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run a successful classroom. As early as 2010, DiPietro found teachers working in the
synchronous mode frequently provided their cell phone numbers to students, which
caused more stress for teachers to respond in a timely manner.

Asynchronous Teaching and Learning
In asynchronous teaching and learning, teachers and students are separated in the
dimensions of time and space (Murphy et al., 2011; Redmond, 2011). Students mostly
rely on education through email, videos, readings, and other technologies posted
on systems like Google Classroom or Blackboard (Bernard et al., 2004; Bhamani
et al., 2020; Murphy et al., 2011). Stone and
Perumean-Chaney (2011) found an advantage
of asynchronous teaching and learning is that Teachers can...be overwhelmed
students are not bound to the constraints of time, with the amount of
so they can work on their material whenever
they find the time. Students can also perfect and communication needed to run a
edit their responses when answering questions
(Hrastinski, 2008). Reflection takes a bigger successful classroom.
role in asynchronous learning, as students have
more time to process the information presented
in class (Hrastinski, 2008).
Wang and Huang (2018) found that a challenge with asynchronous teaching and
learning stemmed from students working on their own time without feedback or
the presence of others. The need to work independently can cause feelings of being
alone because there are no other students with whom to connect (Ahn & McEachin,
2017; Ryan et al., 1999). In a study by Murphy et al. (2011), results indicated that
feelings of being alone and the inability to receive help instantaneously caused
lower retention rates and higher dropout rates compared to what occurred with
synchronous education. Another disadvantage with asynchronous learning is that
students need the skills and resources to use the technology platform to succeed in
the class (Larbi-Siaw & Owusu-Agyeman, 2017). Asynchronous learning can be
difficult for students, especially ones with lower academic achievement and those
who struggle to be self-directed learners (Ahn & McEachin, 2017).

Blended Teaching and Learning
Blended learning, also known as hybrid or mixed-mode education, combines
face-to-face and online components (Ginns & Ellis, 2007; Redmond, 2011). This
learning modality allows students to learn remotely by joining a classroom in real-
time (Wang & Huang, 2018). Much flexibility exists in implementation of blended
learning. For example, Ginns and Ellis (2007) suggested one model involved 2 to 4
hours of lectures and 1 to 2 hours of discussion, online resources, and face-to-face
tutorials. Another model allowed for distance-learning students to join face-to-face
students during instruction on occasion (Wang & Huang, 2018). Lieberman (2020)
found an advantage of blended learning was that students could receive instruction
in person and use that instruction to do meaningful work while away from the
classroom. Teachers could also easily keep track of missing work and formative
assignments such as quizzes and homework (Boelens et al., 2017; Lieberman, 2020).
Furthermore, students could be motivated to do at-home lessons through online
games, thought-provoking questions, and puzzles (Boelens et al., 2017).
One challenge of blended learning is harnessing the asynchronous components

Educators’ Choice 55