Synchronous vs. Asynchronous
Quote: "The topic at hand in synchronous vs. asynchronous communication. In speaking with thousands of educators all over the world, as I have the privilege of having done and continue to do, I am always a little surprised when people speak of asynchronous communication as the necessary, but vastly inferior alternative to synchronous communication. Keep in mind, not everyone tells me this, but enough do that it caught my attention. It is their view that once the infrastructure and software for high quality synchronous communication is ubiquitous, asynchronous communication will go away. The only reason we use it now is because it is cheap and plentiful, and the bandwidth, software and equipment needed for synchronous is not quite there yet. I couldn't disagree more."
Comment: By Murray Goldberg (of WebCT fame). Good overview of the value of asynchronous communication in education - Murray states that asynch. communication (i.e. the notion of responding outside of time and place) is what has truly transformed education. I agree. However, I also think that synchronous communication has yet to be fully explored - tools are slowly being developed and improved. Asynchronous is great for deeper learning and reflection...while synchronous is important for connecting students to each other and to the instructor - the same way in which a telephone is sometimes a preferred for connecting/communicating versus writing a letter.
Posted by gsiemens at July 12, 2002 10:24 PM