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Blend synchronous and asynchronous teaching

At a glance

Explore the strengths of synchronous and asynchronous teaching so you can plan units that make the most of each mode. Identify when to use real-time and self-paced learning, and find strategies for blended, hybrid and fully online teaching.

When do you teach certain content? How do you teach it? Knowing the affordances of synchronous and asynchronous learning will help you plan out your unit to capitalise on the mediums and modes of delivery. .

When do I use synchronous learning? View

When do I use asynchronous learning? View

How to make blended learning successful

Teaching in a blended format provides an array of benefits for students and allows flexibility in learning.

To make the most of blended learning, here are six key strategies that you can implement to make it a successful experience.

For blended learning to be effective, you need to capitalise on the best of both synchronous and asynchronous delivery but design for it together.
How to do this with asynchronous learning:
- Think about what you want students to learn through this chunk of learning and design learning activities to achieve this.
- Create opportunities for student self-paced learning in Moodle with chunked and interactive content so that students can feel engaged and know the relevance of what they are learning.
- Set up a deliberate learning pathway for students. Think about how you want students to work through the content. Also, determine how you may want them to interact with you and other students.
How to do this with synchronous learning:
- Think about what you want students to learn through this session and design learning activities to achieve this.
- In your design, determine how you can maximise the time you have with your students and capitalise on how real-time enables active learning, collaboration and real-time feedback.
- Find a balance between one-way teaching (e.g. one way communication or student presentations) and active or collaborative learning.
- Design interactive activities where students can practice, consolidate, extend or transfer what you may have taught them (e.g. polling, group work, case studies, problems, discussions).
You do not want your real time session to be didactic and one way. Use a synchronous lesson plan to help you prepare and estimate the time in each mode. See an example here.
Key message: Make sure to vary the activities and build engagement into activities that students do in their own time and when they are together in real time.
It is important to connect what students have learned on their own time with what you will be doing in the live session. You will need to purposefully design connections to create a cohesive learning experience for students. Students need to feel that what they spent their time on has relevance and will be useful.
There are a few ways you can integrate asynchronous learning to the synchronous depending on the context and activity type.
- For example, if you have students read an article, then you could dedicate some time at the beginning of the live session to run through an activity that ties the readings. This could be done in various ways, for instance, have a polling activity on some of the key concepts of the reading, get students to highlight one key takeaway from the article in a digital whiteboard activity then discuss it as a whole class, or have students write up questions for other students to respond to in the session.
This also goes with linking synchronous activities to the next set of asynchronous learning that comes after the live session.
- For instance, by reminding students about the online post tasks and activities they need to complete, creating a video to address any misconceptions discussed in the session, or getting students to post a discussion to the forum around a topic discussed in the session.
Key message: Make links between the two modes so that students see how information and learning feeds from one into another.
One of the simplest ways to achieve a successful blended learning experience is to provide students with clear guidelines and instructions on what to do and when. Having a well-designed Moodle site with a clear learning pathway and signposting expectations helps students become better self-regulated learners.
Key message: Provide students with clear instructions and guidelines of what they are expected to do in both modes of delivery.
There are a number of technologies or applications you can use to increase engagement both in a synchronous and asynchronous setting.
Start by asking - “how can I get students to engage with the content or with each other?” Only then, identify which technologies would enable this form of interaction.
Remember - education-first - this requires a focus on the fundamentals of teaching and learning first and then to identify the technology that will facilitate the learning, rather than the other way round. Also, make sure to use a tool suitable for the cohort size and desired outcome.
In a synchronous setting, this could be done by getting students to collaborate on a shared document, discuss topics on a digital whiteboard, check understanding via polling and quizzing, or other activities where technology can act as a tool to create, respond or facilitate.
In an asynchronous setting, this could be done by getting students to interact with content via interactive lessons and videos, participate in discussion using forums, and collaborate asynchronously in a group via shared Google documents.
Key message: Find ways for students to interact with the content and each other and use technology to enable it.
Synchronous teaching lends itself more easily to creating connections with students and showing your presence because the physicality delivers it. Asynchronous teaching requires more planning and purposeful interaction to create that sense of presence.
When designing your unit, make sure that you plan out time for the educator to interact with students and create a visible online presence so that students can have opportunities to connect. This will also show them that the work online is all connected and there is value to engaging with content and each other.
This can be done by responding to student posts, sending out announcements, creating short videos to clarify any misconceptions in a live session or providing feedback into assessments for learning.
Key message: Dedicate time to creating an online asynchronous presence with students.
Whether in a synchronous or asynchronous mode, it is important to plan how you will give students feedback on their engagement, development and progress. Make sure time is used purposefully, incorporating positive and helpful feedback opportunities into teaching.
For instance, this could be done through automated feedback in online activities, by responding to students' forum posts, or by taking the time to acknowledge responses in a poll and clarify misconceptions. You could use polling tools where students can submit their questions, up-vote questions they like, and more. Then you can address the top five or ten questions in the session, for example.
Key message: Ensure that you have dedicated time for feedback or built in feedback loops into both modes of delivery.

