This session will present the results of a mixed methods study focused on the value of synchronous dialogue in asynchronous courses from the faculty perspective. Participants will discuss their perceptions of, and experiences with, facilitating synchronous interactions in online courses, and how those reflect the study's definition of dialogue.

This session will relay the findings of a mixed-methods study exploring the experiences of online faculty in asynchronous programs interacting with students using synchronous dialogue, and how that dialogue impacts the overall job satisfaction of those faculty. Overall enrollment in postsecondary institutions has been steadily declining over the last decade and that trend is expected to continue. However, online learning is one area of higher education where enrollment is consistently on the rise, with even traditionally face-to-face programs expanding their online offerings. This expansion has created an increasingly competitive distance education market. Universities with online courses, hoping to benefit from these enrollment gains, need to understand what attracts and retains online students, and research suggests that student satisfaction increases when they are offered more engagement and interaction in their online classrooms. The satisfaction of online students is important given its potential to improve enrollment and retention, but the satisfaction of online faculty is also critical because of their role in implementing pedagogical practices. Transactional distance theory posits that synchronous dialogue, as a pedagogical practice, can be an effective way to meet student need for increased interaction in asynchronous courses. However, asynchronous courses, a common variation of online education, do not require students and faculty to be online at the same time, which means the opportunities for synchronous interaction are limited in those courses. For synchronous interaction to occur in such courses it must be intentionally facilitated by faculty, but research regarding their experiences is largely lacking. Additionally, research using transactional distance theory to study the impact of dialogue most often operationalizes that construct as frequency of interaction. This limited view of dialogue ignores its rich and qualitative nature. For their study, the presenter interviewed ten highly satisfied online faculty, teaching in asynchronous programs, that interacted regularly with their students using synchronous video conferencing, a highly dialogic medium. Results indicated that their synchronous interactions were experienced as dialogue, consistent with transactional distance theory and an expanded definition of synchronous dialogue was developed as real-time interaction between faculty and students, occurring through video-conferencing technology, that is purposeful, constructive, collaborative, reciprocal, and relational. Because synchronous dialogue may contribute to higher levels of job satisfaction, it is recommended that online faculty be encouraged and supported in their efforts to integrate these opportunities in their asynchronous classrooms. Attendees of this presentation will understand the importance of synchronous dialogue in asynchronous courses and its potential to reduce the distance experienced between students and faculty in those classrooms, while becoming familiar with its constructs. Once the study has been presented, attendees will be asked to share their experiences facilitating synchronous interactions in online courses and evaluate how those interactions reflect the study's definition of dialogue.