Asynchronous and synchronous online classes
One or the other? Or blended?
I started teaching one week early this year: I took on a couple of “orientation” classes of international students.
And they have taught me so much
They are all young and moving on from secondary school to post. Their questions, that first week, were nothing like what they would have been a year ago. All questions, this year, were concerned with being online: how could they tell when their classes took place; how could they get textbooks into their hands; why was their syllabi access limited; why did they not yet have instructions for simply how to access and “be” there…
I had to admit to being astonished at my institution’s lack of forethought about these last few; surely they could guess at the anxiety that would be generated by lack of information!
We spent the week talking — mostly — about how to handle stress. I made mental notes to make certain my course and text information was posted as early as could be, and in the most straightforward way. (And as we know “straightforward” and “institution” are too often mutually exclusive.)
And then I met up with them three weeks into classes, and most of the questions were answered. But up came new and illuminating thoughts from…
