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Sun, Nov 7, 8:00 - 8:25, Ballroom C Paper (refereed)

Recommended Citation: Sigle, J, J Key, A Critcher, and J Prince. Tools for Hybrid Instruction - Classroom and Distance Instruction in Synchronous and Asynchronous Modes. In The Proceedings of the Information Systems Education Conference 2004, v 21 (Newport): §4122. ISSN: 1542-7382. (A later version appears in Information Systems Education Journal 3(14). ISSN: 1545-679X.)

Tools for Hybrid Instruction - Classroom and Distance Instruction in Synchronous and Asynchronous Modes

Refereed

5 pages

John Sigle    [a1] [a2]
Computer Science Department
Louisiana State University in Shreveport    [u1] [u2]
Shreveport, Louisiana, USA    [c1] [c2]

Jeff Key    [a1] [a2]
Computer Science Department
Louisiana State University in Shreveport    [u1] [u2]
Shreveport, Louisiana, USA    [c1] [c2]

Adrienne Critcher    [a1] [a2]
Computer Science Department
Louisiana State University in Shreveport    [u1] [u2]
Shreveport, Louisiana, USA    [c1] [c2]

Jamie Prince    [a1] [a2]
Computer Science Department
Louisiana State University in Shreveport    [u1] [u2]
Shreveport, Louisiana, USA    [c1] [c2]

Higher education in this country must evolve in order to meet the learning needs of students that have difficulty acquiring degrees due to the scheduling and geographical constraints of the traditional classroom. Current approaches to this challenge are known collectively as "distance learning" and include web based education which often consists of reading assignments and online discussion groups and/or compressed video ("talking heads.") Many sacrifices have been made to traditional instructional techniques in order to adapt to the constraints of current hardware, software, and bandwidth. With the availability of higher bandwidth and faster computers we have the potential to restore many of the positive attributes of the traditional classroom environment to "distance learning." We believe that the natural evolution for delivery of instruction is to a hybrid mode in which the regular classroom experience is made available to distant students as well as those in the classroom and a combination of synchronous and asynchronous methods are used. Students can "attend" class synchronously when schedules permit, and receive instruction asynchronously otherwise. Our experience indicates that many of these same tools improve the learning experience for traditional classroom students. This paper reports on a number of software and hardware tools that we acquired and developed under a grant. We gained experience with these tools and assessed their potential for improvement of the instructional environment.

Keywords: distance learning, synchronous learning tools, asynchronous learning tools, recorded lectures

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