research-article

The Synchronicity Paradox in Online Education

Authors:

David A. Joyner,

Suyash Thakare,

Blair MacIntyreAuthors Info & Claims

L@S '20: Proceedings of the Seventh ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale

Pages 15 - 24

https://doi.org/10.1145/3386527.3405922

Published: 12 August 2020 Publication History

Abstract

As online education proliferates, one concern that has been raised is that it may fail to capture desirable emergent phe-nomena from on-campus programs. Student community is one example of such a phenomenon: on-campus student communities thrive based on synchronous collocation. An online program might be designed to capture all deliberate constructs in an on-campus program, but there may be beneficial side effects of synchronous collocation that are not apparent. In this work, we examine the issue of social isolation in an online graduate program. By happenstance, three studies were conducted in relative isolation looking at social isolation from different angles. The first study exam-ined trajectories in social presence as a semester proceeded. The second study developed an understanding of students' needs with regard to community in an online program. The third study tested out an immersive virtual environment to try to improve students' sense of connectedness. Combin-ing their findings, we find compelling evidence of the exist-ence of a Synchronicity Paradox in online education: stu-dents desire synchronicity to form strong social communi-ties, and yet part of the chief appeal of these online pro-grams is their asynchronicity. In light of this finding, we provide design guidelines for how synchronicity may be reintroduced into asynchronous programs without sacrific-ing the benefits of asynchronicity. More specifically, we propose that scale itself may be the key to building emer-gent synchronicity.

References

[1]

Ali, A., & Smith, D. (2015). Comparing social isolation effects on students attrition in online versus face-to-face courses in computer literacy. Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology, 12, 11--20.

[2]

Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2016). Online Report Card: Tracking Online Education in the United States. Bab-son Survey Research Group. Babson College.

[3]

Bibeau, S. (2001). Social presence, isolation, and con-nectedness in online teaching and learning: From the literature to real life. Journal of Instruction Delivery Systems, 15(3), 35--39.

[4]

Borrella, I., Caballero-Caballero, S., & Ponce-Cueto, E. (2019, June). Predict and Intervene: Addressing the Dropout Problem in a MOOC-based Program. In Pro-ceedings of the Sixth (2019) ACM Conference on Learning@ Scale (pp. 1--9).

[5]

Crues, R. W., Bosch, N., Perry, M., Angrave, L., Shaik, N., & Bhat, S. (2018, June). Refocusing the lens on en-gagement in MOOCs. In Proceedings of the Fifth An-nual ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale. ACM.

Digital Library

[6]

Dillon, J., Bosch, N., Chetlur, M., Wanigasekara, N., Ambrose, G. A., Sengupta, B., & D'Mello, S. K. (2016). Student Emotion, Co-Occurrence, and Dropout in a MOOC Context. In Proceedings of the 9th Interna-tional Conference on Educational Data Mining.

[7]

Duncan, A., Eicher, B., and Joyner, D. (2020). Enroll-ment Motivations in an Online Graduate CS Program: Trends & Gender- and Age-Based Differences. In Pro-ceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education. ACM.

Digital Library

[8]

Frankola, K. (2001). Why online learners drop out. Workforce, 80(10), 52--60.

[9]

Goel, A. & Joyner, D. A. (2017). Using AI to Teach AI: Lessons from an Online AI Class. AI Magazine 38(2). 48--58.

Digital Library

[10]

Goodman, J., Melkers, J., & Pallais, A. (2019). Can online delivery increase access to education?. Journal of Labor Economics, 37(1), 1--34.

[11]

Hansch, A., Hillers, L., McConachie, K., Newman, C., Schildhauer, T., & Schmidt, J. P. (2015). Video and online learning: Critical reflections and findings from the field. HIIG Discussion Paper Series No. 2015-02.

[12]

Joyner, D. A. (2018). Squeezing the Limeade: Policies and Workflows for Scalable Online Degrees. In Pro-ceedings of the Fifth Annual ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale. London, United Kingdom. ACM.

Digital Library

[13]

Joyner, D. A., Goel, A., and Isbell, C. (2016). The unex-pected pedagogical benefits of making higher educa-tion accessible. In Proceedings of the Third ACM Con-ference on Learning @ Scale. 117--120. ACM.

