It is the end of the online facilitating course I have been doing for teh last two terms. It is the end of a journey I have very much enjoyed. Last week I hosted a mini event online. Here are my reflections about it following the question/ criteria asked from my course.
What went well, and what did not go so well
I thought it actually went quite well overall. I was quite relaxed and I was very happy that my mentor Rachel was here to support me if needed. I actually needed to have Rachel stepping in at one point when I asked the participants to click on a link in order to watch a Common Craft video about RSS Feed. I didn’t know that the audience could not see exactly what I could see as a host. Rachel dragged the Weblinks Box where everybody could see it. I was also quite happy that I was able to switch between boxes quite fast and that I could use the full screen option in such a way that it did not slow down the event.
How the event was organised and promoted
The event for promoted within our small community of Virtual Professional and Leadership Development. This was done by Rachel Roberts during our last online meeting, our last F2F meeting and in a virtual newsletter. So a lot of people knew this session was on. Participants had to RSVP their participation to the event in the Ning used by this community.
All the information needed to access the event was done perfectly. Each participant knew the phone number to dial in order to get the audio for the event.
support (technical and access)
One of the first participant entering the room was not sure which number to dial in order to get the audio. Using the chat box I pointed out to this person where to find all the information needed. After my explanation s/he managed to have the audio and was able to participate to the event.
relevant for the audience
I actually think that the session was relevant for the participants because each one of them asked question during the event which shows that they were involved and engaged.
Whether the event was managed and conducted smoothly - particularly noting how you handled any disruptions.
As I said earlier, I am happy with my speed going from one box to the other and using efficiently the full screen option. Unfortunately I needed help to show the audience the Weblinks box.
What efforts you made to ensure that all participants knew where they were supposed to be and when, and arrange technical support for people?
I used the chat box constantly to see if each participant knew what we were doing and I also asked them on the phone (audio) if what we were doing made sense. I had also prepared the room during the day to have everything set up in order to run the event smoothly.
How you set the stage, made introductions, explained the aims, and whether you managed to remain neutral and facilitatory
Rachel and I have set up the room during the day to have all the boxes we needed at hand and we also have spent some time to check that the video we wanted the participants to see was working well. We decided to send the audience directly on the internet and ask them to mute their phone as the internet connection was way too slow. In all this little trick worked perfectly and everybody enjoyed the video. This is something I could do next time.
As I was very prepared and that I had notes next to me it seems to me that I gave clear instructions.
How you did a round up, drew closure and indicated where recordings and other follow up materials would be made available.
As I was co hosting, Rachel took it over for the round up. She asked the participants to think about who could take next session. She also made the recording of the session and said that the next day it will be in our community ning.
Feedback from audience?
The participants seemed happy as they thanked us and asked a lot of question.
How you would do things in the future?
I think that next time, I will take time preparing the room as we did this time. It was quite good to have already everything handy. I also feel more confident as I have learned a lot of tips. I would be quite happy next time to do the recording myself as another challenge.
General comments and additions
I was very lucky to have Rachel with me as it was like being an acrobat with a safety net. I felt very secure as Rachel was here to catch me in case I needed help. For my first time as an online facilitator it was a very good idea.
Showing posts with label fo2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fo2011. Show all posts
Monday, July 25, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Planning my mini event
I already have written a post about planning my mini event but I needed to write a bit more. Here are my other thoughts about facilitating an event online
how online communication tools can be used to facilitate online;
During one of the illuminate session we had during this course, I have learned that the word facilitate come from the French word “facile” which means easy. I know I should be ashamed of myself not realising it earlier, but better late than ever. So Facilitating means making things easy. When you speak about online facilitating you obviously want to use online tools to make things easy. In order to help the majority of participants I will need to use different tools as varied as possible in order to cater for the different learning types.
You can use Youtube for example as it is a great source of fantastic videos which can support the message you want to pass. For my mini event I intend to show a video from Common Craft which explains without jargon what is a RSS Feed as I will host a hot session about RSS Feed and Diigo.
You can use online surveys before, during ad after a mini event to see what are the needs of your audience and check their feedback. You can use the chat backchannel of Twitter or the one which comes within your virtual room ( as I will be using Adobe Connect Pro I intend to use the chat box to check on the participants at all times). Thus, the host can answer any questions raised or can include/ make feel valued any participants.
Other tools could range from nings, social networks, youtube, emails, social bookmarks.
the process of facilitating an online event.
For my mini event I had two roles. The one of a host and the one of a presenter. Rachel Roberts, my mentor was kind enough to give me a lot of help before the mini event. She spent one hour on the day prior the event, to go through all tips and tricks about Adobe and the virtual room and reminded me to check constantly the chat box. She also looked at my presentation and we checked the video I wanted to show was working well.
