Participation

Image: Baby Center (2013)

Learner participation is the cornerstone of any successful pedagogy. Learner participation is essential for creating a deeper understanding of the instruction (Donovan, Bransford, & Pellegrino, 1999).

Activities that are used in synchronous and asynchronous learning environments that are typically considered student participation include:

• Face-to-face interaction (via live streaming video or in a classroom or meeting space)
• Audio/video conferencing tools
• Social networking
• Text-based communication

Most students who choose asynchronous online learning do so for the promise of “anytime learning”. They are busy individuals who are trying to fit education or training into their already busy schedules and the asynchronous modality best fits their needs.

Asynchronous Participation
Asynchronous learning is primarily text-based. For individual participation, every learner is required to post responses to weekly discussion questions (DQ) posted by the facilitator in the online classroom forum. Students are also required to respond and discuss the week’s subjects with each other during the week.  

Common practice for grading participation of individual learners in asynchronous learning is requiring him or her to post eight substantive responses to the weekly DQs. Throughout the week, as the students post answers and responses to the DQs they will discuss relevant topics with the other students in the class. This participation strategy encourages research, critical-thinking, discussion, debate, decision making, writing, and many other higher order thinking skills.     

In addition to individual participation and assignment requirements, students in asynchronous learning environments are also typically required to participate with other class members on a learning team. The learning team is given an assignment and the team members must work together to meet the learning objectives and complete the assignment or project. Learning team participation can be challenging in asynchronous learning because the main communication with each other is text-based. 

                                               Synchronous Participation

Image: E-learn Easy (2013)

Students in synchronous environments also have individual and learning team participation requirements but they have more choices for participating. Synchronous learning environments use text-based communication (e.g., e-mail, online forum discussions, and recorded audio or video) the same as asynchronous environments but the learners and facilitators can also communicate using live/instant messaging or texting, live audio or video conferencing, and in some cases actual classroom or meeting space for a group of students. Synchronous learning does not offer the convenience of “learning anytime” but it does provide learners with more options for communicating (participate) with the facilitator and other students, and to collaborate with learning team members.