How to make the most of hybrid teaching

Hybrid teaching is a mixed mode where some students will be present with you in the room while others join remotely either synchronously or asynchronously. Hybrid teaching requires some extra planning to make the most of your teaching and ensure cohesion between the two cohorts (online and face-to-face).

Here are five key strategies to consider when running a hybrid session.

When designing your hybrid teaching session, start by considering the needs of the online students and how content can be taught online, then adapt it for the face-to-face cohort. This way you can ensure that it will work for students online and then make any small modifications to the face-to-face activities and instructions.
For example, when you are planning to run breakout rooms to discuss an item, consider how you will divide up face-to-face students to do that activity. Given online teaching requires you to think about technologies to facilitate interaction as well as content design, doing this work first as your base makes it easier to adapt for face-to-face teaching.
Also, keep the session varied by breaking your class into different components and keeping things moving so there is a good flow to the session. For example, spend a few minutes in breakout rooms, then show a video, then have a student share their screen. Don’t linger on any one component for too long. It helps to create a run sheet with your activities for a synchronous session with all your links. Here are some examples of hybrid teaching activities.
Key message: Plan out your synchronous session first with the online cohort then adapt it for face-to-face students while including a variety of engaging activities to keep the sessions varied.
Teaching in a hybrid environment can be challenging and a little nerve racking when you are unfamiliar with how you will manage the two environments and manoeuvre between the technologies. One way to reduce that stress is to get to know the room you are teaching in and to do a practice round.
You can book a test session in the teaching space with an AV support person and rehearse a few class activities. eSol is resource tight and requires a minimal 2-week advanced booking, so book as soon as you can. You can also get someone to come in person to the room and someone go online and do a practice round changing between slides, videos, or polling questions. If you have any collaborative activities planned, do a test run of someone online interacting with the person in class and see how you can adjust the audio. This will help build up your confidence.
You can also view this room technology guide to help familiarise yourself with the AV equipment available in the teaching space. You will also need to ask face-to-face students to bring a laptop or personal device as well as individual headphones to all lessons so that they can participate in online discussions.
Acknowledge to students that there will be teething issues at the beginning and get them onboard to help you adjust any technical issues.
Key message: Book the teaching space for a test run and practice using the space to prepare for your teaching activities.
When you have students learning in two different environments it is even more critical that you provide clear guidance and instructions so that they know what they need to do when.
In Moodle, clearly state how online students are to access the live session via which platform and what are the requirements for students attending the face-to-face session. For example, tell face-to-face students if they are required to bring their device, a microphone and headphones to the classroom. Make sure that you also allow access of all resources to both cohorts so as to not disadvantage students.
In addition to clear instructions in Moodle, you will need to add additional instructions for the live session. For example, if you are running a group activity where you have the online and face-to-face cohort working together or separately, then you will need to give the technical instructions for both, e.g. turning on cameras, using microphones, opening links, or other such considerations.
It would help to have honest conversations with the students about how they are feeling about this approach to learning. Even stopping class to ask how students feel emotionally and whether or not they feel connected could potentially help foster social connections and comfort with the new system.
Key message: Give clear and detailed instructions in Moodle for both face-to-face and online students and provide additional bespoked instructions in class for specific activities.
Collaborative work requires some extra planning to get the logistics right for the different cohorts to work together whether synchronously or asynchronously. When you are planning your activities and assignments, ask yourself whether you want in person students to work with online students and how will they communicate and collaborate together.
You can support them by setting expectations to how they can ask questions, for instance using the Zoom chat or a FLUX Q&A poll, and setting any rules for queuing questions (e.g. raising your virtual hand). Also, ensure that you repeat the questions into the room microphone so both cohorts have a chance to hear the question and your response.
Use breakout rooms for the online cohort to work together and have students in class work together in their table cluster. If you want online and face-to-face cohorts to collaborate at the same time, then you would need to have extra technical requirements and instructions provided to students. Be aware that there may be audio issues when mixing cohorts together.
Another way to support your students in their collaboration is using online collaboration tools such as Google Docs or electronic whiteboards to structure team exercises in physical or virtual breakout rooms. This provides a neutral third space where everyone can work together. For example, you can engage students by posing a specific question or task, and ask teams to document their thoughts in an electronic Whiteboard or text in a Google Doc.
Key message: Consider how group work will be run for face-to-face and online students and whether there are ways to facilitate the discussions using technology.