We decided to not only use Adobe Connect Pro but also use phones for audio as a lot of schools have a very slow internet connection. This is something that it is vital to keep in mind as in NZ and around the world there are still a lot of people with low internet connection.
I need to point out here that as the mini event was taking place in the closed community I did not need to advertise it in the wide world.
how online communication tools can be used to facilitate online;
During one of the illuminate session we had during this course, I have learned that the word facilitate come from the French word “facile” which means easy. I know I should be ashamed of myself not realising it earlier, but better late than ever. So Facilitating means making things easy. When you speak about online facilitating you obviously want to use online tools to make things easy. In order to help the majority of participants I will need to use different tools as varied as possible in order to cater for the different learning types.
You can use Youtube for example as it is a great source of fantastic videos which can support the message you want to pass. For my mini event I intend to show a video from Common Craft which explains without jargon what is a RSS Feed as I will host a hot session about RSS Feed and Diigo.
You can use online surveys before, during ad after a mini event to see what are the needs of your audience and check their feedback. You can use the chat backchannel of Twitter or the one which comes within your virtual room ( as I will be using Adobe Connect Pro I intend to use the chat box to check on the participants at all times). Thus, the host can answer any questions raised or can include/ make feel valued any participants.
Other tools could range from nings, social networks, youtube, emails, social bookmarks.
the process of facilitating an online event.
For my mini event I had two roles. The one of a host and the one of a presenter. Rachel Roberts, my mentor was kind enough to give me a lot of help before the mini event. She spent one hour on the day prior the event, to go through all tips and tricks about Adobe and the virtual room and reminded me to check constantly the chat box. She also looked at my presentation and we checked the video I wanted to show was working well.
We decided to not only use Adobe Connect Pro but also use phones for audio as a lot of schools have a very slow internet connection. This is something that it is vital to keep in mind as in NZ and around the world there are still a lot of people with low internet connection.
I need to point out here that as the mini event was taking place in the closed community I did not need to advertise it in the wide world.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Online facilitating :mini event
As I had to facilitate a mini online event for my Online Facilitating Course, I had to think about what I could present to an audience.
I have noticed that some people find it hard to keep stay in touch with what is new due to their lack of method in gathering infos. The Internet is a huge space full of good information (or not so good) and how can you know what is new? You obviously cannot look for info everywhere as it will waste a lot of time. Reading blogs is a good way to be kept in the loop but it is time consuming if you have to check them all online in order to see what has been written recently. I have even seen people keeping blog address in their browser’s bookmark and then go through them all one by one in a weekly basis.
I use RSS feed to stay in touch with the rest of the world, therefore I thought I could speak about it with the online community I am belonging to, which is the VPLD Community. (Virtual Professional and Leadership Development).
I spoke about it with my mentor, Rachel Roberts and asked her if it would be possible for me to facilitate a hot seat session during our next meeting which take place once a term. She kindly accepted and the date of 13th of July came up.
So now I have to plan my session per se.
Rachel has sent me a wonderful Common Craft video which would be a great start to the event. It is a very quick video in plain English (no jargon in it , therefore everybody can understand it ) which explains clearly what is a RSS feed. I think this video should be the start point of my presentation.
As I use Google Reader, I would like to show how I use it. I would like to point out how to subscribe to a blog and how to use the shortcut in Google Reader. As my main objective is for people to see how easy and practical a RSS Feed is, I want to keep everything short and sweet. I do not want people to feel intimidated.
I also would like to show the idea of a social bookmarking system. I use Diigo and I LOVE IT !!!! I will thus show to the group how powerful such a tool can be.
As I have to present from school and that the internet is not very reliable I would need to think of a plan B. I will make videos of everything I am planning to do just in case the internet is slow.
Because I am presenting a session to an inclose community I don;t need to advertise the event. If I were trying to attract more people I would need to think about how to advertise. It is actually quite useful that for my first time the event will happen in a define community and that Rachel has announced and advertised the presentation.
My next post will be after the mini event......until then, I will keep my fingers crossed :-)
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Facilitating Online Reflections...
Another week, another reflection about online facilitating. This week, the questions I have to answer are the following:
How will you get feedback from participants?
When I teach I always ask my students to grade me, to evaluate my lessons. I always do orally as we are always running after time in secondary school. I know that for some people it does not seem very professional not to keep in paper track about what the kids think.
Asking them helps me planning ahead. For example, if the students tell me that an activity is rubbish I will not do it again. At the end of the day they are the clients in my shop, and if I want the clients to come back I should do what they want. I obviously cannot change the content but I can change the context or the delivery of what I teach.