[14]

Joyner, D. A. & Isbell, C. (2019). Master's at Scale: Five Years in a Scalable Online Graduate Degree. In Proceedings of the Sixth Annual ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale. Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Digital Library

[15]

Joyner, D. A., Isbell, C., Starner, T., and Goel, A. (2019). Five Years of Graduate CS Education Online and at Scale. In Proceedings of the ACM Global Com-puting Education Conference (CompEd). Chengdu, China. ACM.

Digital Library

[16]

Kutnick, D. G., & Joyner, D. A. (2019, June). Synchro-nous at Scale: Investigation and Implementation of a Semi-Synchronous Online Lecture Platform. In Pro-ceedings of the Sixth ACM Conference on Learning@ Scale. ACM.

Digital Library

[17]

Kwon, K., Han, D., Bang, E. J., & Armstrong, S. (2010). Feelings of isolation and coping mechanism in online learning environments: A case study of Asian interna-tional students. International Journal of Learning, 17(2).

[18]

Lineberger, J. (2016). Isolation: A Pitfall of Online Learning [Article]. PBS Education. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/education/blog/isolation-a-pitfall-of-online-learning

[19]

Ouzts, K. (2006). Sense of community in online cours-es. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 7(3).

[20]

Pappano, L. (2012, November 4). The Year of the MOOC. The New York Times (p. ED26).

[21]

Rovai, A. P. and Wighting, M. J. (2005). Feelings of alienation and community among higher education students in a virtual classroom. The Internet and High-er Education, 8(2), 97--110.

[22]

Shah, D. (2019). Year of MOOC-based Degrees: A Review of MOOC Stats and Trends in 2018 [Blogpost]. Retrieved from https://www.class-central.com/report/moocs-stats-and-trends-2018/

[23]

Shea, P. (2006). A study of students' sense of learning community in online environments. Journal of Asyn-chronous Learning Networks, 10(1), 35--44.

[24]

Sunar, A. S., White, S., Abdullah, N. A., & Davis, H. C. (2016). How learners' interactions sustain engagement: a MOOC case study. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 10(4), 475--487.

Digital Library

[25]

Swan, K., Shea, P., Richardson, J., Ice, P., Garrison, D. R., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Arbaugh, J. B. (2008). Vali-dating a measurement tool of presence in online com-munities of inquiry. E-mentor, 2(24), 1--12.

[26]

Wang, Q., Jing, S., Camacho, I., Joyner, D., & Goel, A. (2020). Jill Watson SA: Design and Evaluation of a Vir-tual Agent to Build Communities Among Online Learners. In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Con-ference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

[27]

Willging, P. A. and Johnson, S. D. (2009). Factors that influence students' decision to dropout of online cours-es. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 13(3), 115--127.

Cited By

Lee SToyama K(2024)Friendship Formation in an Enforced Online Regime: Findings from a U.S. University Under COVIDProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36410078:CSCW1(1-30)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3641007
Rusch AIanni EStephenson BStone JBattestilli LRebelsky SShoop L(2024)Community Building and Joyful Learning in Computer Science Education Through Online At-Scale SeminarsProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 210.1145/3626253.3635478(1802-1803)Online publication date: 14-Mar-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3626253.3635478
Rusch ADuncan AJoyner DSpikol DViberg OMartínez-Monés AGuo P(2023)Student Life at Scale: Humanizing the Student Experience at Scale through Belonging, Engagement, and CommunityProceedings of the Tenth ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale10.1145/3573051.3596167(257-261)Online publication date: 20-Jul-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3573051.3596167
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

The Synchronicity Paradox in Online Education
1. Applied computing
  1. Education
    1. Collaborative learning
    2. Distance learning

Recommendations

Master's at Scale: Five Years in a Scalable Online Graduate Degree
L@S '19: Proceedings of the Sixth (2019) ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale

In 2014, Georgia Tech launched the first for-credit MOOC-based graduate degree program. In the five years since, the program has proven generally successful, enrolling over 14,000 unique students, and several other similar programs have followed in its ...
Online Technical Education in Advanced Technical Education Funded Programs: (Abstract Only)
SIGCSE '18: Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

With an expanding need for a diverse STEM workforce, community colleges play an instrumental role in filling the need with qualified technicians. This research project will identify and synthesize the experiences of developing and implementing online ...
Five Years of Graduate CS Education Online and at Scale
CompEd '19: Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Global Computing Education

In 2014, Georgia Tech launched an online campus for its Master of Science in Computer Science program. The degree, equal in stature and accreditation to its on-campus counterpart, offered a notably lower cost of attendance. Its design emphasized ...

