Online learning comes in two different “flavors,” which have to do with how and when students are expected to interact with the course materials. In an asynchronous online course, course materials (lectures, readings, discussion forums, assessments, etc.) are prepared in advance and are made available for students to access and engage with on their own schedules. Asynchronous courses do not include set meeting times. You may have heard this sort of online class referred to as “traditional online.” The alternative to asynchronous online courses are synchronous online courses, in which the instructor and students are online at the same time. Course material is delivered and discussions occur in real time, using web conferencing (e.g., Zoom) or similar technology.
