Depending on how you choose to balance synchronous and asynchronous engagement in your course, you may find yourself needing to translate active learning and other forms of student engagement into a different medium.
In doing this work of translation, you will inevitably need to make decisions about which teaching technologies you plan to use, and how you use them. Whenever possible, try to limit your teaching technologies to a few options that are aligned with your course learning goals. This will ensure that your students don’t need to divert cognitive load away from course content in order to learn new technologies.
It’s also worth noting that some technologies might present a learning curve for you as an instructor. As you’re selecting which tools to use for your course, take some time to experiment with each to see if the learning curve is worth the benefit of using the tool in your course.
The table below provides some examples of how common classroom activities might be translated into either format.
Traditional Classroom Activity | Synchronous Alternatives | Asynchronous Alternatives |
Instructor writing and organizing student contributions on the board |
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Brainstorming activity in which students write on the board themselves |
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Collaborative discussion of an assigned text |
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Think-pair-share / group problem-solving |
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Checking student understanding of material after a lecture or series of class discussions |
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Instructor guiding/anticipating the flow of discussion |
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Student group presentations |
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Peer review |
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For more ideas of how to translate active learning activities across mediums, see Louisiana State University’s detailed active learning chart.