If we break down the two types of facilitation you will notice that one involves real time live communication with your participants while the other one offers methods to collaborate but not together at the same time. Please take a look at the infographic below to see what each type of facilitation is and how it can be used in a training with various digital tools.
Infographic created by C Daugherty using Canva.
For an additional expanded view of the infographic above please visit: Asynchronous and Synchronous
You may ask yourself...synchronous or asynchronous? Which one is better? Is it really a competition between the type of facilitation or do you have a goal to have a balance of each for an effective online platform? All trainings may not be able to incorporate both styles and this factor is partly determined by your audience as discussed above (and in a previous blog post).
For example, the online high school courses I instruct have all asynchronous facilitation that is built into Canvas, however, I have weekly synchronous contact via phone or text to allow for questions during built in "office hours". This allows me to answer real time questions about the material if needed but students are not required to attend live instruction with me.
On the opposite spectrum, I also train teachers that want to become online educators. While their training material is uploaded in an asynchronous format, I do require a weekly live meeting (on Monday evenings) to discuss the upcoming coursework, provide examples using presenters, and offer Q and A for that week's material. This has proven to be a necessary component of their training since certain rigorous expectations are to be followed and these synchronous meetings allow a better understanding of expectations and best practices.
How can you make Synchronous Facilitation interactive and engaging?
How can you make Synchronous Facilitation interactive and engaging?
If you have the opportunity to provide synchronous facilitation via live instruction there are several digitals tools available to enhance your instruction. These tools are designed to engage and help your participants become actively involved in your presentation. One such tool is Nearpod. The following video briefly explains and demonstrates this useful platform as well as ways it can be used in an online synchronous facilitation environment! Enjoy!
Created by C Daugherty using screencast-o-matic
If Nearpod looks like a digital tool you may be interested in implementing you might considering exploring the following resources:
Information in above infographic gathered from:
McClelland, L., McClelland, L., McClelland, L., McClelland, L., Brock University, Waterloo District School Board., … Waterloo District School Board. (2019, June 28). 4 Tools for Synchronous Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from https://tophat.com/blog/synchronous-teaching-tools/
References and additional resources regarding asynchronous and synchronous facilitation:
Kontos, F., & Henkel, H. (2008). Live Instruction for Distance Students: Development of Synchronous Online Workshops. Public Services Quarterly, 4(1), 1–14. doi: 10.1080/15228950802135657
Higley, M. (2014, July 2). Benefits of Synchronous and Asynchronous e-Learning. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/benefits-of-synchronous-and-asynchronous-e-learning
Lawless, C., O'Neill, E., & McGarry, O. (2019, August 6). Synchronous vs Asynchronous Learning: Which is Right for your Learners? Retrieved from https://www.learnupon.com/blog/synchronous-learning-asynchronous-learning/
Coston, thank you for embedding your infographic and video rather than posting them as links. Embedding makes it so much easier on the reader and it is less likely that we lose them because they click on a link and go elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI like that you make the case for both types of facilitation based on the learner not necessarily on the facilitator's needs. It's not the idea that one is always better than the other: the issue is which method better meets the learner needs at that time.
I was reading an article on using avatar-based group discussions in virtual world settings (Nussili & Oh, 2018) and started pondering the power of creating an avatar to represent yourself in a synchronous environment. An avatar might encourage learners to participate more as they have a little more anonymity although you might not want that in a K-12 setting. Have you considered a way to engage learners synchronously while allowing an anonymous platform?
Reference
Nussili, N., & Oh, K. (2018). Avatar-based group Discussions in virtual worlds: Facilitation, communication modalities, and benefits of participation (Book Chapter Enhancement). International Journal of Virtual and Personal Learning Environments, 8(1), 1-25.
Dr Duggan, I use bitmoji a lot in my courses to give virtual high fiives and in my announcements but I have never thought about making one to help with facilitation..almost like a cartoon tour guide! I like that idea and will toy around with this. Thank you for the resource! I can actually see the benefit for K-12 as it may seem less intimidating in an online synchronous environment! Definitely, thoughts to ponder!
ReplyDeleteCoston,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing the infographic and the video to help with those of us who are visual and auditory learners. Nearpod is a great tool that I have used in the past and would be great for business instructors and teachers to use within their courses. Nearpod has many similarities to PearDeck, which is great!
As you mentioned, if instructors are able to use synchronous discussions or videos many should probably take advantage of that opportunity but in a purposeful way.
Your blog post is well written and I enjoyed reading it. Thank you for sharing another amazing tool with us!
-Kristen
Thank you Kristen!
DeleteCoston,
ReplyDeleteI like that your audience decided whether you would go with asynchronous or synchronous learning. You had great videos included in this blog. It was easy to follow and understand.
Nearpod is a tool that I use frequently in class. I am always interested to see how others are using tools in their class. Thank you for sharing great information!
Thank you Yolander!
Delete