In our online course this year, I have asked the students to give me feedback using a googleform. I ask them to fill it in Week 6 -we are now only Week four in our course, so I do not have the results yet. Most of them tell me while we are teaching if something is not right and at the end of each online session I ask all the participants to tell how it was, to grade the lesson and to tell me what they didn’t like.
How will you deal with criticism?
I have never had bad criticism from my students. I do not mean that they say that what I do is good, what I mean is that whatever they want to say they say it very nicely. So they might give me a 4/10 but they do it with a smile and give me a lot of encouragement.
I suppose if the participants give you constructive criticism it is always good to know how/where to progress. I like people criticising what I do because it helps me to get better.
How will you make sure people feel safe when they give you their feedback?
Using anonymous form is a good way for people to feel they can tell you what they really want.
How will you ensure you continue to improve your online facilitation skills?
By using the feedbacks received, carrying on reading (blogs, divers communities, twitter feeds etc...) and by attending other people’s online event, I will be sure improving my own skills.
How will you get feedback from participants?
When I teach I always ask my students to grade me, to evaluate my lessons. I always do orally as we are always running after time in secondary school. I know that for some people it does not seem very professional not to keep in paper track about what the kids think.
Asking them helps me planning ahead. For example, if the students tell me that an activity is rubbish I will not do it again. At the end of the day they are the clients in my shop, and if I want the clients to come back I should do what they want. I obviously cannot change the content but I can change the context or the delivery of what I teach.
In our online course this year, I have asked the students to give me feedback using a googleform. I ask them to fill it in Week 6 -we are now only Week four in our course, so I do not have the results yet. Most of them tell me while we are teaching if something is not right and at the end of each online session I ask all the participants to tell how it was, to grade the lesson and to tell me what they didn’t like.
How will you deal with criticism?
I have never had bad criticism from my students. I do not mean that they say that what I do is good, what I mean is that whatever they want to say they say it very nicely. So they might give me a 4/10 but they do it with a smile and give me a lot of encouragement.
I suppose if the participants give you constructive criticism it is always good to know how/where to progress. I like people criticising what I do because it helps me to get better.
How will you make sure people feel safe when they give you their feedback?
Using anonymous form is a good way for people to feel they can tell you what they really want.
How will you ensure you continue to improve your online facilitation skills?
By using the feedbacks received, carrying on reading (blogs, divers communities, twitter feeds etc...) and by attending other people’s online event, I will be sure improving my own skills.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Online Facilitating
It is time again for me to answer a few questions from Sarah Stewart for the Online Facilitating Course. This week the questions are:
How do I make my event as inclusive as possible?
I think I will prioritise the same things if I was facilitating a course for students than if I was for anybody else. I think that one of the most important thing is not to assume that everybody knows about technology. I would need to take time prior the first event to go through the technology with the participants, or even provide them with videos on how to use the technology. I should keep in mind at nobody knows all aspects of technology and I should never use sarcasm while interacting with participants. I myself have already experienced when participants within a community were very condescending when I asked questions, and it made me feel very bad. When I am in front of my class I try not to make my students feel awkward and I try to create a relaxed environment in which kids can ask any questions. I should create the same environment online.
There is also the idea that some participants do not come from the same background; same economical, geographical and cultural background. I will need to think at what time the event should take place in order to allow more people to participate. It seems to me it would be wiser to use sound only and no video as a lot of people still have dial up.
How will I market my event?
As I said in a previous post I would advertise in every community I am already a member of. e.g. twitter, blogs, facebook, nings
How will I engage "lurkers"?
The question is why some people are lurking?
Some people do not feel confident enough to participate either because of the technology itself or because of the content.
I should then provide a lot of technical support and I should direct the participants towards great readings.
How do I serve people with minimal Internet coverage or lack of hardware?
support and use of voice only as discussed above.
How do I manage financial costs?
I have never thought about that. It would depend who I work for I suppose...
How do I make my event as inclusive as possible?
I think I will prioritise the same things if I was facilitating a course for students than if I was for anybody else. I think that one of the most important thing is not to assume that everybody knows about technology. I would need to take time prior the first event to go through the technology with the participants, or even provide them with videos on how to use the technology. I should keep in mind at nobody knows all aspects of technology and I should never use sarcasm while interacting with participants. I myself have already experienced when participants within a community were very condescending when I asked questions, and it made me feel very bad. When I am in front of my class I try not to make my students feel awkward and I try to create a relaxed environment in which kids can ask any questions. I should create the same environment online.
