“Right now, there are very few resources available for faculty members who want to learn how to use synchronous learning tools,” says Doug Hamilton, chair of faculty development in the Centre for Teaching and Educational Technologies at RRU. _______________

Royal Roads University and the University of Northern British Columbia are collaborating to design and deliver a 12-week online course for B.C. educators scheduled for a pilot run in January 2011.

The course will teach instructors at the post-secondary level how to use synchronous learning tools.

Synchronous learning tools include web-based conferencing, video-conferencing, live-blogging, chat tools, whiteboard sharing and online breakout rooms. 

They are tools that are growing in importance because they allow instructors to interact and engage with students – and students to interact with each other – in real-time regardless of distances that might separate them.

“Right now, there are very few resources available for faculty members who want to learn how to use technologies that facilitate real-time, online learning,” says Doug Hamilton, chair of faculty development in the Centre for Teaching and Educational Technologies at RRU.

Participants will learn how use a variety of tools and applications and, at the same time, will become more mindful of the advantages and challenges that each presents.

BCcampus, a collaborative online learning initiative established to assist public post-secondary institutions meet students’ online learning needs, is supporting the RRU/UNBC partnership with just under $36,000 in funding.

“We, like faculty and staff at RRU, have extensive experience developing courses in online environments as well as designing and delivering courseware incorporating authentic and synchronous learning and assessment strategies,” says Grant Potter, e-Learning coordinator at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology at the University of Northern British Columbia.

The first step for Hamilton, Potter and fellow team members Sandra Rogers, RRU instructional designer and Judith Blanchette, program head of RRU’s MA degree program in Learning and Technology program is to determine learning outcomes. They’ll then produce the course outline, develop the course units and coordinate the course pilot.

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Synchronous learning: students are motivated to keep up with their peers, they receive immediate feedback and a strong sense of real-time community is created.
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“Synchronous learning is not a substitute for asynchronous online learning. It can be less flexible, for example. But there are tremendous benefits,” says Hamilton. “Students are motivated to keep up with their peers, they receive immediate feedback and a strong sense of real-time community is created.”

At RRU, synchronous technologies have also turned out to be a very helpful means of engaging faculty in campus events and professional development sessions, especially given that many are dispersed geographically.

Facilitating Learning in Synchronous Environments will be a three-credit course for experienced and novice instructors interested in making synchronous learning experiences more meaningful, beneficial, and relevant to their students. Faculty course developers and instructional designers would also find the course insightful.

Participants will learn how to use effective lesson planning strategies, expansive questioning techniques, creativity exercises, appropriate instructional design and pedagogical models, feedback strategies, community building opportunities, classroom management skills, and exploratory discussions to enhance student engagement in learning.

“This project is exactly consistent with the leadership we want to establish in teaching and learning”, says Allan Cahoon, RRU president.