LearnLinc
New Bookmarks, December 1, 1999
Not all external campus
options are fully asynchronous. LearnLinc has an innovative approach for
mixing synchronous and asynchronous pedagogies. You can read the following
at
http://www.ilinc.com/article.cfm?ArticleID=12&EID=0&PID=5462
An important element of any virtual classroom is synchronous activity, where the students and instructor interact through live voice or video while working together with a collaborative software package. Just as important is asynchronous activity – studies done at the student’s own pace, and their own time. The actual mix of synchronous and asynchronous activity is adjusted to suit each course. Although much of the course material may be reviewed asynchronously, the addition of a synchronous classroom provides a significant boost to student retention and training results.
Why Not Conduct a Completely Asynchronous Course?
History shows us why that is not such a great idea. There is a long record of just such efforts, based on both text delivery and computing. The completion rate for students in self-paced courses can be very low. This design works very well with the highly motivated. However, if students are not highly motivated, or there are too many students or employees to train, an asynchronous approach won’t work. Here’s an example: Ford Motor Company used computer based training to teach a new technique to their employees. They designed a CD-ROM for 15 hours of instruction, but employees completed less than 2 hours of the material on average.
Striking a Balance
With live Internet learning, there can be a balance between synchronous and asynchronous time. Individual study can offer self-paced flexibility, but in order to be really successful, students also need continuous feedback, interaction, and teacher mentoring.
What Does an Effective Internet-based Distance Learning Environment Look Like?
Delivery on standards-based multimedia PCs equipped for live video/audio interactions and connected to a large network.
A balanced mix of synchronous and asynchronous activity.
Compatibility with industry-standard authoring tools for multimedia courseware including audio and video clips, animation, and simulation exercises.
Use of professional quality software tools for CAD, spreadsheets, and word processing.
Small group discussions.
Question and answer tools.
Collaborative software for application sharing over the network.
Floor control for both instructor-led and student-centered learning.
Course administration tools for scheduling, registration, and resource management. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – A Pioneer in Distance Learning
In 1992 Rensselaer was challenged by AT&T to create an Interactive Multimedia Distance Learning Environment (IMDL). They re-designed a course from AT&T's University of Sales Excellence (USE), an internal training and education organization. The course teaches the features of AT&T Advanced 800 Services and how to apply them to customer applications. Rensselaer created the multimedia materials and did the workstation programming for the project. AT&T Bell Labs took on the network programming. In June of 1993, they tested the IMDL environment with live participants. An instructor in Ohio delivered the course to students in Texas, Illinois, and New Jersey.