A Model for Active Learning in Synchronous Remote Classrooms: Evidence from a Large-Scale Implementation

Abstract

Teach 10000 Teachers is a project supported by the Government of India for training large numbers college instructors through distance education. The mode used is Synchronous Remote Classrooms (SRC), in which lectures are transmitted from a single location and participants attend them synchronously in their respective classrooms. In this paper we present a model for adapting well-known active learning (AL) strategies from face-to-face classrooms to the SRC mode, so as to enable effective learning. Our model identifies three levels of interactions – student-content, student-student and student-instructor – and then adapts these interactions to the SRC mode, using the affordances of the technology. We implemented this model with five AL strategies, in a 1-week workshop. We validated the model by examining participants' perception of the effectiveness of the AL strategies for their learning and engagement. We found that 86% of 1287 participants found our adapted AL strategies to be useful in learning. We also found that there is a high correlation (γ=0.75 ) between the perceptions of overall satisfaction and usefulness of AL strategies.