There is also the idea that some participants do not come from the same background; same economical, geographical and cultural background. I will need to think at what time the event should take place in order to allow more people to participate. It seems to me it would be wiser to use sound only and no video as a lot of people still have dial up.
How will I market my event?
As I said in a previous post I would advertise in every community I am already a member of. e.g. twitter, blogs, facebook, nings
How will I engage "lurkers"?
The question is why some people are lurking?
Some people do not feel confident enough to participate either because of the technology itself or because of the content.
I should then provide a lot of technical support and I should direct the participants towards great readings.
How do I serve people with minimal Internet coverage or lack of hardware?
support and use of voice only as discussed above.
How do I manage financial costs?
I have never thought about that. It would depend who I work for I suppose...
First Adobe Connect Session
On Wednesday I have been given a grade by my Year 11 French for our first synchronous lesson using Adobe Connect. My grade was not very good but the kids were very encouraging. So here we are!!! they gave me a 4 out of 10.
To be honest I thought that 4 was very good as I would not have given myself a 4, I would have given me a 0 or a 1. So 4 is quite good, and as I see it next week I only can be better :-) In 6 weeks I will be a 10/10 !!!!
So what happened?
I set up my class in groups of 2 or 3. I know it would have been better teaching practice if I had asked the students to put themselves into groups instead of me being bossy and group them. Why have I been bossy? I was afraid that kids would go with their mates, I thought it was better to pair them up with someone who knew how to use a computer. Thus they could collaborate and help each other. None of the kids complained about me creating those groups anyway.
Then I left the kids with notebooks (with webcam and microphone) and the URL they needed to access the meeting. I went into a conference room while the students stayed into our French room. When I saw them entering the meeting room, I started to feel relieved. At least they could
use the URL.
So we started the lesson. The students complained about the delay between my voice and what I was showing on my screen. I think (I am only assuming here!) that the speed of the school connection could have been responsible for the delay. They also complained about the echo with the microphones.
I was very proud that they took the initiative of splitting the class. Some stayed in the room, some went in the classroom next door, some in an empty office while others went outside sitting in front of the Wharenui. As soon as they all went their ways, the problem of the echoing was resolved :-)
Twice I have been disconnected and so wasted time reconnecting. Although I had planned a full hour lesson, we only managed to do ⅓ of it.
At the end of the lesson I felt quite embarrassed but the kids were smiling and they said that for our first lesson it was fine. One student even offered me to meet again during the week-end in order for me to practice more using Adobe connect. This was very touching :-)
RECAP: I was bad, but next time I will be better !!!
To be honest I thought that 4 was very good as I would not have given myself a 4, I would have given me a 0 or a 1. So 4 is quite good, and as I see it next week I only can be better :-) In 6 weeks I will be a 10/10 !!!!
So what happened?
I set up my class in groups of 2 or 3. I know it would have been better teaching practice if I had asked the students to put themselves into groups instead of me being bossy and group them. Why have I been bossy? I was afraid that kids would go with their mates, I thought it was better to pair them up with someone who knew how to use a computer. Thus they could collaborate and help each other. None of the kids complained about me creating those groups anyway.
Then I left the kids with notebooks (with webcam and microphone) and the URL they needed to access the meeting. I went into a conference room while the students stayed into our French room. When I saw them entering the meeting room, I started to feel relieved. At least they could
use the URL.So we started the lesson. The students complained about the delay between my voice and what I was showing on my screen. I think (I am only assuming here!) that the speed of the school connection could have been responsible for the delay. They also complained about the echo with the microphones.
I was very proud that they took the initiative of splitting the class. Some stayed in the room, some went in the classroom next door, some in an empty office while others went outside sitting in front of the Wharenui. As soon as they all went their ways, the problem of the echoing was resolved :-)
Twice I have been disconnected and so wasted time reconnecting. Although I had planned a full hour lesson, we only managed to do ⅓ of it.
At the end of the lesson I felt quite embarrassed but the kids were smiling and they said that for our first lesson it was fine. One student even offered me to meet again during the week-end in order for me to practice more using Adobe connect. This was very touching :-)
RECAP: I was bad, but next time I will be better !!!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Facilitating online- New Week
The Easter holidays are well over and it is time for me now to go back thinking about communities for the Facilitating Online Course. This week I have some questions to answer
How do you collaborate online currently? What works well, and what does not work so well?
I think here it is not the point for me to repeat myself as earlier this week I have written a post about collaboration. Follow this link.
How will you facilitate online collaboration with people and organisations who are not used to this form of working?
