U speak Greek

Definition and origin of word asynchronous / synchronous

source: gathervoices.co

Asynchronous vs Synchronous learning was one of the biggest debates in the last year.
But what really means these words?
If you combine the Greek word χρόνος (hronos means time or year ) and the Greek word συν (syn – means plus) you take the word σύγχρονος (sýghronos – someone that happens at the same time or lived in the same time period)
And now you understand the origin of the word you can understand also why Asynchronous. The reason that it uses a- and not other opposing prefixes is because a is the opposing prefix in Greek. So the word in Greek is ασύγχρονος (asýghronos – asynchronous)

So asynchronous is someone that doesn’t happen at the same time in opposition to synchronous that happens at the same time.

The word is not used of course only in the e-learning industry but also in physics (waves), computer science, telecommunications, project management and many others subjects.

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