What is its value and application?
Who is responsible for making it happen?
When can I find the time to do it?
As with any "buzzword," Asynchronous Learning (AL) has its opponents. Reports are made of a professor who calls Internet-based distance learning "a new version of a trade school" and, worse, "the joke of the twenty-first century." (Confessore). However, as Confessore discoversed when he researched F2058, one of approximately 150 courses offered by OnlineLearning.net (OLN), a private, Los Angeles-based company loosely affiliated with the University of California at Los Angeles, even he admitted "The prevailing attitude now seems to be one of cautious optimism: distance learning has potential, but, like anything else, it needs to be researched, tested, and reviewed."
I am certainly not suggesting that distance learning be used as the sole means to deliver instruction. Anyone who has been in education for any length of time knows the pitfalls associated with "new" paradigms. There is a tendency to apply one solution to all problems. As with most things, the key to a successful AL program is balance. It is important to remember that technology is only as good as the people who build it. With that caveat, one could begin to use AL in a number of different areas, including the following:
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Enrichment |
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Assessment/plcaement for incoming students |
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Ensuring mastery of content |
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Remediation |
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Problem solving
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Enrichment
Naturally, after setting a minimum standard and providing the window of time for mastery, a teacher will likely find that some students may take three days to master material while others may take three weeks. In a traditional classroom, this creates tremendous problems. Those students who quickly master the material are bored when the teacher reteaches material to the class, and those who are struggling are frustrated when the teacher feels forced to move on to another topic. AL enables the teacher to not only teach a lesson, but provideenrichment. In an AL setting, a teacher can establish what must be accomplished and what is enrichment. Since students are working independently, albeit under the guidance of a teacher, they are not constrained by their peers' needs.
This ability to tailor lessons to meet various needs also responds to one of the most basic problems of education. Most educators teach in buildings which serve diverse populations. As a result, teachers find themselves instructing students from with a wide range of abilities. In classes such as primary gifted programs and AP programs in the secondary schools, the composition of the class is a given: students of similar ability levels. However, in the vast majority of classes, students are placed in their classes with individuals who represent a variety of ability levels. This can cause some concern for parents, students and educators, since the debate over class composition has yet to be resolved.
Although using heterogeneous groups for low-ability or low-achieving students is generally not controversial, using heterogeneous groups for high-ability or high-achieving students is. Educators, and even more, parents, worry that heterogeneous grouping will hold back high-ability students (Oakes, 1990). Research does not support this belief, however. High-ability and high-achieving students show equally strong learning outcomes in heterogeneous and homogeneous groups (e.g., Azmitia, 1988; Hooper & Hannafin, 1988; Hooper et al., 1989; Skon, Johnson, & Johnson, 1981). There is even evidence that high-ability or high-achieving students benefit more from working in heterogeneous groups than from working in homogeneous groups or individually because of the teacher roles they adopt in heterogeneous groups (e.g., Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1989; Webb, 1991). Giving explanations to less able students helps more able students reorganize and reconceptualize material, develop new perspectives, and solidify their understanding (Bargh & Schul, 1980; Benware & Deci, 1984; Yackel, Cobb, & Wood, 1991).
(Webb, Baxter, and Thompson)
In application, while the research seems to indicate that heterogeneous grouping is best for students, there is a perception that such groups will somehow penalize students, either by holding them back or not spurring their achievement sufficiently. However, an AL classroom can help address these needs. Since the students can be assessed in terms of subject mastery, as noted previously, they can then work at their own pace. This alleviates most concerns about students' progress being adversely affected by other students.
