Reflect upon the importance of utilizing a synchronous session to “create a true classroom culture” online. How does integrating synchronous learning sessions within the online environment assist in developing a learning community for students? Discuss this question at length in your blog.
Hosting synchronous sessions are beneficial because students learn that it is an actual teacher and not a computer giving them feedback. It can also give the class more personality and authenticity. We also have to remember that Ga Virtual School is for children, not really adults. This means that these children still need a live person in much of their learning process. Many students are not disciplined enough to complete all tasks on their own. Synchronous sessions help build rapport and allow students to receive even more authentic feedback on assignments and lesson learned. I like the ideas of synchronous sessions because I can quickly address lots of issues and problems immediately versus being bombarded with questions later. I can share my screen so students can see what I see, and I can easily demonstrate how to do something while talking through it with students live.
Definition:
An contrast, synchronous, or real-time, communication takes place like a conversation. If your class uses only writing-based tools to communicate, the only synchronous communication possible is a chat session. Everyone gets online in the same chat room and types questions, comments, and responses in real time. Synchronous activities may include chat sessions, whiteboard drawings, and other group interactive work. If your class involves multimedia tools, synchronous communication might involve audio or video feeds to the computer. Some “online” courses require learners and teachers to get together at least once (or sometimes several times) in person, by conference call, or through closed-circuit television links [5].
One of the advantages of synchronous collaboration is its immediacy. You can send and receive information right away. This more closely resembles a face-to-face or telephone conversation between two or more people, so can present a more natural way of communicating. The sense of immediacy is more like to solicit a timely response from people. Synchronous collaboration, in general, is more interactive than asynchronous. [4]
The downside of synchronous collaboration is that not everyone uses it. Although instant messaging, chat, and other such tools are becoming more common, they're still not as ubiquitous as technology such as email. Another drawback is that synchronous collaboration is not as flexible as asynchronous. All the parties involved must be ready and willing to collaborate at a given moment-or the session doesn't work as well. Also, not everyone does well with this kind of collaboration, particularly people who like to think over what they want to communicate [6].
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