The Best of Both Worlds

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Online higher education is often diminished by descriptive terms like described distance education, remote learning, and asynchronous. Even these descriptors suggest a lack of meaningful social community and interaction. Online higher education can maintain its core identity while using modern technology to adapt and meet the needs of students, faculty, and the future of learning. The beauty of the proposed blended design is that it offers online students both flexibility and connectedness with minimal institutional effort or change. The inclusion of optional synchronous activities in otherwise asynchronous online courses allows for:

• Immediate feedback from faculty or peers,
• Meaningful dialogue that mimics onsite classroom discussion,
• Verbal and nonverbal communication, and
• Authenticity to set the tone and build trust for optimal learning

This edition of Undersized Ideas/Oversized Impact will examine the benefits of the strategic blend of on-demand and real-time learning activities in online courses.