Synchronous idea -last word?

If we could have presented this my way, we would have used This software instead. This sort of presentation would be awesome plugged into a synchronous virtual classroom.

Cheers!

Differences in the People

It's clear by now that different types of people choose different types of learning modalities; students and facilitators alike.

What is the difference between a synchronous-preferring learner and an asynchronous-preferring learner?
What is the difference between a synchronous-preferring facilitator and an asynchronous-preferring facilitator?
Do you have any sources to back you up? :-)

Facilitation Strategies

How do you make your online classroom work?
Things like walking up and tapping a distracted student on the shoulder don't work over the internet, and you certainly can't send an unruly adult in the forums to go talk to the principal! So, how do you keep your class or training session running smoothly?


**Edit: I can't post this video in the comments, so I've gone back and added it here - a detailed view of how a facilitator might run a synchronous online classroom:**

Advantages?

Both of these modalities are popular, so I'm curious what you think: what are the advantages to each?

To me, the advantages of synchronous learning from the participant's perspective are clear:

• Location flexibility
• I can "attend class" from home, from my office, from the airport if I'm traveling at the scheduled hour, and I can wear my pj's if I want to!
• Socialization
• I am not attending a class with a faceless computer automaton. I know my classmates are out there, because I'm chatting with them at least once a week (during our scheduled meeting time), and I have the opportunity to get to know who they are as people.
• I know who my facilitator is. We email, we chat online, I may even hear his or her voice (more on that later), and I interact with the facilitator while I'm taking the class -just like a real classroom!
• Instant feedback
• I don't have to wait two or three days to find out if I got the right answer to a question, the facilitator tells me right then and there. Hooray for instant gratification!
• Real-time audio and video
• This is as close as you can get to an in-person classroom without actually being there. I can hear what the facilitator is saying, I can hear what the class is saying, and I can see what's going on. This is awesome!

This video is a neat example of what you can do with a virtual online classroom:

A good reference for the advantages of Synchronous learning is this article by Oaks and Rengarajan:



•Oakes, K., & Rengarajan, R. (2002). E-LEARNING. T+D, 56(9), 57. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=114&sid=76487857-7e77-4671-83d9-caa497297925%40sessionmgr112&vid=4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=7347507 .





**EDIT -By Dreama:
Here's a video of the advantages of asynchronous learning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qsoa-S6c3k

Disadvantages of Asynchronous learning

Asynchronous learning does have some disadvantages, but not many. Some disadvantages may include students not feeling connected to the group or facilitator, which may cause lack of motivation. Another disadvantage may be if a facilitator does not demonstrate or help students associate new information to real-world experiences. Adult learners need to assess learning based on personal goals or an aid to improve current ability levels.

Reference: Assesswave. (2002). Advantages and Disadvantages of Learning in a Hypertext Environment. Retrieved from http://www.accesswave.ca/~hgunn/special/papers/hypertxt/index.html

Asychronous learning is FABULOUS!!!!

In my opinion, asynchronous learning out weighs synchronous learning. Asynchronous learning provides learners with an array of opportunities such as allowing individual participants to access activities and communications when it's convenient for him or her not real-time.

Synchronous learning is awesome!

This week we spent four hours talking about the merits of synchronous learning. We talked about some disadvantages too, but to my mind, synchronous learning is far better than asynchronous learning.