Planning an online course....

This week for the facilitating online course, I need to answer a few questions

1-How does a facilitator build an online community or network?

I would say that first you need to think who the online course would be for. You need to know your audience in order to create something that would meet their needs. Indeed a course for adults would not be the same than one for teenagers, a course followed for pleasure would not be the same than one with a mark at the end.

After having thought about who the course is for, a facilitator needs to think about the course itself. Questions about which technology to use should now raise. Which platform would suit best the course?

I think that it is also important to think about the course’s nuts and bolts. How often people would meet? How many activities should students each week? etc

At last the facilitator needs to advertise the course to find some students.


2-What are the key things to remember when facilitating an event, meeting or education course, especially when working with people who are new to online technology?

A facilitator should know what are the abilities of the participants. Hence s/he should start the course using a survey. If the facilitator knows what each participant already knows s/he could create some videos (tutorials) to show how to use each piece of new technology. He should also provide good readings/videos for the course.

The facilitator should also make himself available for the participants e.g. by email to answer any questions they could have.

Time should be thought about. At what time the participants should meet is quite important. If the participants are in the same time zone or not is pivotal when planning an event.

3-What is the difference between teaching and facilitation?

Facilitation is more a guidance than teaching per se. A facilitator should help students finding knowledge and be there just in case. Whereas a teacher is more at the center of the students’ learning.


4- What is netiquette?

Netiquette is the way that a responsible person should behave online. There are some rules that one should follow. Some of those rules are learned a long the way online and some of those rules are the same than in the “not-online” community.


Source photo: http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/06/30/2063065_4e78976c.jpg