Opening Doors in ODFL with “Video Chat” – Adding Synchronous Academic Support to Asynchronous ODFL Delivery

This paper explores the development of bichronous pedagogy through adding an aspect of synchronous academic support, “video chat” to asynchronous ODFL. The intervention aim is to enhance academic social presence, while maintaining the ODFL principles of learner agency and scale. The study, undertaken at The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, seeks to answer the research question: “Does synchronous academic support in the form of video chat improve experience in asynchronous ODFL delivery?” Expanding an earlier single discipline small-scale case-study, the paper describes the purpose, scope, and framing of a pilot study, details the responsibilities of the Academic Staff involved, and describes the practical implementation of “video chat”. Narrative data is drawn from focus group (open discussion) at the mid-point of the pilot duration. The study contributes to two identified gaps in research. Most studies on bichronous pedagogy are concerned with adding asynchronous elements to existing synchronous delivery, this study explores the opposite context, providing an example for asynchronous ODFL. Further, most studies on academic social presence explore the perspectives and outcomes of learners, this study explores the perspectives of academic course facilitators. Findings describe the perceived benefits of video chat for Academic Staff and for the wider ODFL context and detail perceived or experienced challenges.