I think if you want people to see a new way of working/thinking you need to take a soft approach. If you come on people a bit too strong they do not seem to respond well. I say this by thinking about teachers in the back of my head. I have noticed that although some teachers are willing to try new ways of teaching/learning some unfortunately are way too comfortable in thei
r old ways and do not want to try new things. For those people I think a very very soft approach is necessary. You want to show them collaborating with others can be very easy and beneficial. They need to be shown that it is not extra work and that they will gain from this. It can be hard for people to change especially if they cannot see it could actually help them.
In a more practical way I think I would show people tools that are easy to use, free and flexible. Tutorials/videos are a good way to start as you can watch them when it suits you. I would start by little steps, taking them from email to Twitter for example, and wait that they are comfy until adding a new tool.
What are the issues you may face with online collaboration, especially in an open environment such as a blog and wiki?
As I have never faced any issues with blogs and wikis, I do not know what to answer to tis question !!!!
I will need help here to think about any issues :-(
Photo source:
How do you collaborate online currently? What works well, and what does not work so well?
I think here it is not the point for me to repeat myself as earlier this week I have written a post about collaboration. Follow this link.
How will you facilitate online collaboration with people and organisations who are not used to this form of working?
I think if you want people to see a new way of working/thinking you need to take a soft approach. If you come on people a bit too strong they do not seem to respond well. I say this by thinking about teachers in the back of my head. I have noticed that although some teachers are willing to try new ways of teaching/learning some unfortunately are way too comfortable in thei
In a more practical way I think I would show people tools that are easy to use, free and flexible. Tutorials/videos are a good way to start as you can watch them when it suits you. I would start by little steps, taking them from email to Twitter for example, and wait that they are comfy until adding a new tool.
What are the issues you may face with online collaboration, especially in an open environment such as a blog and wiki?
As I have never faced any issues with blogs and wikis, I do not know what to answer to tis question !!!!
I will need help here to think about any issues :-(
Photo source:
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Facilitating Online Assignment
This is my first assignment for the course on Online Facilitating. I have some feelings in my tummy that I have not had in a long time: the exam feelings.
When I was a student I always wanted to succeed and the fear of failing my exams was extreme for me. And funny enough I am having those feelings again. I thought they were dead, buried inside me, but no !!! These feelings are well alive and I am scared of failing this course.
In this assignment I need to answer 2 questions:
1- the features of online communities and networks
When does a community start? Can I start a community ? How many participants do we need in order to call a group a community ? Can 2 participants make up a community?
If you want to create a group (which could become later a community) you need to think about an action plan. What is the purpose of your group? If you want to create a knitting group you need to think through why would people want to join your group.
When the action plan has been put in place, you need to find participants for your community, you need to advertise your group and show how valuable becoming a member could be for people. The question is how and where to advertise. Twitter would be for me the first place to start, but in order to advertise on Twitter you already need to be a member of a network/community. It is when you need maybe someone who already knows people and can “show you” around and ask their “friends” to look into your group.
One other way to start advertising would be to start blogging about your ideas. But in order to have people reading your blog you need to advertise your blog :-) (come back maybe to Twitter here!!!). You can also start emailing people that you think could share the same values and interests than you and let them know you want to create a group. This used to work (prior digital age) using words to mouth. Funny enough it still works the same way but this time using a keyboard. As a digital involved person you can recommend a blog, a person, an article to somebody you know by simply click on a button.
But to do that you already need to know people. It is why it is very important I think to be engaged online prior the creation of your won community and/or be engaged within your field. As a teacher it is important for me to meet other teachers. It is why I go to regional and national conferences to see what others are doing and I am involved in online networking.
Let’s speed up a bit our process. Let’s imagine that we have successfully managed to advertise our group and now we became a community as we have 10 members. The hardest bit now is to keep this community alive. How many times have you seen a community dying? within your own school? within your own subject ?
A lot of great projects die prematurely due to the lack of participation. The key would be then to ensure that people are constantly engaged and active. Here is the role of a facilitator. If nobody is doing anything within the community it is the role of the facilitator to create engaging activities, meetings, reminders, postings etc. For a community to work of course you need to have involved participants but sometimes people need to supported in some ways. Thus, an email, a private message or an inspiring video can sometimes revive a dying community. You do not need to look further than examples of dying villages which are thriving communities due to giant efforts from their inhabitants and a leader.
A community or a network is indeed active and reflective in which people feel safe and secure to express their opinions. Members also need to be respectful of a chart of conduct (here netiquette). If you want the members to feel safe of expressing themselves, you need to be sure that people respect each other. Communication is essential and cannot be interrupted. It is why it is pivotal for the facilitator to be “present” and available within the community.
2- the elements of skillful online facilitation.
