Asynchronous Facilitation

"It is common for learners to feel alone in distance education.  Emotional connectedness may provide support for that class but also for life-long affiliation with students, faculty, department, and institution.  Creating areas (discussion boards) for class relevant content, casual conversation, and question and answer sections.  This fosters community and connectedness." (GoodyearP., Salmon G., Spector M., Steeples C., Tickner S., 2001)

As more and more online learning opportunities arise methods for allowing students to work at their own pace and time must be in the forefront of an instructors mind when developing and implementing course work.  Asynchronous learning through the form of discussion is a main way this is achieved.  This then leaves the question what is the role of the instructor in the asynchronous discussion?  

Let's explore what research suggest that role should look like!

Prompter

The first role of the instructor is prompting.  "Instructors need to identify the right questions that foster engagement and learning" (Morris L, Xu H., Finnegan C., 2005)  Instructors have to know how to ask the question.  They have to prompt the reader with an open end question that allows for deep thought and critical thinking.  If we are not asking the hard questions the purpose of the discussion is lost, interaction decreases, and outcomes become non existent.  

Facilitator

This is the BIG one!  As instructors our main role in asynchronous discussion is facilitation.  We need to know when to add our two cents and when to let the students run on their own.  When looking at how much an instructor is involved in a asynchronous discussion in relationship to the interaction the students have with each other the instructor must be very careful to not become the dominating factor.  "An instructor must know that they have a role in the discussion, but be careful not to be too involved and hinder peer to peer learning." (Comer, D., Lenaghan, J., 2013).  Students want the instructor to be involved to show that they are involved in the learning process, but when the instructor takes over the discussion a disconnect between the students begins to form.  Students are less likely to respond and engage in contradicting and building arguments with their peers if they fear the instructor is going to trump their response.  An, Shin, and Lim (2009) found that when an instructor required the students to interact with at least two peers and then the instructor commented on each individual post the students did not feel they could freely interact.  When the instructor gave no guidance as to how many times the students must post the students were lost and only the higher level students engaged in the discussion.  When the instructor was more loose with their response but required the students to post the discussion had a much better flow and allowed for greater peer-to-peer interaction. 

Conclusion

In conclusion asynchronous learning must have an instructor that is willing to prompt and facilitated, but be able to step back and allow for student growth and depth to develop through peer interaction.  

References:

An, Heejung; Shin, Sunghee; Lim, Keol. Computers & Education. Nov2009, Vol. 53 Issue 3, p749-760. 12p.

Comer, Debra R.; Lenaghan, Janet A. Journal of Management Education. Apr2013, Vol. 37 Issue 2, p261-294. 34p.

Brown, R. (2001) The Process of Community Building in Distance Learning Classes. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 5(2), 18-35

Morris, L.. Xu, H. Finnegan, C. (2005). Roles of Faculty in Teaching Asynchronous Undergraduate Courses. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 9(1) 65-82