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Asynchronous and Synchronous E-Learning Asynchronous and Synchronous E-Learning Author(s):Stefan Hrastinski (Uppsala University) © 2008 Stefan Hrastinski EDUCAUSE Quarterly, vol. 31, no. 4 (October-December 2008) Asynchronous and Synchronous E-Learning A study of asynchronous and synchronous e-learning methods discovered that each supports different purposes By Stefan Hrastinski Today's workforce is expected to be highly educated and to continually improve skills and acquire new ones by engaging in lifelong learning. E-learning, here defined as learning and teaching online through network technologies, is arguably one of the most powerful responses to the growing need for education.1 Some researchers have expressed concern about the learning outcomes for e-learners, but a review of 355 comparative studies reveals no significant difference in learning outcomes, commonly measured as grades or exam results, between traditional and e-learning modes of delivery.2

FORA.tv is the world's first on-demand, interactive fully searchable media portal delivering spoken words from the world's great writers, leaders, activists and thinkers. FORA community members can experience content via its immersive website with synchronized transcripts, chapters and user generated posts and content. It is one of the primary goals of FORA.tv to foster discussion and debate on issues relevant to our time. To that end, FORA.tv does not endorse viewpoints expressed by the speakers in our videos. Dissenting opinions are welcome and encouraged in our video comments (but keep it civil, please).

Ten commandments of e-learning (content design) Cath Ellis recently set out her ten commandments of e-learning and this prompted me to try and articulate my own. Now e-learning's a big subject if you include all its many variants - formal and informal, synchronous and asynchronous and so on - and if you take into account all the issues relating to its management and marketing. So, what I've done is restrict my thoughts to the design of interactive, e-learning content, drawing heavily from the 60-minute masters: