Online Teaching

There are five distance education modalities at Suffolk that differ in their level of synchronicity: Fully Online, Blended, Combined Online, Real-Time Online and Sufflex. 

Synchronous: Instructor and students are online, interacting with each other at the same time. This method will require you to be online at a certain time each week. 

Asynchronous: Instructor and students are online, but there are no set meeting times when anyone must be online. While this method offers the most flexibility, there are still periodic deadlines for course assignments, and you and your classmates will be completing the course as a group. This is not a self-paced model. It requires a high level of self-discipline and inner motivation to stay on track and the ability to promptly reach out to the instructor when you need clarification. The instructor might offer real-time meetings such as office hours if necessary. 

Students: Are you looking for an online class?

Modality	Level of Synchronicity	More information
ONL: Online	100% asynchronous online	This is the most flexible model but requires a lot of self-direction. An instructor might offer online office hours or other ways of interacting with you and your classmates, but it is not required.
RT ONL: Real time online	100% synchronous online	All class meetings are online in real time. No meetings are on campus. Cameras on for both faculty and students.
COMB ONL: Combined online	Half of the class meetings are synchronous and half are asynchronous.	Some class meetings are online in real time. No meetings are on campus.
Blended	A mixture of in-person classes that meet on campus with the instructor and the rest of the course happens online—asynchronously.	Some meetings are on campus.
Sufflex	Instructor and some students are meeting in-person on campus and some students are online. All classes happen synchronously—same time.	Here is a list of rooms where these classes are typically scheduled: Sufflex rooms on all campuses

Instructors must be certified in order to teach in one of these modalities. Each modality has its own pathway to certification. Please see Online Teaching Certification Pathways for more information on the process.