The Importance of Synchronous Sessions in Online Asynchronous Classes

Abstract

When online classes began being developed and made available in higher education approximately 20 years ago, the vast majority of the online classes and programs were asynchronous, meaning that instructors did not meet with students in real-time or synchronously. There were few synchronous courses, and this was due to the high expense of video teleconferencing systems and the inability of many computers to handle the high bandwidth and memory required to participate in such synchronous sessions. Now, there has been a significant revolution in video teleconferencing systems and in the computers used to access them. Systems are now affordable and most learning management systems (LMS) even have them embedded. While mobile computers, including handheld devices such as iPhones, Androids, and tablets, can access the synchronous sessions from anywhere they can access the Internet. It is time to reassess the value and effectiveness of having synchronous sessions in online classes that are primarily asynchronous.