Synchronous and asynchronous learning

How do learners engage?

How do learners engage with your course outside of a studio, workshop or Collaborate Ultra session? And how does it connect with what happens when they are together, with you? How can you pick the best of each? 

We know students learn and engage with each other and materials online differently than they do face-to-face. They read, watch videos, create and collaborate in substantially different ways and with a different pace to face-to-face teaching (Guo et al., 2014; CAST, 2018; Nielsen, 2013; Noetel et al., 2021).  

In this vignette, we’ll focus on learning over time, analysing two moments: synchronous and asynchronous learning, showing a few activity patterns that you can adapt and bring into your teaching toolkit. 

Getting Started

We can look at learning over time into two major types: asynchronous learning – or guided study time, are organised activities that can be completed by learners in their own time, flexibly, like participating in a forum discussion, or watching a video – and synchronous learning – or teaching hours, where learners and you work together (Garrison and Vaughan 2008). Both have pros, cons and challenges (Imperial, 2020), and at the intersection of your learning objectives and the resources at your disposal, you can make an informed decision (Bloom et al., 1956; Krathwohl et al., 1973) to make the best of a blended approach.

Here are three possible approaches, which you can select based on how much time you have available, your resources and the desired impact.