Asynchronous communication

Asynchronous communication involves a time delay in the transmission of information between two or more contributors. Contributors do not need to immediately receive or respond to shared information.

Examples of this type of communication:

Social media - which allows educators to share their interests and thoughts with a smaller group with common interests. These tools can connect students with the community, professional development opportunities and future employers.
Discussion board forums - can contribute to the development of students’ critical thinking and writing skills. Choose a manageable topic with clear scope and boundaries, and demonstrate that you are present so students remain focused.
Announcements, blogs, and emails

Students and educators have more time to research and reflect on topics or concepts prior to formulating a response. The history of group interactions is captured and shared.

Tips on asynchronous communication

It is important that students understand how their participation in blogs and discussions will be evaluated.

What are your specific evaluation criteria?
Do they need to post a certain number of times?
How often?
Should they include additional information or references?

For more information on online discussion board facilitation, visit Edutopia’s Mastering Online Discussion Board Facilitation Resource Guide.

Supported technologies

Announcements
Each subject or community site has an Announcements page where teaching staff can post information about the subject activity. Announcements can include text, images, media content, and links to websites and other files.

Blogs
The Blog (weblog) tool allows individuals or groups to post reflective writing and topical commentary within a subject or community. The posts are presented in reverse chronological order and can be commented on.

Journals
A tool for students to create subject notes or reflective journal entries that need only be set up once for the whole class and can be kept private between the subject lecturer and individual students.

Discussion Board
The Discussion board is a time and location independent communications tool that can be used to facilitate a text-based exchange of ideas within a Subject or Organisation site.

Email
Email can be sent to members of a subject or community via the Email tool. This tool facilitates selective communication with various combinations of student and staff users based on their role or group membership in the subject or community.