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

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 res pective 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. O ur 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 th e 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 h igh correlation ( � =0.75) between the perceptions of overall satisfaction and usefulness of AL strategies. Teach 10000 Teachers (T10KT) is an initiative under the National Mission of Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) of the Government of India. The goal of T10KT is to improve the quality of higher educat ion faculty in the country through distance education workshops. The mode used is Synchronous Remote Classrooms (SRCs), in which lectures are transmitted from a single location and 50-100 p articipants attend them synchronously in their respective classrooms, located at 150-200 different geographic locations. Each classroom has a remote centre coordinator (RCC), who is trained to facilit ate the instruction. Due to the large scale of this program, it is impor tant for workshop instructors to go beyond traditional lecturing and ensure that participants remain engaged. Several researchers have reported effectiveness of active learning (AL) strategies in distance education programmes (Koszalka & Ganesan, 2004; Jaffee, 1997). All have emphasized t he need of adapting pedagogical practices to technology affordances, for effective learning. Thi s need for adaptation arises while implementing active learning strategies in the SRC mode, since t he set of affordances and constraints of this mode are different from the other modes. In this paper, we present a model for adapting well -known active learning strategies from face-to-face classrooms to the SRC mode. The remote centre coordinator (RCC) and technology mediate the interaction between the instructor and the participants. In our model, the RCC plays the r ole of a proxy instructor, as well as an information tr ansfer agent, while technology plays the role of enabling communication. We implemented this model using five active learning strategies - Think-Pair-Share, Classroom Voting, Pros-Cons Analysis, Peer Review and Muddy Points. We validated the effectiveness of our model by adminis tered a survey to obtain participants' perceptions of the effectiveness of the active learning strategies . The survey contained questions on a Likert scale on participants' perceived learning and satisfaction, and on the facilitation provided by the RCC and technology. The results show that 86% of the 1287 p articipants found our adapted active learning strategies to be useful for their learning. We also found that there is a high and significant correla tion (� =0.75) between perceptions of overall satisfaction and usefulness of active learning strategies.