For many years learning took place in person, with one instructor imparting knowledge onto a group or individual. As early as 491 BCE, Greek society was organizing schools, where students attended classes and learned from masters.  (Nakosteen & Browning, 2019)  This required a communal attendance in a physical location.  T

During the recent past, a new type of learning has emerged, asynchronous learning. This newer type of learning can be defined as:

“Asynchronous learning is the type of learning you do alone, on your own time and at your own pace. Asynchronous learning most frequently refers to teacher and student interactions that occur at different times and different locations. Great examples of asynchronous e-learning can be found in online courses like the career readiness courses offered through LinkedIn Learning. You can even look at email exchanges, discussion boards, and learning management system or course management system activities as examples of asynchronous e-learning.” (Thompson, 2019)

To me, asynchronous learning is happening anytime you are learning something when the teacher is not there with you as you learn guiding the process. That might be a formal curriculum that you are following on your own to complete tasks set forth by an instructor as you learn a new skill, or it might mean going to the library to read a book to learn how to do something. There can be varying amounts of interaction with others, both instructors and fellow students. 

The following video introduces the concept of asynchronous learning and discusses how it differs from synchronous learning. It also covers some of the advantages and disadvantages of asynchronous learning, something we will delve into later in this work.

Some of the common types of asynchronous learning include:

• Online Learning, including interactions such as discussion boards, online references, and online knowledge exams.
• Video or audio lessons, pre recorded to be viewed at the learners convenience or point of need.
• Blog posts written by experts, used as reference by those learning new skills
• Email, direct 1 on 1 or group interactions via email, perhaps including an expert to advise and mentor new skill acquisition.

These are outlined in the infographic below:

Types of asynchronous learning. Image retrieved from: https://startkiwi.com/blog/synchronous-vs-asynchronous-learning-why-you-should-keep-the-a/

In recent times, asynchronous learning has relied heavily on technology, although asynchronous learning has been in existence long before the invention of the internet and the age of computers in every household. When I was in elementary school in the 1980’s, well before anyone I knew had heard of the internet, my third grade teacher took a very asynchronous approach to learning. Every week she would give us a bundle of worksheets on various topics that we would need to complete throughout the week. She would not actually teach us any content, rather she would expect us to use time management during school to read textbooks and complete our worksheets. At any given time in her classroom, students could be performing a variety of tasks. Because there was no collaboration between students or required time to be working on specific activities, this was an early type of asynchronous learning. It did differ somewhat from today’s asynchronous learning though, in that we were all required to be present in the same room during the day. Today’s asynchronous learning is also sometimes called location independent learning, which my early experience was not. In my early experience, this was not an ideal way to learn as we were left to work through the content with little support. Back in the 80's, my teacher was an outlier, presumably using the method that was easiest for her without regard to the educational experience. Today's asynchrounous experiences can be very different, as this work will explore, in many cases this is a direct result of advances in technology.

Another example of asynchronous learning is correspondence school, which historically provided one of the few opportunities for learners who were unable to attend physical courses. Learners were sent information and perhaps worksheets or tests to complete, and were asked to complete course requirements and once the course was completed, a certification or certificate could be issued. There was a great deal of variation between these courses in terms of quality, and while these may have been an effective way to learn in the past, by the late 20th century they had gained notoriety for focusing more on profit and less on learning, as evidenced in the commercial below.

Asynchronous learning has changed the way I learn, and the way I teach. From a learning perspective, I was an early adopter of asynchronous learning. When I was earning my undergraduate degree, the internet was just on the verge of becoming mainstream. My college added a computer lab with internet connected computers the year I began as a freshman, but I did not have my own personal computer for internet access, and we certainly did not have online courses. However, I took several “telecourses”, where you watched hours of video on VHS tape and then came to the campus to complete proctored exams about what you learned. This type of learning really resonated with me, and by the time I graduated I had taken every telecourse my school offered, which was approximately eight courses. Now, while pursuing my master’s degree I am taking my courses exclusively online in an asynchronous fashion. This was particularly important to me because my work schedule makes it very difficult to commit to attending live synchronous sessions. Finding a program where the learning happens primarily in an asynchronous fashion is what has allowed me to come back to complete this degree.

From a work perspective, when I began as a corporate trainer the vast majority of all training was done live, in person, in a synchronous fashion. The technology did not yet exist to allow synchronous virtual training, and the asynchronous training that was available was not able to be created by an internal training team, but rather was purchased from a vendor that specialized in creating computer based training (CBT) courses, primarily distributed on CD-ROMs. In the more recent past, my job now involves creating and delivering both synchronous and asynchronous learning. I often deliver virtual instructor led (vILT) training courses live to attendees located all around the world. I create recordings and videos that can be posted to my employer’s media hub to be consumed by learners anytime, anywhere in the world. This technology has revolutionized how I teach, and also the way that the training attendees learn.

