The course I am hypothetically developing is on Developing a Climate Friendly Identity. I prefer a mixture of both synchronous and asynchronous instruction. I think that both are necessary for a quality educational experiences. I also think, based on our readings, there is room to parse what is meant by sync/async a bit further. Because in our Theory and Practice textbook the distinction is based on time and place vs time and pace, whereas in the Sync/Async Balancing Act article (2007) the simpler definition that I am more familiar with seems to be the accepted term. The major difference being a course in which the teacher is engaged and running things vs the students are entirely in charge of the experience and there is no set time frame (not even a term/semester/school year). A course that you would sign up for through one of the learning platforms we are exploring for class this week would be a Theory and Practice defined async course, while in Levy's (2007) article
Instructor: Dr. Brian Horvitz The Theory and Practice of Online Learning, 2nd Edition, Anderson & Elloumi. Free Ebook found at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/44833801_Theory_and_Practice_of_Onli ne_Learning Adding Some TEC-VARIETY: 100+ Activities for Motivating and Retaining Online Learners, Free PDF download found at http://tec-variety.com/TEC-Variety_eBook_5-4.pdf Discussion Expectations: 1 page (approx: 500 words) by Thursdays, substantive responses to 2 peers by Sundays Regarding your discussion postings, Grice's (1975) principle and maxims of conversation are also useful to keep in mind: The principle of co-operation: Try to make your contribution one that supports the goal and purpose of the ongoing conversation. 1. Maxim of quantity: Make your contribution as informative as is required, but give no more information than is required. (Sometimes overly long posts make it harder to have conversational dialogue.) 2. Maxim of quality: Try to make your contribut