Our class this week focused on the topic of asynchronous versus synchronous. Asynchronous tasks allow students to complete work based on their own timing, which synchronous tasks happen within the same period of time. Due to all of our classes being online this term, I have gotten to experience both of these in many of my classes. The most notable class to use both asynchronous and synchronous aspects is my EDCI 306 music class. Instead of having the two hour-and-a-half classes scheduled each week, we are given many asynchronous tasks to complete and have one synchronous class at the end of the week. I believe there are pros and cons to this method. I like the break in the week while still being able to engage with my peers at the end of the week on the class material. The class is laid out very well in the sense that we have the given tasks for the week that we can complete at any time, as long as they are done by the synchronous class. This really helps with zoom fatigue as instead of sitting at a desk staring at a computer for an hour and a half, we are able to split up the tasks and complete them at our own pace. A con to this system is that without that scheduled time, work can be procrastinated until the very last minute. I have done a pretty good job this term of staying on top of my work, but if all my classes were asynchronous I could see this being a real problem.

Although schooling will not be like this forever, I think the idea of online learning will continue. The technology and features that have come out of this pandemic can be used in the future even when classes are back in person. I think as a teacher, having both synchronous and asynchronous aspects of a class is very beneficial. I believe our music class had the right idea by adding dates to keep us on track, and this is a great tool to use in the classroom. Time-management is an extremely useful skill and it would be very beneficial to teach this to students early on. I think this pandemic has allowed us to see how much is capable with technology. If a student cannot attend the class in person for some reason, there are options that can allow them to still get an education. Online learning has developed so much over the past year and I am interested to see how it will impact the future.