As I said earlier it is essential for a facilitator to be present within the community. What does that mean? It means s/he needs to answer questions,emails and posts comments to the members’s blogs in order to make them valued.
A facilitator needs to be patient, knows what the community is about (you cannot be the facilitator of a knitting community of you do hate knitting and/or do not know how to knit a jumper) and makes things easy for each participant. I also think that humour and showing that you are human is indispensable.
A facilitator needs to plan regularly engaging activities which meet the members’s needs.
A good online facilitator also needs to know how to deal with the technology, the technical side of it. In saying that, it is always reassuring to realise that someone does not know everything. As a member it is good to see that the facilitator is not a God who has understood everything (c.f. showing you are human)
When I was a student I always wanted to succeed and the fear of failing my exams was extreme for me. And funny enough I am having those feelings again. I thought they were dead, buried inside me, but no !!! These feelings are well alive and I am scared of failing this course.
In this assignment I need to answer 2 questions:
1- the features of online communities and networks
When does a community start? Can I start a community ? How many participants do we need in order to call a group a community ? Can 2 participants make up a community?
If you want to create a group (which could become later a community) you need to think about an action plan. What is the purpose of your group? If you want to create a knitting group you need to think through why would people want to join your group.
When the action plan has been put in place, you need to find participants for your community, you need to advertise your group and show how valuable becoming a member could be for people. The question is how and where to advertise. Twitter would be for me the first place to start, but in order to advertise on Twitter you already need to be a member of a network/community. It is when you need maybe someone who already knows people and can “show you” around and ask their “friends” to look into your group.
One other way to start advertising would be to start blogging about your ideas. But in order to have people reading your blog you need to advertise your blog :-) (come back maybe to Twitter here!!!). You can also start emailing people that you think could share the same values and interests than you and let them know you want to create a group. This used to work (prior digital age) using words to mouth. Funny enough it still works the same way but this time using a keyboard. As a digital involved person you can recommend a blog, a person, an article to somebody you know by simply click on a button.
But to do that you already need to know people. It is why it is very important I think to be engaged online prior the creation of your won community and/or be engaged within your field. As a teacher it is important for me to meet other teachers. It is why I go to regional and national conferences to see what others are doing and I am involved in online networking.
Let’s speed up a bit our process. Let’s imagine that we have successfully managed to advertise our group and now we became a community as we have 10 members. The hardest bit now is to keep this community alive. How many times have you seen a community dying? within your own school? within your own subject ?
A lot of great projects die prematurely due to the lack of participation. The key would be then to ensure that people are constantly engaged and active. Here is the role of a facilitator. If nobody is doing anything within the community it is the role of the facilitator to create engaging activities, meetings, reminders, postings etc. For a community to work of course you need to have involved participants but sometimes people need to supported in some ways. Thus, an email, a private message or an inspiring video can sometimes revive a dying community. You do not need to look further than examples of dying villages which are thriving communities due to giant efforts from their inhabitants and a leader.
A community or a network is indeed active and reflective in which people feel safe and secure to express their opinions. Members also need to be respectful of a chart of conduct (here netiquette). If you want the members to feel safe of expressing themselves, you need to be sure that people respect each other. Communication is essential and cannot be interrupted. It is why it is pivotal for the facilitator to be “present” and available within the community.
2- the elements of skillful online facilitation.
As I said earlier it is essential for a facilitator to be present within the community. What does that mean? It means s/he needs to answer questions,emails and posts comments to the members’s blogs in order to make them valued.
A facilitator needs to be patient, knows what the community is about (you cannot be the facilitator of a knitting community of you do hate knitting and/or do not know how to knit a jumper) and makes things easy for each participant. I also think that humour and showing that you are human is indispensable.
A facilitator needs to plan regularly engaging activities which meet the members’s needs.
A good online facilitator also needs to know how to deal with the technology, the technical side of it. In saying that, it is always reassuring to realise that someone does not know everything. As a member it is good to see that the facilitator is not a God who has understood everything (c.f. showing you are human)
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Which platform for online course
This year I am creating an online course for my Year 11 French class and I am hoping to see the course happen in the whole New Zealand.
The course itself is on its way, so I am very happy :-)
But I have a huge concern and I need your help to solve it.
I would love to see the students taking part in this course to use a platform to discuss and/or solve their problems/questions. I know there are zillion of great platforms and I have a giant choice, but my concern is about accessibility.
Let’s say that I create a Facebook group for the course. The platform is free and user friendly and most of the kids in NZ have access to Facebook. The issue is that most of the school block the access to Facebook to their students. So if I chose Facebook, the students will not be able to access it when they are at school. They will be able to access it only when they are at home if their parents let them access Facebook (some of my students are not allowed by their parents to have a Facebook account). One other good point about Facebook is that if the students have a NZ Telecom Mobile phone they can access it for free, but most of the schools do not let their pupils use their mobile phone during school hours.