Assessment and Placement
One of the most immediately useful aspects of asynchronous learning is the ability to assess students and adapt lessons to the students' individual levels of achievement. While it is easy for some schools to articulate with their feeder schools, for other schools a high degree of articulation may be problematic due to the number of feeder schools or the complexities of finding common planning time between buildings or even districts. AL assessments make it easier for teachers to know the exact strengths and weaknesses of each student coming into a school. For example, teachers could construct assessments specific to their content and get an accurate overview of the students' abilities in mathematics, reading, grammar, spelling, general scientific knowledge, and so on. Standardized testing can provide some information, granted, but AL assessments allow teachers to tailor the assessments to the particular demands of their classes. In many of the AL environments, it is possible to construct a quiz; command the quiz to randomly select from a list of questions, even to the point of making sure the student gets a different quiz each time; set the environment to allow the student to take the quiz as many times as needed in order to achieve a minimum score; and establish feedback to guide the student through the lesson. In an ideal world, the teacher would be able to do this personally for all students. In the real world, where teachers have a limited time with their students (and often have large numbers of students in those blocks of time), AL becomes a vital tool in providing individualized lessons for all students.
Another impact of AL can be in the arena of testing. For example, "in a study of testing at one school, Mary Lee Smith discovered that the curriculum changed dramatically as the time to take the test grew closer. Teachers went from being involved in hands-on instruction in science several days a week, to using worksheets and relying on the textbook for choral reading, to teaching no science at all. Some teachers who stopped teaching science altogether ended up using such science materials as tadpoles and fish tanks for entertainment instead of exploration. In the classrooms in which science was still taught, the instruction during the weeks before the test was specifically tailored to the test. Social studies and health were not taught at all." (Jones et al). The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) affirmed this view in its decision to "support and mobilize growing opposition and resistance to high-stakes testing conducted by private testing agencies, states, and other agencies." Furthermore, for many students, life involves what dubs "high atakes testing." Such tests often determine which classes a student can take which could ultimately impact the choice of college or univeristy. Rather than base placement exclusively on a "high stakes test" schools can use information gathered from periodic AL assessments to ensure students are in where they should be. Given that teachers already lose too much class time to testing, periodic AL assessments can, when used properly, provide appropriate assessment testing that does not force an interruption of classroom activities.
Ensuring Mastery of Content
Most education goals set at the state or federal level contain lofty ideals beginning with phrases such as "ALL students will...." Teachers, who would certainly be the first to agree that all students certainly should.... will also point to the realistic demands of the classroom which can undermine "All students will..." For example, what students study in fourth grade math will rest on what they accomplished in third grade. The same is true at the secondary level. The progress students make in their freshman English class has a direct correlation on their perfomance in their sophomore English class. Thus, there is a certain pressure on each teacher to ensure students master a given quantity of material. Unfortunately, there is also a time limit set on the coverage of the material, which means that mastery may be at issue. AL options allow a teacher to present material to a class, set a minimum standard for mastery, AND provide multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery of that material. Most AL environments allow for quizzes or materials to be available for a set period of time, so the teacher can provide an appropropriate window for those students who may need extra time. Moreover, they are self-grading, so students get immediate feedback about their progress.
Remediation
Another aspect of AL which is often overlooked is its value as a tutoring mechanism. Of course, the problem with out of school tutoring is its cost: $90 an hour for 55 minute sessions with children 12-16 is commonplace (Adler). Families who cannot afford the high cost of tutoring feel a widening gap between the "haves" and "have-nots." AL serves as a means of providing the tutoring a child may need without emptying a families bank account. Moreover, AL allows the teacher to supervise more than one child during a tutoring session. Using the same stragtegies noted in the previous sections, a teacher can develop skill practice activities, reteaching opportunities, and other tutoring services. Most teachers do this in a one-on-one fashion, but they could work more efficiently by making use of the AL possibilities. In fact, a teacher could work with a student who needs tutoring as remediation and a student who need acceleration at the same time.
Solution for Typical Problems
Illness or extended absence
One of the most frustrating times for students is when they are absent from school for extended periods. If a student has an illness which results in a week's absence, it can take several weeks to get caught up properly, and that while trying to stay current on new material. Having access to assignments from a web page is a step in the right direction, but the real service comes when students can actually DO their lessons at home. AL does not have to take place in the classroom; it can easily adapt to the home venue
Grading loads
Most teachers would be delighted to have someone do their quiz and test grading. Using AL is one way to achieve this goal. When students do online assessments, the work is graded by the AL environment. Granted, the teacher must spend the time to establish the assignment and assessment, but once it is established, it is always in place and easily edited. Most AL environments also feature a gradebook which allows students to check their grades online.