SYNCHRONOUS AND ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION IN AN ONLINE ENVIRONMENT: Faculty Experiences and Perceptions

INTRODUCTION

Distance education is becoming more and more popular as it does not have the limitations of space and/or time. According to the report of Distance Education at Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions: 2006- 07 ', 66% of 2-year and 4-year Title IV eligible, degreegranting institutions offered online, hybrid, or other formats of distance education courses during the 2006-2007 academic year. It also reported an estimated 12.2 million enrollments/registrations in distance education courses (Parsad & Lewis, 2008).

While distance education can be delivered via different methods such as cable TV or CD, asynchronous web-based online instruction was reported as the most adopted delivery method for distance education (Parsad & Lewis, 2008). Asynchronous online communication does not require the real-time participation of instructor and students, which can be supported through tools such as e-mails, discussion boards, blogs, wikis, or video/audio recordings. Literature has documented the effectiveness of asynchronous learning environments to facilitate student learning. It has been found that asynchronous communication fostered in-depth learning and critical thinking as students would have more time to process information and their thinking (BenbunanFich & Hiltz, 1999; Bonk & King, 1998; Duffy, Dueber, & Hawley, 1998). However, the delayed feedback in asynchronous learning environments has been identified as one of its main limitations (Branon & Essex, 2001). In addition, asynchronous online learning environment may not provide sufficient opportunities for social interactions, thus it tends to create a sense of separation between students and instructors (Branon & Essex, 2001; Ory & Bullock, 1997).

Another mode of online communication, synchronous or live online communication, has begun to gain increasing popularity in distance education as affordable and advanced tools enabling this mode of communication are becoming available (see Barron et al., 2005; Cao, Griffin, & Bai, 2009; Chen, Chen, & Tsai, 2009; Hrastinski, 2008; Xenos, Avouris, Stavrinoudis, & Margaritis, 2009). Synchronous communication can be supported through tools such as chat rooms, instant messaging, or web conferencing with whiteboard, audio, and video capabilities (e.g., Blackboard Collaborate, Adobe Connect). Research shows that synchronous communication can overcome some of the limitations associated with asynchronous learning environment, such as providing opportunities for immediate feedback and helping to build connections between instructor and students (Hines & Pearl, 2004; Im & Lee, 2003). Synchronous communication has also been found to...