Comparing synchronous and asynchronous modes

Effective use cases

• Effective with lectures that are ‘chunked’ into smaller segments (7 – 10 minutes segments are ideal, with a maximum of 15 – 20 minutes)
• Lecture segments are interspersed with student interaction (e.g. Zoom Poll, Q&A session, Chat Q&A, Breakout Rooms, etc.)

Challenges

• Interfering factors (distractions, internet connectivity, etc.)
  • keep segments short so students don’t miss too much if their participation is interrupted
• Equalizing participation
  • include short, frequent low-stakes interactions to encourage participation 
  • Initiate a system to ensure you invite different students to share their thoughts by alternating forms of interaction

Effective use cases

• Effective for longer lectures and/ or more complex information so students can pace their viewing and review ‘sticky points’ as needed
• Recorded lectures can be narrated PPTs, videos, demos, etc.
• Where possible, lectures should be chunked into 15-30-minute subtopics to facilitate study and review for students
• More inclusive for students with accessibility needs, second language, etc.
• H5P plug-in can be used to create interactive videos & presentations

Challenges

• Time management
  • identify deadlines for viewing and share with students and send reminder with your weekly check-in announcement
• Work completion 
  • assign tasks & submission deadline for each presentation (1-paragraph summary of the main points, journal reflection on the content, 1-page of lecture notes, etc.)
• Questions that arise while working on lectures, assignments, etc.
  • create a class discussion thread per topic for students to pose questions and share answers
  • include links to extra resources for anticipated trouble spots

Effective use cases

• Most effective when under 10 minutes and directly related to topic and task during class

Challenges

• Copyright concerns
  • ensure all material has copyright permission to use
• Accessibility
  • favour clips that provide captioning and described video where possible
• Interfering factors (distractions, internet connectivity, etc.)
  • provide students with a link to the video in case they need to watch again later

Effective use cases

• Most effective for longer videos, especially if students are required to take notes or use the content for an academic task
• H5P plug-in can be used to create interactive video presentations

Challenges

• Copyright concerns
  • ensure all material has copyright permission to use

Effective use cases

• Most effective for discussing case analysis, sharing findings, and Q&A session

Challenges

• Interfering factors (distractions, internet connectivity, etc.)
  • keep activities low stakes
• Equalizing participation
  • include short, frequent low-stakes interactions to encourage participation
  • initiate a system to ensure you invite different students to share their thoughts by alternating forms of interaction
• Monitoring participation
  • visit each Breakout Room
  • include a peer evaluation grade for contribution to the group

Effective use cases

• Most effective for reading cases, analyzing information, sharing ideas, and fine-tuning analysis

Challenges

• Lack of direction / misunderstanding of task requirements
  • ensure instructions are clearly written, keep activities low stakes
  • create a class discussion thread for students to pose questions and share answers
• Equalizing participation
  • clarify expectations for student participation
  • create roles to ensure each student has a specific contribution to the work (Facilitator, Synthesizer, Critic, etc.)
• Monitoring participation
  • monitor student posts
  • include a peer evaluation grade for contribution to the group

Suggested Technology: Moodle Discussion Forum using "Separate groups" and/or a collborative document (such as Moodle wiki) to document analysis.

Effective use cases

• Most effective for authentic interactions (e.g.: interviews, timed problem solving, etc.)

Challenges

• Coordinating participants
  • plan all events during your scheduled course time

Effective use cases

• Most effective for authentic tasks  (e.g.: design a complex research experiment, conduct a literature review, analyze experimental data, etc.)

Challenges

• Task/Process clarity
  • provide models and rubrics to clarify expectations
  • create a class discussion thread for students to pose questions and share answers

Effective use cases

• Most effective for spontaneous interaction, audience participation and small groups

Challenges

• Meeting ‘live’ criteria
  • adjust requirements to allow for innovative responses to the task

Effective use cases

• Most effective for recorded performance or technical demonstrations

Challenges

• Lack of materials
  • adjust requirements to allow for a range of materials
  • create a class discussion thread for students to pose questions and brainstorm innovative replacement materials

Effective use cases

• Most effective for short reviews and Q&A sessions – focused on work previously shared with students

Challenges

• Monitoring for comprehension
  • include frequent knowledge checks (e.g. Zoom Poll, Q&A session, Chat Q&A)

Effective use cases

• Most effective for sharing problems and tasks with students that they complete and prepare questions on prior to the live session

Challenges

• Task/Process clarity
  • provide models and links to resources
  • create a class discussion thread for students to pose questions and share answers

Effective use cases

• Most effective for brainstorming tasks, short focussed discussions, as an initial touchpoint for more complex tasks, as a wrap-up activity, etc.

