Abstract:

In the world of education, new times also bring new teaching methods and learner expectations. They also require novel pedagogical approaches to learners and to teaching itself (Tanasijević & Janković, 2021).

As reported by the Sloan Consortium and more recently by the Babson Group, enrollment in online courses increased at a steady pace over a 14-year timespan, and by 2016, there were about 6.3 million students taking at least one course in a distance format (Seaman, Allen, & Seaman,2018). Yet, it took a global pandemic to spotlight distance education as a viable instructional approach. Without access to physical spaces that housed schools and universities, many faculty and administrators experienced shifts in mindsets as they had to find unique and innovative ways for students to engage in authentic learning activities. For instance, in teacher education, with limited access to children, student teachers presented lessons to each other via video conferencing. In other cases, interns had access to different artificial intelligence and other technological tools that allowed them to engage with avatars. However, the jury is still out when measuring the effectiveness of the novice professionals who practiced their craft using simulations and other innovative approaches versus having real in-person internship experiences.

This narrative inquiry will allow me to provide a single faculty member’s perspective about distance teaching and learning before and after the big pivot that took place in 2020. Having had opportunities to teach in the face-to-face, hybrid/blended, and asynchronous online settings, I plan to address how multimodal (Martin & Oyarzun, 2018) or bichronous (Martin & Parker, 2014; Martin, Polly, & Ritzhaupt, 2020) approaches to teaching and learning have evolved over time.

In retrospect, I realize that over the 12-year timespan that I designed and facilitated online courses, I have utilized multimodal/bichronous instructional strategies to engage students in the learning process. Therefore, I plan to show why all faculty must be prepared and willing to adapt and respond to ongoing “shift[s] in pedagogical learning paradigms” (Albiooshi, 2021, p. 168). By telling my story I seek to answer the question: To what extent is bichronous or multimodal the preferred delivery method in distance education today and moving forward. A possible implication of this reflection could be that more faculty engage in reflexive praxis exercises, especially as it relates to pedagogical approaches.

References:
[1] Alblooshi, E. (2021). Teaching 21st century skills in a bichronous learning environment. The Asian ESP Journal, 58.
[2] Martin, F. & Parker, M.A. (2014). Use of Synchronous Virtual Classrooms: Why, Who and How? MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 10(2), 192-210.
[3] Martin, F., & Oyarzun, B. (2018). Distance learning. Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology.
[4] Martin, F., Polly, D., & Ritzhaupt, A. (2020). Bichronous online learning: Blending asynchronous and synchronous online learning. EDUCAUSE Review, September, 1-11.
[5] Seaman, J. E., Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2018). Grade increase: Tracking distance education in the United States. Babson Survey Research Group.
[6] Tanasijević, M. J., & Janković, N. Z. (2021). The new virtual reality: Teachers' and students' perceptions and experience in English language learning and teaching online. Inovacije u nastavi-časopis za savremenu nastavu, 34(4), 167-186.

Keywords:

Bichronous online learning, multimodal online teaching, distance education, synchronous virtual learning.