Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning with Deck.Toys

If 2020 has taught us anything in education, it’s the need to be versatile and adaptable. There is no going back to the traditional way of teaching where all students are expected to be in one classroom facing the teacher and listening to the lesson-of-the-day. Hybrid, blended and remote learning are all the new norms that the global education community has to deal with in order to safeguard our health.

Enter Deck.Toys. It is a highly interactive platform where you can conduct your lessons both synchronously and asynchronously and still get all your students engaged wherever they are! Let’s first define all these terms.

Synchronous learning means both the teacher and the students are together at the same time while the lesson is delivered. Traditional classrooms fall into this category, but so is remote learning if lessons are conducted via live video-conferencing and all participants are joining at the same time. There is live interaction between the teacher and the students which makes the exchange of knowledge between participants possible. The teacher can also give immediate feedback if a student has any questions or issues with the lesson.

On the other hand, asynchronous learning means learning happens independently and is self-paced, without interaction between participants. Teachers provide the material (including possibly pre-recorded videos, or the video from the live stream) for the students to go through at their own time. It is not easy to assume all students are able to log into the live lessons at the same time, thus some end up with asynchronous learning.

Now in the situation where both the types of learning takes place, we enter a hybrid model. Hybrid learning happens when teachers have to deliver the lesson both to in-person students and remote students at the same time. This itself poses unique challenges to engage both sets of students synchronously.

Blended learning is where both the teacher and the students are face-to-face but employ asynchronous learning techniques where the students are required to go through some learning material at their own time and pace, but engage in interactive, typically computer-mediated activities whilst in synchronous setting. This is sometimes also referred to as flipped learning.

Deck.Toys has the versatility to help educators in all of the learning settings listed. Once the teacher and students are logged into the assigned Deck.Toys Classroom, the interaction between teacher and students are in real-time. The teacher can track exactly where each student is in their lesson progression and can step in to help as and when required.

Turn on the Teacher Sync mode to get all your students’ screens tuned to what you are seeing. Toggle to the Free Mode to allow self-paced student exploration. At all times, you are able to monitor where they are in the lesson plan with real-time tracking. Students can also challenge each other to Study Set Games that were pre-configured with your lesson key concepts.

Students can be physically in class or at home to join the Deck.Toys Classroom. They can challenge each other and still feel like being part of the same environment, much like being in a multiplayer game.

There is also the option to embed Zoom into the Deck.Toys Classroom to see and speak to your class while the lesson is ongoing.

Students who are not able to join the lesson synchronously can still complete the lesson you have prepared at their own time and pace. So, one lesson prepared in Deck.Toys can be used in all modes of learning!

At any point of the lesson, you can download the classroom report and filter to any individual student using the Report App.

The most important part of it all – unparalleled student engagement. With the vast options of interactive Slide Apps and Study Set Games made available to all Free plan users plus a plethora of gamification features, you can only expect your students to be begging for more Deck.Toys lessons in any learning setting! Read more about our users’ reviews here.

We encourage you to learn more about why Deck.Toys is all about Learning Paths for Lesson Adventures and how you can incorporate this in any of your teaching delivery.

Sign up for free here: https://deck.toys/getstarted

Join us in our Facebook community to discover other ways to create fun lesson adventures for your students: https://www.facebook.com/groups/decktoys