Week 7 Synchronous and Asynchronous Discussions

This week as I was researching synchronous and asynchronous learning I came across a study that compared the two types of online discussions. Fernandez and Ghosh (2004) conducted a study of an online mathematics teachers’ course to compare the participation rate during synchronous and asynchronous discussion. The study revealed 40% of the students felt they were able to share their thoughts more freely in an online discussion compared to when they were in a traditional face-to-face classroom. The study found that the asynchronous discussions allowed students a greater amount of time to formulate responses and offered flexibility in when they joined the discussion. Interestingly, 100% of the participants checked back to see if anyone had responded to their posts and 60% claimed to be disappointed if no one had while 80% said it was important to read and respond to others posts.( I guess Walden professors have empirical evidence to support their posting requirements :O))

The study reveals that the synchronous discussions provided immediate feedback. The students did comment that within the synchronous format, the responses were shorter and not as well developed and that conversations were sometimes hard to follow. The study revealed the benefits of synchronous discussion to be that students felt they were able to form social connections and develop a sense of community with the classmates. Although the responses were less developed, 67.6% of the students perceived the synchronous discussion to be more valuable.

This study highlights the benefits of integrating both forms of discussion into the online classroom. But does it have to be limited to the online classroom. Rajesh Ratogi ( http://www.eltworld.net/times/2008/10/virtual-classrooms/) comments in his blog that having a blended environment may be the solution to meeting more of our students needs. I agree. I teach in a traditional classroom and I have a CMS which allows me to post assignments, announcements and also lets me integrate live chat and discussion board forums into my daily lessons. I have found the kids enjoy the live chats and really get into it. The discussion board provides them the opportunity to ponder their response and in my opinion use higher level thinking skills. I use the live chats as almost a brainstorming activity and the students take what they have learned from the synchronous discussion and expand upon it in the asynchronous discussion, backing up what they say with research.

Fernandez, M. & Ghosh, S. (2004). Examining asynchronous and synchronous communication in an online mathematics teacher education course. Retrieved October 17, 2008 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p117654_index.html