In Sync With Students: Strategies for Enhancing Learning with Synchronous Online Sessions

Synchronous online learning environments like Adobe Connect or Blackboard Collaborate can help educators facilitate learner-centered dialogue, thereby creating more meaningful learning experiences for students in online or blended courses. A survey was distributed among 60 information science students across three blended courses in order to better understand the critical role of instructional strategies in promoting learner-centered dialogue during synchronous online sessions. Three types of learning experiences emerged: "highly enhanced," "moderately enhanced," and "baseline." Strategies for empirically researching synchronous online learning environments were developed that can be of benefit to those who wish to do further research in this under-researched area.

Learning Objectives:
*Identify some critical success factors for enhancing students' learning experience in sessions conducted in synchronous online learning environments
*Learn strategies for empirically researching the student learning experience in synchronous online learning environments, which is an underresearched topic
*Assess the readiness of their institution to provide the support necessary for offering effective sessions in synchronous online learning environments