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image ACM Other conferences

L@S '20: Proceedings of the Seventh ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale

August 2020

442 pages

ISBN:9781450379519

DOI:10.1145/3386527

General Chair:
David Joyner
Georgia Tech
,
Program Chairs:
Rene Kizilcec
Cornell University
,
Susan Singer
Rollins College

Copyright © 2020 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 12 August 2020

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Research-article

Conference

L@S '20

L@S '20: Seventh (2020) ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale

August 12 - 14, 2020

Virtual Event, USA

Acceptance Rates

Overall Acceptance Rate 117 of 440 submissions, 27%

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

18
Total Citations
View Citations
520
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)75
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)8

Reflects downloads up to 27 Jan 2025

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

Lee SToyama K(2024)Friendship Formation in an Enforced Online Regime: Findings from a U.S. University Under COVIDProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36410078:CSCW1(1-30)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3641007
Rusch AIanni EStephenson BStone JBattestilli LRebelsky SShoop L(2024)Community Building and Joyful Learning in Computer Science Education Through Online At-Scale SeminarsProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 210.1145/3626253.3635478(1802-1803)Online publication date: 14-Mar-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3626253.3635478
Rusch ADuncan AJoyner DSpikol DViberg OMartínez-Monés AGuo P(2023)Student Life at Scale: Humanizing the Student Experience at Scale through Belonging, Engagement, and CommunityProceedings of the Tenth ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale10.1145/3573051.3596167(257-261)Online publication date: 20-Jul-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3573051.3596167
Joyner DRusch ADuncan AWojcik JPopescu DSpikol DViberg OMartínez-Monés AGuo P(2023)Teaching at Scale and Back Again: The Impact of Instructors' Participation in At-Scale Education Initiatives on Traditional InstructionProceedings of the Tenth ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale10.1145/3573051.3593389(144-155)Online publication date: 20-Jul-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3573051.3593389
Meads ATu YDobbie GDoyle MStephenson BDorn BSoh LBattestilli L(2023)Moving a Bootcamp-Style Computer Science Programme OnlineProceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3545945.3569814(785-791)Online publication date: 2-Mar-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3545945.3569814
Lee WPark KYoo JLim H(2023)Design to Improve Social Presence among University Students in Asynchronous Online Learning EnvironmentExtended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544549.3585593(1-7)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544549.3585593
Thokala NYeboah JNti I(2023)Students' Flexibility in Online Education Using Machine Learning2023 International Conference on Computational Science and Computational Intelligence (CSCI)10.1109/CSCI62032.2023.00043(241-247)Online publication date: 13-Dec-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/CSCI62032.2023.00043
Kim YWijaya Ong CFung F(2023)Supplementary Discourse - Forming an Online Learning Community with Asynchronous DiscussionsJournal of Chemical Education10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00553Online publication date: 17-Jan-2023
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00553
Gunness AMatanda MRajaguru R(2023)Effect of student responsiveness to instructional innovation on student engagement in semi-synchronous online learning environmentsComputers & Education10.1016/j.compedu.2023.104884205:COnline publication date: 1-Nov-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.compedu.2023.104884
Wang QJing SGoel A(2022)Co-Designing AI Agents to Support Social Connectedness Among Online Learners: Functionalities, Social Characteristics, and Ethical ChallengesProceedings of the 2022 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3532106.3533534(541-556)Online publication date: 13-Jun-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3532106.3533534
Show More Cited By

View Options

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

Get this Publication

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

eReader

View online with eReader.

Figures

Tables

Media

View Table of Conten