Retrieved from: https://elearningindustry.com/choosing-elearning-over-traditional-methods-6-reasons

There are many advantages in asynchronous learning, which include:

• Learning can happen anytime and anywhere 
• Learning can take place at the learner’s own pace
• Reduced cost of training program 
• Consistency for all learners 
• There could be less obstacles for those with social challenges 

When learning is ubiquitous, it makes the learning much more convenient for the learners, the trainers, and the organization itself. The organization can save money because they don’t need to incur travel expenses, and the learners can complete the learning during downtimes, so it has a lesser impact on the employee’s productivity. This also means learners from around the world can come together to collaborate on discussion posts or work on group projects.

Asynchronous learning can also improve the consistency of the learning, because when the training course is prepared in advance for participants to review at their own pace, the course can be reused and each learner would get the same experience. This is important in cases where the training is mandated to comply with laws, such as ethics training. When the same course is being used throughout the year, the organization can better prove that all employees had access to the same learning, which is helpful when compared to live classroom learning, where perhaps the trainer skipped a line in the training manual during a class.

Allowing learners to complete the course on their own timeline can also help keep them engaged and allow for better, lasting learning. This is especially helpful for those on either end of the learning spectrum – the advanced learners who can easily absorb and retain the information are free to move on to the next topic, and those that learn at a slower pace can easily spend as much time as needed to master a concept.

Asynchronous learning can also benefit learners with social anxiety or physical disabilities, both of which could make it difficult to travel or attend class with others. In their research into the subject of learner anxiety, Russell & Topham explored reasons learners may feel anxious.  Many of the reasons they identified, such as fear of speaking in public, difficulty relaxing with others, and inhibition in the presence of others (Russell & Topham, 2012) may be eased in an asynchronous environment.

Cypher Learning, a Learning Management System that operates on a global scale with millions of users has created the following infographic, that showcases many benefits of asynchronous learning in the higher education (HE) field.  Many of these benefits would seem to be applicable to other audiences as well.  

Top benefits of Learning Management Systems, according to Cypher Learning. Retrieved from: https://blog.neolms.com/top-5-lms-benefits-for-he-students/

We will explore Learning Management Systems and their connection to asynchronous learning later in this work.

Although there are many advantages to asynchronous learning, there are several disadvantages as well. Learners may find it more challenging to meaningfully collaborate, it lacks the immediate feedback that can be given when an instructor is present, requires a high level of learner motivation, requires a high level of structure from the instructor, and not all content is a good fit for asynchronous learning.

Collaboration in the classroom can spark deep learning, whether that collaboration be between the instructor and the learners, or between the learners. When learning is asynchronous, it can be more difficult to orchestrate this type of interaction, and it can sometimes feel forced, versus the natural collaboration and interactions that occur in a classroom. In a classroom or synchronous eLearning session, the instructor can use cues to help them determine if the group is understanding. These can include things like body language, both in person and via webcam, asking informal questions during the lesson to gauge understanding, and fielding questions in the moment from learners when a topic is unclear or challenging.

Asynchronous learning often requires higher learner motivation than synchronous leaning, as learners are often responsible for achieving learning objectives, whereas in synchronous learning it is generally the instructor who is responsible for achieving the learning objectives by presenting information and leading the class through activities. This can lead to another disadvantage, namely that asynchronous learning needs to be rigidly structured to lay out a path for success that learners can follow. If, for example, a political studies course is offered in an asynchronous format: The content and requirements would need to be fairly fixed to allow participants to progress at their own pace. If a major political event occurs, it could be more difficult to incorporate that into the course compared to a synchronous course where the instructor could decide with little notice that for that class meeting the group would be discussing the political event.

Additionally, not all content is a good fit for asynchronous learning. Content that benefits from high levels of collaboration, content that needs to be flexible for constant changes, or content that requires a high level of discussion or interaction between the instructor and the participants.

Today’s course developers are attempting to address the disadvantages of asynchronous learning, particularly the lack of collaboration, by building collaboration opportunities into the learning. This is coming from the developers, who are utilizing increased interaction in the courses by requiring group work and discussions, and from the technical side, as courses have been utilizing more advanced Learning Management Systems (LMS). The video below shows some of the key differences between older LMS Systems and newer systems. In my experience, with the courses I deliver the new systems are allowing for more interaction between participants while still allowing the course to be completed anytime, anywhere. It was not that long ago that we were excited to add message boards to a course to allow for learner collaboration, but I recently facilitated a course where the learners were posting video presentations and responses along with sharing media around the topic in a very immersive way.  I even ran a team competition throughout the course, giving points for answering quesions and sharing graphics and videos.  This would not have been possible with the technology limitations even a few years ago.

The below graphic shows some of the key LMS features that allow for collaboration and interaction. Based on my experience as a learning consultant, most if not all of these features were unheard of in an asynchronous course just 10 or 15 years ago.

Top Social Learning LMS Features. Retrieved from: https://talentedlearning.com/top-social-learning-lms-features/

Asynchronous learning has allowed many learners to achieve knowledge that would have been impossible previously due to geographic, time, and other physical constraints. The development of the internet and age of eLearning created a step forward from the correspondence courses that were used historically. We are poised on the edge of another leap forward now, with LMS systems and course content becoming more intuitive, personalized, and collaborative. It will be very interesting to see what the next 10 years bring!