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