There’s a paradox that comes with remote learning that could become more prominent as many schools consider whether or not to hold traditional on-campus classes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On one hand, remote learning – like Georgia Tech’s world-renowned Online Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS) program – offers asynchronous learning environments in which students have flexibility in class scheduling and pacing at a fraction of the cost of a traditional degree. It’s a perk that benefits those who may not otherwise have access due to cost, location, or availability.
On the other, students in these classes still report a desire for synchronicity – or live interaction – to improve their learning experience and community.
New Georgia Tech research identifies this paradox and offers potential solutions that could be utilized both in the immediate future during the pandemic and in future learning, as a whole.
“Our study found that despite the desire for a flexible learning environment, students still need for synchronicity to form,” said David Joyner, Executive Director of Online Education and OMSCS at Georgia Tech. “It can be through text or through Zoom, but it needs to be live. Now, what do you do with that in asynchronous education?”
Is it a zero-sum game, where you choose which matters most to you: flexibility or social connection? Or, is there a compromise in which students can get the best of both worlds?
Joyner, also the lead author on the paper The Synchronicity Paradox in Online Education, thinks it’s the latter, especially when you’re talking about learning at scale.
“What scale gets you is that even if people are working on their own time at their own pace, there are going to be people doing the same thing as you whenever you’re doing it,” he said.
Already, in the OMSCS program, he sees micro-communities form on a class-to-class basis. Students connect on messaging platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams. Over time, they learn who is doing school work at specific times and can make individual connections based on availability. The problem with those programs, he said, is that message boards are busy – good discussions disappear behind a litany of new messages – and connections are built around classes.
“On a traditional campus, community is built around the campus, not the class,” Joyner said. “Online, you form relationships based on that class, which means that at the end of that semester those relationships are often inherently doomed.”
So, what’s the solution? Joyner’s research proposes a compromise in which students never have to sign on at the same time each day every week, but whenever you do there will be others available for live interaction.
“Can we create something where instead of attending three days a week at 10 a.m. or instead of attending any place, anytime, we offer classes on weekdays at 7, 8, 9, or 10 p.m.?” Joyner proposed. “You choose one that works for you, and you get your own cohort. You commit to a time, but you still have choices that fit your lifestyle.
“And maybe you can’t attend the same time every week. You might form better social connections if you do, but maybe that flexibility is more important to you.”
The key, he said, is providing options. And, although you may not be able to attend a campus like Georgia Tech in person, you may be able to connect with a handful of students in your location to share a classroom. Joyner calls this a “distributed classroom,” a term he explores in more detail with College of Computing Dean Charles Isbell in a book due out in Fall 2021.
It’s a proposal that could improve access to high-quality education in the long run, but could be potentially prudent in the near term during the Covid-19 pandemic. While many weigh the need for continuing in-person learning, this research offers a compromise for both connection and flexibility.
This paper is being presented at the Learning @ Scale 2020 Conference. The paper is co-authored by Joyner, Qiaosi (Chelsea) Wang, Suyash Thakare, Shan Jing, Ashok Goel, and Blair MacIntyre.