rcampa 8371 project 2

Running Head: COMPARISON REFLECTION: SYNCHRONOUS AND ASYNCHROUS ACTIVITIES 1

Rogelio Campa

Comparison Reflection: Synchronous and Asynchronous Activities

The University of Texas Brownsville

COMPARISON REFLECTION: SYNCHRONOUS AND ASYNCHROUS ACTIVITIES 2

Comparison Reflection: Synchronous and Asynchronous Activities

My personal experiences with online and face-to-face instruction are well developed

because I have seen both sides of the spectrum. There are advantages and disadvantages to

either side based from your theoretical perspective. In reflecting on my experiences, I noted that

college as well as online classes is not for everyone. With this in mind, I believe that all students

who do pursue the online pedagogy will have great inside to what the future holds as opposed to

the traditional face-to-face students.

Advantages

I have been an online student since the fall of 2007. I had always been a fan of traditional

face-to-face and believed that it was the best way to learn. In spring of 2004, I was approached

by my professor and asked to enroll in an online class. I believed that I was a strong enough

student to be comfortable with their online structure. By the end of the first week of school I felt

lost and had absolutely no idea what was going on. The classes that were being offered at the

time were asynchronous with no blending of synchronous communication. Boettcher & Conrad

(2010) state that “there is nothing better than a real-time interactive brainstorming and sharing

discussion: at other time, the requirement to think, plan, write, and reflect is that makes learning

most effective for and individual”(p. 42). As the first week turn into a month, I found myself

dropping out of the course. I was scared, which I believed I would not be able to work in an

online environment again. I never attempted to take another online course throughout my

undergraduate career.

In spring of 2007 I was approached by my Technology Director from Donna Independent

School District (DISD), and was offered a way to advance within the ranks of our programs. I

was told that the school district was funding a Master Technology Teacher program that was


being offered through The University of Texas Brownsville (UTB). At the time, all I could think

about; was how unorganized and detrimental my first online experience was. I wanted no part

with the program. After a few attempts by the technology director, I was convince and therefore;

I enrolled only because of the incentives being offered; payment for the first 12 hour program.

In the fall of 2007, I enrolled and was advised by the university that the 12 hours would

be entirely online. To be honest, I was expecting to be in a learning environment that I believed

would not work for me. Boettcher et al. (2010) introduce ten best practices for teaching online

classes. I felt that best practice 5: Use Synchronous and Asynchronous Activities propelled my

level of learning. After starting the program and attending my first class, I immediately realized

that this was not a traditional (my perception) online class (asynchronous). The first day of

class, I was introduced to a different form of online communication (synchronous) meetings.

Here we would meet once a week for one hour and discuss issues or topics that we had trouble

grasping. This process expedited my level of learning to new heights. This was the biggest

advantages throughout my experience with online learning, because it allowed me to

communicate with my peers and with my professor when I found myself lost or simply

frustrated.

My potential for success increase due to learning environment and the flexibility it

allowed; which gave me the time and ability to attend my class as well as work on required

assignments. These two advantages gave me the opportunity to work around my daily routine

and gave me the tools to organize myself to become successful, as an online student. With these

three advantages I found myself succeeding and excelling above my own expectations.

Disadvantages


Based on the ten best practices introduced by Boettcher et al. (2010) I felt that the reason

I was at a disadvantage with my ability to learn while online was because of the lack of two

practices: 1, Be present at the course site, and 2: Create a supportive online course community,

were not effectively used to generate a positive learning environment. Base on my experience,

these two practices were not followed by the professor in my first online class. Overall, this

disadvantage leads me to a feeling of being disconnected from reality. Most of the time I felt

alone, disoriented, and usually off task. The reason for my disconnection was these two

practices were not followed or implemented correctly. This form of online learning was a major

disadvantage because it lacked what Vygotsky called “Social interaction” that allows students to

form cognitive development. I felt displaced because I was unable to associate with gestures,

body language, and emotions portrayed by my professor. In my opinion, the ability to judge if a

student is learning or not depends on these types of social interaction.

Conclusion

In discussing the advantages and disadvantages of online learning, which are based on

my experiences, I attest that advantages as well as disadvantages can be improved by following

best practices as outlined by Boettcher et al. (2010). I also presume that my perceptions of

advantages and disadvantages can be viewed by someone else as neither. I firmly believe that

college as well as online courses are not for everyone; therefore, classes should be designed to

accommodate all best practices. In order to begin to correct many of the disadvantages,

Instructional Designers may want to follow one of Smith, P. & Ragan, T., J. (1999), ten

instructional design strategies:


References

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. M. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical

pedagogical tips (1 ed.). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Smith, P. L., & Ragan, T. J. (1999). Instructional design. (2 ed.). New York: Wiley.

rcampa 8371 project 2

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