5. Make links and connections between the two environments

How to make the most of online learning

Studying online can be rich, interactive and highly satisfying for both the learner and educator. It can enable a more flexible learning environment as students can learn from anywhere that they can access the Internet. Depending on the activity type, it can also be completed in their own time, supporting self-regulated learning (Croft, Dalton, & Grant, 2010).

Here are five key strategies to consider when running an online unit or course.

If you are delivering some or all of your unit online, you need to redesign the lessons and activities to best suit the medium. It is not a simple conversion of face-to-face teaching. For example, instead of a one hour lecture you could (this is just one of many scenarios):
1. Record a 20 minute video with your key points - using your rich expression to help students better understand the ideas and tasks
2. Ask students to engage in a 20 minute task in which they have to apply/research/extend/use/synthesise/debate/etc those ideas - you could do this asynchronously via forums or other technologies
3. Meet at your usual scheduled time for 20 minutes to:
  1. provide your additional thoughts, suggestions and elaborations based off your observations of the students’ work
  2. provide opportunities for students to ask questions.
Key message: When designing for the online environment, do not attempt to simply replicate an on campus activity, rather make the best of synchronous and asynchronous learning.
When running a fully online unit, take advantage of both the synchronous and asynchronous activities that you can do to increase student engagement and capitalise on the time together.
Use the asynchronous space for self-directed learning opportunities where students can watch interactive videos, read articles, contribute to forums and interactive activities with built in feedback.
Use the synchronous time to have discussions, get students to work collaboratively in breakout sessions, provide real-time feedback and do activities that maximise on the social presence.
Key message: Take advantage of both asynchronous and synchronous activities to encourage social presence and engagement.
It is generally far better to use simple tools that work over more ambitious and untried technologies. Simple techniques like posting questions on a text function and online polling can be very powerful. For example, all online students can be asked to post a comment right at the start of a lecture or class to signal that they are “on board” with the session.
A session can be designed around a series of sequential questions to gather responses from a large number of students using the text function as well as in the face-to-face environment. It is important for the academic to be relatively comfortable with live streaming (though not necessarily a technical expert), for students to be introduced to the technology and given the chance to practise, and for techniques to be refined.
Key message: Start with using technologies you are comfortable with, then build up yours and students confidence by integrating more complex educational technologies.
There are a number of technologies at your disposal that can enable you to create rich and interactive online learning experiences. These can be divided into technologies for self-paced learning, collaborative learning and real-time instruction.
For self-paced learning, find ways to increase interactivity by getting students to engage with the content in some form. This could be done through having knowledge checks (e.g. Moodle Quiz), lessons that adapt based on student responses (e.g. Moodle Lesson) or getting them to create something (e.g. Google Docs).
For collaborative learning, find ways for students to engage with each other both in a synchronous and asynchronous environment. This could be done by having discussions (e.g. Zoom breakout rooms), brainstorming sessions (e.g. Google Jamboard), working on a task together (e.g. Google Docs), or solving problems.
For real-time instruction, take advantage of the different features in Zoom such as screen sharing, annotation, chat function, polling, Zoom reactions and even video backgrounds. Also make sure to balance between presentational and interactive activities to keep students engaged.
See the Related technologies section for more information.
Key message: Explore different ways to use technology to increase student engagement through interactivity.
Teaching online is fundamentally like any other teaching - it is about your relationship with students. Find ways to connect with them, open communication pathways, be responsive, and always be clear about expectations. Ask yourself how will you engage students in the online environment and reduce potential for social isolation?
It is important to maintain a presence in both asynchronous and synchronous environments. For example, in an asynchronous format, this could consist of responding to students’ forum posts, providing video feedback, and creating a space where students can ask questions. In a synchronous format, this could consist of having Zoom drop in sessions, being available for virtual office hours, and having Q&A seminars with students just to answer questions.
Key message: Find ways to connect with students in both asynchronous and synchronous environments.

Rich online engagement

View this downloadable quick guide that provides 4 tips to create a quality online student experience.

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Learning and Teaching: Teach HQ

Learning and Teaching: Teach HQ

Blend synchronous and asynchronous teaching

At a glance

When do I use synchronous learning? View

Use synchronous learning when you want learners to:

Synchronous learning strategies

When do I use asynchronous learning? View

Use asynchronous learning when you want to:

Ideas for asynchronous learning activities

How to make blended learning successful

How to do this with asynchronous learning:

How to do this with synchronous learning:

How to make the most of hybrid teaching

How to make the most of online learning

Rich online engagement

Draw inspiration

Blog: Using video to enhance online engagement

Blog: Why do some students struggle to learn online, and how can we support them?

Increasing interactive learning with technology

Blog: Digital me in online learning

Blog: Moving teaching online - pro-tips from a colleague

Blog: Embedding live polls for students online everywhere

Blog: Student group brainstorming and collaboration with Zoom whiteboard

Blog: The role of video in online learning