand them. But really, Bonk has a ton of content out there on his own site, and it won't take you very long to get the flavor of his ideas. His presentation style is a bit infomercial-y, but the content of the webcast was good, and I took away a number of e-learning strategies from ideas for icebreakers to timeline-building exercises to use of Ning groups to concentrate discussion.

Audacity for podcasting

Thinking of doing podcasts for your distance courses? You could do worse than downloading a copy of the free, cross-platform audio editor Audacity. It allows you to record, edit, and save your remarks in your preferred file format. All of it simple, intuitive, and--one can't say it enough--free. Follow the link for a brief tutorial on podcasting with Audacity.  

General Distance Education Resources for Higher Education

One of the nice things about distance education is that there is no shortage of online guides and primers for novice and veteran distance educators alike. To keep our DE faculty apprised of some of these resources, I've created a link list on the left margin featuring, for now, three of the best web resources out there: the American Distance Education Consortium, the University of Idaho's "Distance Education at a Glance" page, and  the University of Wisconsin-Extension Distance Education Clearinghouse. If you have a question about any aspect of distance education--from how to construct a course to upcoming conferences to relevant technologies--you'll be able to find an answer at one or all of these websites. So check them out.