Synchronous and asynchronous digital learning making the transformation of education more recognizable

Transformation in education has prompted students to ride along with innumerable experiences with their learning habits. Digital learning has been there in the corner before the pandemic as well but their assistance was not acknowledged as long as it became a compulsory alternative during the pandemic. While diving into EdTech instructions, students have come across several ways of digesting a concept from a distant location. This created multiple debates and discussions surrounding the efficacy of EdTech instruction and nevertheless, its types. Two such types of EdTech instructions are synchronous and asynchronous digital learning.

Definition And Difference

Definition: Synchronous teaching is probably what is adopted by schools and universities across the world to continue education, that is, live online classes. In this mode of digital learning, students directly interact with the participants in video conferencing in real-time.

Asynchronous teaching and learning are driven by pre-recorded videos and audios like podcasts, YouTube videos, televised EdTech instructions where the educator is present partially and communication is not possible.

Difference: Until a student is a self-disciplined individual, asynchronous learning is not recommended. On the other hand, synchronous learning enables interactive sessions that help students to clear doubts and focus on the area more elaboratively and comprehensively.

Both types of digital learning have their limitations and advantages. While synchronous learning sometimes becomes difficult due to different standards of time around the world, asynchronous learning can be conducted at the discretion of both learners and instructor’s time. In synchronous learning, web traffic or bandwidth can create disruptions to the EdTech instructions causing students to miss out on concepts but in asynchronous learning, students can learn at their convenience and pace without worrying about the network and it can also be downloaded.

Student’s Perspective

Various studies and research have revealed almost uniform data, which represents students experience and preference before and after the pandemic. Perhaps the pre-pandemic situation was not as harsh as now owing to the social isolation and quarantine, thus many students appeared to support asynchronous learning. The favour towards asynchronous learning was due to the flexibility and freedom it provides. However, data collected following the pandemic has revealed distant learning is only preferred in synchronous format as communication becomes possible and loneliness does not hit as hard. Besides students who voted for asynchronous learning also seems to be influenced by synchronous learning after the pandemic.

Successful Digital Learning

The transformation in education to digital learning has imbibed numerous qualities in students. However, time management and other regular disciplines must be taken care of to fit into the environment of both synchronous and asynchronous digital learning. Firstly, make decisions based on self-awareness that includes weaknesses and strengths of the students. Secondly, try to engage with discussion posts on different social media platforms and find people with similar interests to intermingle with. Alongside, educators need to ensure that all students feel engaged and not left out.

Blended Digital Learning 

Expert suggests although there are shortcomings to both types of learning, incorporating both can lead to impressive outcomes. The character of asynchronous learning to allow students to rewind lectures and listen or rewind videos to understand an illustration will be beneficial besides, the trait of synchronous learning that helps students to enter an atmosphere of two-way communication. Moreover, this will not only enable effectivity but will also make the transformation in education more successful than traditional learning as various tools will be put to use, unlike physical classrooms. For example, while an ongoing EdTech instruction, educator may play a video lecture of some renowned personality on the subject to help students get their view, thus this could be included in this newly found hybrid learning.