Asynchronous activities include everything that takes place at a student's own pace and timeline.
All courses, whether on-campus or online, have some asynchronous components. For example, students complete their homework according to their own schedules.
However, the difference for online students is that much of the communication and "dialogue" in online courses takes place across time rather than at the same time.
Students will submit assignments to the instructor whenever it's convenient provided deadlines are met. If an assignment is due by Friday, students can post their work any time up until that due date, whether at 2:00 in the morning, 1:00 in the afternoon, or 11:00 at night. Even better, you can be wearing pajamas when you turn in your assignment!
Another example of an asynchronous activity is "threaded discussion" or "forum." Often an instructor will post a discussion question—students respond to the question and then to other student responses. This kind of discussion happens at all hours of the day, with students responding to one another at various times, developing ongoing dialogue and community interaction.
RANA combines synchronous and asynchronous activities, developing a healthy blend of paced and self-paced learning opportunities for students.