So I would like to use a platform that it is free, most likely not blocked by schools and user friendly !!!!
I need your help !!!!! Can you give me any suggestions ??? What do you use and why??
Thanks heaps
source photo:http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/01/14/25/1142515_f2701c10.jpg
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
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
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Women and their shoes
Another week, another reflection in the Facilitating Online course. This week I have to think about:
What is an online community and an online network? What is the difference between the two?
An online community has a sense of belongings. You belong to an online community when you share values and interests with other members. It is why I have already seen members in a community being asked to leave the community as their views had shifted from the rest of the group.
An online network however, does not have such strong boundaries. You can use an online network because you have the same interests without sharing the same values.
In saying that, I think you learn from both online community and online network equally depending your commitment.
What online communities and networks have you been a member of? How did they work? Was there a facilitator? What was his/her role?
I use Twitter a lot, especially to learn from language teachers and teachers who use eLearning in their classroom. Is it an online community? Not really as different members have different rules and boundaries. Let’s say that if I upset some members I won’t be asked to leave Twitter as my behaviour might be acceptable for other members. As you know there is no facilitator on twitter.
I use Facebook but only to communicate with my friends and family, so it is not a learning network per se. (for me, but it can be for other teachers).
I use Google reader to learn from what people have written in their blog. This is not a community at all as I am the only one collecting what I want to read.
How would you utilise the Salmon model of facilitation in your own context?
What I need to do is to put myself in my students shoes first. They have never participated to online learning so I have to be careful by not assuming they know stuff they actually do not know. I need to scaffold each step in order to make them grow and embrace the technology. I would them to see realise that they do not need all the time to learn French. The internet is packed with good and bad resources and they need to learn how to make decisions to realise what is valuable and what is a waste of time.
I would like to see them collaborating online within their class but also with other French students
I think that the main role of an online facilitator would be then to work on Stage 2 - Socialisation. It is the “scaffolding” stage where a facilitator builds the bridges for each students as each students’ needs are different.
For me the Stage 3-Information Exchange represents the students’s collaboration during which each student brings their own knowledge and their own skills and share them with the rest of the group.
And at last the last Stage-Development symbolises when students are confident in their own skills they have acquire during the course and are now capable and willing to explore other horizons and why not create an online network or an online community of their own.
What facilitation "shoes" do you wear now? What shoes would you like to wear in the future? What do you need to do to have the skills that Hootstein talks about?
Right now I am barefoot !!!
I hope I am wearing the second pair of shoes as I have always tried as a teacher to create a collaborative environment in my class, but as my class has not started their online course yet, I am not wearing those shoes :-(
I also hope that I am usually wearing the fourth pair of shoes as I can help my students with technical issues. But once again as the course has not started yet I still can feel the grass between my toes :-)
I would like to wear the first, second and third pair of shoes:
-Instructor: consultant, guide, and resource provider
-Social director: creator of collaborative environments
-Technical assistant: model of proficiency
I actually think I have the skills required, however what I know is that I do not have the skills to wear the third pair of shoes which are “Program manager: director of the agenda” as I am very bad at admin stuff. I suppose it is where I will need to make a giant effort and start getting organised. But when I read a bit below in the paragraph, I think this is what a teacher does in her class especially when Hootsein writes “...can provide introductory information, describe learning activities and resource materials, and provide additional information about course components or procedures.” This what I do all the time in my class as my students need to know where they are going, they need to know what they are going to learn and what is needed in order to achieve.
Image source :http://images.cdn.fotopedia.com/4vlcmdk21v1b9-zD-R1eK0OvU-hd.jpg
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
week Three in FO2011
Jeez !!!! it is already Week three in our Facilitating Online course (FO2011). I cannot believe how fast it is going and how much I have already learned.
This week has been quite busy. I have already wrote a post about a video from Salam Khan, from the Khan Academy. (see previous post).
This week we have been asked to answer the following questions:
What is online facilitation?
After watching the video from Jan Delmas, Seven key skills of workshop facilitation , I would say
that an online facilitator is a support person who should guide the students enrolled in the course. This person should keep in mind at all times their audience, the purpose of the course and the needs of the audience.
How do these skills differ from face-to-face facilitation?