Challenges

• Ensuring participation 
  • provide clear direction prior to initiating Breakout Rooms
  • visit each Breakout Room
  • open a shared doc for each group and monitor work while in Breakout
  • require groups to share results (either in plenary time permitting, or a written summary to the instructor)
  • include a peer evaluation grade for contribution to the group (if group compilation is constant)
• Equalizing participation
  • clarify expectations for student participation
  • create roles to ensure each student has a specific contribution to the work (Host, Scribe, Synthesizer, Critic, etc.)

Effective use cases

• Most effective for more complex tasks that require critical thinking, analysis, reflection, etc.
• Most effective for peer editing and collaborative writing tasks
• More inclusive for students with accessibility needs, second language, speakers, etc.

Challenges

• Ensuring participation
  • provide clear direction prior to initiating task
  • create challenging, but achievable tasks
  • require groups to share results
  • use an activity that can be monitored (Eg: Discussion Forum, Workshop, Wiki, etc.)
  • include a peer evaluation grade for contribution to the group (if scope of work merits)
• Equalizing participation
  • clarify expectations for student participation
  • require students to divide work and report on their own contribution

Suggested Techonology: Moodle Discussion forum using "Separate groups" and/or a collaborative document to document analysis.

Effective use cases

• Most effective for smaller groups, with guiding questions to complete and share, and a reasonable time limit to keep students on-task

Challenges

• Ensuring participation
  • provide clear direction prior to initiating Breakout Rooms
  • visit each Breakout Room
  • open a shared doc for each group and monitor work while in Breakout
  • require groups to share results  (either in plenary time permitting, or a written summary to the instructor)
  • include a peer evaluation grade for contribution to the group (if group compilation is constant)
• Equalizing participation
  • clarify expectations for student participation
  • create & model roles to ensure each student has a specific contribution to the work (Host, Scribe, Synthesizer, Critic, etc.) & rotate the roles to give each member practice with each role

Effective use cases

• Most effective for groups ranging from 4 – 9, depending on number of discussion posts to create and number of responses required
• Most effective for confirming student understanding / progress
• More inclusive for students with accessibility needs, second language, etc.

Challenges

• Ensuring participation            
  • provide questions that require higher-order thinking (analysis, comparison, application, etc.)
  • require groups to share results
  • monitor student contributions
  • attribute participation grades (for simple participation and/or quality of contributions)
  • include a peer evaluation grade for contribution to the group (if scope of work merits)
  • consider assigning a discussion facilitator for each group on a rotating basis to keep the discussion going

Suggested Techonology: Moodle Discussion forum using "Separate groups"

Effective use cases

• Most effective for presentations under 20 minutes
• Best executed if student audience has a cognitive task during presentations (eg: apply criteria to peer review presentation)
• Should be limited to 3 presentations within a session with intermittent breaks in between
• Can be done in Breakout Rooms and recorded for grading purposes

Challenges

• Interfering factors (distractions, internet connectivity, etc.) 
  • keep presentations short so students don’t miss too much if their participation is interrupted
• Ensuring participation
  • require students to evaluate the presentation using set criteria 
• Validating use of student time
  • stagger audience members

Effective use cases

• Most effective with larger classes
• Can be peer reviewed (eg: assigning each student specific presentations to watch and review)
• Can provide comments at specific points with Audio (in Moodle Discussion Forum)

Challenges

• Ensuring participation
  • require students to evaluate the presentation using set criteria
• Validating use of student time
  • assign each student to view specific presentations

Effective use cases

• Most effective for individual or small group Q&A sessions to report challenges, etc.

Challenges

• Validating use of student time
  • keep sessions short and focused
  • hold individual meetings

Effective use cases

• Most effective when executed with specific milestones to ensure students stay on task (Eg: written summary of research topic, annotated bibliography, paper outline, post-assignment reflection, etc.)

Challenges

• Direction and guidance
  • provide models and rubrics to clarify expectations
  • set deadlines for milestone deliverables
  • attribute a portion of the grade to each deliverable
  • create a class discussion thread for students to pose questions and share answers

Effective use cases

• Most effective for oral presentations and demonstrations

Challenges

• Validating use of student time
  • keep sessions short and focused
  • hold individual evaluation meetings

Effective use cases

• Most effective for auto-graded quizzes, essays, research reports, problem-solving tasks, participation grades

Challenges

• Academic integrity
  • create alternate test versions for a single group
  • randomize question order
  • set time limits for test completion
  • create questions that are highly contextualized and require students to answer from a more ‘personal’ perspective (Eg: discuss specific to the context, provide justification, examples, etc.)
  • offer a creative option whereby students can meet the academic criteria with their own choice of artifact