Designing with Intention: Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Learning
I compare the teacher’s work designing learning experiences with the work of an architect. Architects must know who they are designing for and how the client intends to use the space. They must understand the client’s specific needs and preferences. They strive to ensure safety and accessibility, removing unnecessary barriers that might limit access to or mobility in the space.
Like an architect, teachers need to bring the same level of intentionality to blending online and offline learning. They must know their students and have a clear understanding of their skills, abilities, language proficiencies, learning preferences, and interests if they are going to design lessons and learning experiences that are engaging, accessible, inclusive, and equitable.
Designing for a blended learning environment that strives to incorporate the fundamental principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) demands that teachers dedicate time and energy to the process of thinking about the objectives of a lesson or sequences of lessons, the unique needs of students in a class, and how the teacher wants to use their time in class.
When designing a lesson or sequence of lessons, teachers should consider the following questions:
What are the learning objectives or desired outcomes?
What needs are present in the class? Is there data I can reference to understand individual student progress?
What learning preferences should I design to accommodate?
What barriers might make it challenging for students to access information or successfully navigate learning activities?
What support or scaffolds might students need to complete a given task or reach the desired outcome?
What instruction or models will students need to make progress toward learning objectives?
How do I want to use my time to support individual student progress toward learning objectives?
How can I integrate technology to shift control over the pace and path of learning to my students?
Thinking through these questions can help teachers make more purposeful decisions about how to organize the lesson to give students more control over their learning experience. They can also begin to think about what instruction students will need to make progress toward the learning objectives, and whether that instruction would be best delivered via video or in small groups. They can identify the specific learning activities that would work best asynchronously versus synchronously.
Direct Instruction: Video vs. Small Groups
Direct instruction has classically taken the form of lectures and mini-lessons. This approach is problematic because it positions the teachers at the front of the room and presents myriad barriers for students who are visually or hearing impaired, tired or distracted, lack the necessary vocabulary or background knowledge to understand the information, or are absent. Instead of moving lock-step through direct instruction with the whole class, teachers should think about making videos for any instruction they plan to say the same way for all students. Those foundational explanations are also the ones teachers end up repeating multiple times over the course of a school year. That’s why they are best presented in video. Videos shift control over the pace of learning to the students. They can pause, rewind, and rewatch content as needed. Video also has accessibility features that are useful, such as adding closed captioning and manipulating the speed of a video.
Video instruction will not be enough for some concepts and explanations. Small group instruction is best when teachers plan to differentiate instruction, varying their vocabulary and word choice, focusing on prompts and problems as different levels of complexity, and providing specific scaffolds and supports to learners. Teachers can create time for differentiated small group instruction in a station rotation lesson or by pulling groups of students to their instructional nest while the rest of the class self-paces through a playlist or unit.
For example, in my high school English class I created videos for many aspects of the writing process, like how to write a thesis statement or cite quotes properly. I explained these concepts the same way to everyone and students needed to reference those explanations multiple times over the course of the school year. By contrast, when I provided instruction on selecting strong textual evidence and analyzing quotes, I pulled that instruction into a small group setting. That allowed me to focus on texts at different levels and select specific quotes to analyze and discuss with each group. I was also able to provide scaffolds (e.g., questions to prompt their thinking, sentence frames, deconstructed models) to guide their work.
When teachers are intentional about what they present in video verus what they present in small groups, they maximize their time and impact.
Asynchronous vs. Synchronous Learning Activities
As teachers blend online and offline learning, they must consider which learning activities will benefit from students having a high degree of control over the pace of their learning and which will benefit from students engaging with one another. Table 1 displays the types of tasks that work well in each mode.
Asynchronous tasks are those that can happen at different times, potentially in different places, and at various paces. Whenever teachers are asking students to aquire new information, process that information, or navigate a multi-step individual task, they should consider making those asynchronous in nature. By contrast, learning activities that benefit from social interaction and peer support are best in a synchronous mode, which happen at the same time and in the same place.
Asynchronous Learning Activities
Reading texts
Watching videos
Listening to podcasts
Exploring teacher curated resources
Conducting research
Engaging in an online discussion
Practicing and applying
Completing a self-assessment
Reflecting on learning
Synchronous Learning Activities
Community building activities
Solving complex problems
Participating in a jigsaw activity
Using the reciprocal reading strategy
Tinkering or experimenting
Engaging in a small group discussion
Building background on a topic
Providing peer feedback
Practicing with a partner for peer support
As teachers construct their lessons, they want to ensure the mode of learning–synchronous or asynchronous–will provide the learner with the time, space, and support to be successful navigating tasks, making meaning, and applying their learning.
Ultimately, teachers must strive to position the learner at the center of the learning process. Like an architect creates the blueprint for a building, the teacher must think through all parts of the learning experience to ensure students have what they need to do the actual work in the lesson. The architect does not pick up a hammer and build the home; it is the contractors and subcontractors who do the physical work of constructing the building. In the same way, teachers should not do the lion’s share of the work in a lesson. They must design learning experiences that require students do the cognitive work of making meaning and building knowledge. The only way to ensure students do the work, and ultimately the learning, is to invest in our role as designers of learning experiences.