Well…..before watching the Jan Delmas’ video I would have been able to find a lot of differences between teaching F2F and teaching online, but looking at the 7 skills that Jan Delmas points out (listen/supports/summarizes/challenges/leads the process/create a safe environment/ trusts the group) I actually think that there is no difference at all then between the two types of teaching. I should actually add that I hope students in my class right now can find the all 7 skills in my F2F teaching :-)
What experiences do you have of online facilitation both as a facilitator, and as a participants in a community, network or event?
I have never been an online facilitator but I have participated to a few online meetings on different platforms like Twitter, Flashmeeting and Skype. I have also participated to Community activities like Ning, Facebook and Google Groups.
What have you seen work well, and what has worked less well?
I do not want to sound too PC but I think they all work very well. Each platform has its advantages and its purpose. They complement each other.
This week has been quite busy. I have already wrote a post about a video from Salam Khan, from the Khan Academy. (see previous post).
This week we have been asked to answer the following questions:
What is online facilitation?
After watching the video from Jan Delmas, Seven key skills of workshop facilitation , I would say
that an online facilitator is a support person who should guide the students enrolled in the course. This person should keep in mind at all times their audience, the purpose of the course and the needs of the audience.How do these skills differ from face-to-face facilitation?
Well…..before watching the Jan Delmas’ video I would have been able to find a lot of differences between teaching F2F and teaching online, but looking at the 7 skills that Jan Delmas points out (listen/supports/summarizes/challenges/leads the process/create a safe environment/ trusts the group) I actually think that there is no difference at all then between the two types of teaching. I should actually add that I hope students in my class right now can find the all 7 skills in my F2F teaching :-)
What experiences do you have of online facilitation both as a facilitator, and as a participants in a community, network or event?
I have never been an online facilitator but I have participated to a few online meetings on different platforms like Twitter, Flashmeeting and Skype. I have also participated to Community activities like Ning, Facebook and Google Groups.
What have you seen work well, and what has worked less well?
I do not want to sound too PC but I think they all work very well. Each platform has its advantages and its purpose. They complement each other.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Videos in education
Last week someone has suggested to watch the TED video of Salam Khan, but I am sorry I cannot remember at all who suggested it and where. I have just been watching the video explaining how the whole adventure started and how does the Khan Academy works.
I am blown away.
I had heard about the Khan Academy but I had not understood a thing. Now it is very clear and I have to say it is very inspiring.
As I am doing this course on Facilitating Online with Wikieducator and that I am going to teach French via VLN, I need as many
perspectives as I can in order to create a good course.
During Salam Khan’s talk, I was thinking how simple the concept of putting videos online actually is and I could not stop thinking about all the benefits it could have in our classes. I was especially thinking of the high achievers students in my class who could work faster and mentor other students. I was also thinking about the students who struggle more. If they had access to videos for all their subjects, they could watch them again and again and/or come back to previous videos and not be ashamed anymore by putting their hand up in class and ask the teacher for help. The videos could also benefit a lot the teachers. As Salam Khan said it would indeed free up a lot of teaching time to do some projects which could be more interesting. It could also help the teachers by giving them more time to spend with kids who need help.
I try to think about any negative aspects of those videos, but I actually cannot find any. The only one I could say is that putting those videos online could disadvantage the students who live in rural areas who cannot get broadband. As 2011 unfolds, I hope that we will count less and less places in New Zealand where people cannot get broadband.
As for my teaching via VLN, this presentation made me realise that I need to make a priority for my French course to include videos. I recommend that you watch the video if you haven’t done so already.
I am blown away.
I had heard about the Khan Academy but I had not understood a thing. Now it is very clear and I have to say it is very inspiring.
As I am doing this course on Facilitating Online with Wikieducator and that I am going to teach French via VLN, I need as many
perspectives as I can in order to create a good course.During Salam Khan’s talk, I was thinking how simple the concept of putting videos online actually is and I could not stop thinking about all the benefits it could have in our classes. I was especially thinking of the high achievers students in my class who could work faster and mentor other students. I was also thinking about the students who struggle more. If they had access to videos for all their subjects, they could watch them again and again and/or come back to previous videos and not be ashamed anymore by putting their hand up in class and ask the teacher for help. The videos could also benefit a lot the teachers. As Salam Khan said it would indeed free up a lot of teaching time to do some projects which could be more interesting. It could also help the teachers by giving them more time to spend with kids who need help.
I try to think about any negative aspects of those videos, but I actually cannot find any. The only one I could say is that putting those videos online could disadvantage the students who live in rural areas who cannot get broadband. As 2011 unfolds, I hope that we will count less and less places in New Zealand where people cannot get broadband.
As for my teaching via VLN, this presentation made me realise that I need to make a priority for my French course to include videos. I recommend that you watch the video if you haven’t done so already.
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