My First Facilitation Experience

Synchronous Experience

My first facilitation experience went well. I was very nervous while preparing the lesson and while I was facilitating. I don't have an enormous amount of experience speaking in front of people, so I felt like I was being critiqued from the very beginning. I was worried I wouldn't be able to give a lecture for 30 minutes to an hour, but I was able to accomplish this and speak for 45 minutes. This included me asking questions to the class and also going through the lesson I planned. The more I spoke the more comfortable I was able to become with the presentation.

Preparation 

I prepared for the synchronous  session by reading all the materials provided in the lesson. I then created a power point presentation which addressed the learning objectives I planned to discuss during the lesson. The power point helped me to stay on topic and it also was very helpful with the organization of my thoughts. I was able to provide a visual for the class to look at, and also use the same visual for me to remember key points in my presentation. I also took detailed notes on the readings so I would not forget anything. I typed everything out I thought I might discuss and I arranged my notes according to the slides.

Asynchronous Experience

I think this was the easiest part for me because we have such a small class. I was able to read all the post on the discussion board and ask questions or just provide feed back. I was glad everyone participated early during the week, because this gave me time to read their posts and respond appropriately. I didn't experience any surprises during the asynchronous experience and I was able to enjoy the responses from the discussion posts.

 

My Perspective on Facilitating

I think my perspective on facilitation has definitely changed, because I thought it would be much harder than it was. I was not surprised at how much work it took to get prepared for my facilitation week, because we have been discussing the amount of preparation needed to facilitate an online class. Truthfully, this was the hardest part of the whole experience. I had to make sure I had read all the material and was able to understand it so I would be able to present it to the class. This means I had to start early. I work a full time job and I also have a family and this made it hard for me to come straight home everyday after work and just concentrate on preparing my facilitation.

I was very surprised that I didn't get interrupted by any of my four children while facilitating the synchronous session. I have a three year old, so I was extremely worried about this possibility. Instead they behaved like the little angels you see in the picture to your left.






I think this was a great experience to have early on in the Online Teaching Certificate because it lets the student decide if they will be successful at this type of work. I am gaining more confidence the more I accomplish in the course. I think I will be much more comfortable facilitating the class the next time, because this experience has showed me how successful I can be as an online facilitator.

Facilitating Online Learning

Changing Roles and Pedagogy

 

Facilitating Online Discussion

Discussions are a very important part of an online class. It is up to the facilitator to choose questions that will keep the conversation going. Some of the ways a facilitator may be able to accomplish this is by:
1. Developing some ground rules for posts, such as, developing a time frame for the initial post and follow-up posts, length of posts, and the quality of posts. Make sure the student know what to expect at the start of the semester.
2. Asking open ended questions. These questions usually start with "How", "Why", "Imagine", or "Suppose." This questions allow the students to expand on the initial idea and give a more informed answer to the question. 
3. Discouraging the student from emailing when they have a question. Instead, create a discussion board for students questions and encourage other students to respond if they know the answer.
 
The University of Washington has a great articles called Using Online Discussion Boards to Enhance Learning in Your Class. This article lists some important benefits of the utilization of discussion boards in an online class.

Social Media as a Facilitator

 
Social media is a tool many facilitators use in order to become even more connected with their students. YouTube, Twitter, Blogs, and Podcasts are just a few of the tools facilitators may use in their online classes.

Social media is something we shouldn't be afraid of when teaching online. As facilitators we should use social media to connect with our students. This allows us to show a face to the teaching style. By recording weekly introductions and posting the to YouTube and embedding it into blackboard, we can offer the student a chance to see the excited facilitators we are who are eager to teach.

 

Changing Roles

As a new online facilitator I need to be aware of the changing role of a teacher. I no longer be a lecturer and instead be a guide or resource provider, instead of a provider of answers I become a questioner, and from having total control of the teaching environment to sharing the learning environment with the student.

A student will no longer be a memorizer or facts and instead be a complex problem solver, student's refine their own questions and research their own answers, and student's become   managers of their own time. 

Instructor Competencies

The areas below are important for an online facilitator to have in order to teach an online class.

• Content Knowledge

• Teaching Commitment

• Communication Ability

• Time Management

Staying Current

It is also very important for an online instructor to stay current on new technologies and advances in online learning. Below are resources used by Lisa Dawley, from Boise State University in order for her to stay current in online teaching.

Distance-educator.com 
Pew Internet Reports