March 10, 2014  No. 3 aha moment: asynchronous is (generally)
better than synchronous teaching  Listen with webReader  The
transmitter at Alexandra Palace, London, for the OU's TV and
radio programs  In an earlier post, I listed the seven ‘aha’
moments that have been the most seminal ‘discoveries’ in my
researching and working in educational technology. This is the
third of seven posts that discuss why I believe these
‘discoveries’ to be important, and their implications
specifically for online learning. The others to date are:  1.
 Media are different.   What was the discovery? (1978)  Everyone
learns better from media and technologies that allow them to
study anywhere, at any time. In particular the ability to repeat
and revise recorded material makes learning much more effective
than live, synchronous teaching, for any learner who requires
flexibility in accessing educational opportunities.  Which are
synchronous and which are asynchronous technologies?  From
Bates, A. (in press) Technology, e-Learning and