:STORIES FROM THE FIELD

ONLINE FACILITATION:

Or how to be a successul online teacher…..

Image courtesy of homepage.mac.com/kristinwight/

1. Self Awareness2. Online communication skills3. Learning together4. Facilitation skills5. Intercultural antennae6. Tolerance for ambiguity7. Switching contexts8. Technical skills9. Cut people slack

8 Competencies of Online Facilitation (Nancy White)

Models of Delivery• Self-paced

• Facilitated

RHIZOMIC NATURE OF THE INTERNET

The teacher – centric model of teaching is out the window

SALMON’S 5 STEP MODEL

Stage 2 (Familiarisation)

• Hi! My name is Annette W and this is definitely a new way of learning for me.

• I'm not used to not seeing the people that I'm learning with in class. I'm looking forward to this new medium and hope you all feel the same. Hope to hear from you soon

• Bye for now

Stage 4 (Knowledge Construction, Collaboration)

• “We see clusters of course development here, too. Some of this is can be the support services in place in the department, and some of it can be explained by the "Diffusion of Innovations" work by Everett Rogers.Rogers says that there are five interrelated attributes that accompany the diffusion of technology: its relative advantage when compared with other methods; its compatibility with the existing culture; its complexity of use; if it can be experienced in a limited way; and there is the ability to observe how others have used it. The clustering of faculty in one department or college speaks to the latter attribute. Part of the strategy we employ to enhance this effect is a series of "Showcases" at which faculty speak to faculty about their experiences.” - Catherine G

Roles of the Facilitator

Published in Berge, Z. L. & Collins, M. P. (Eds.).(1995). Computer-mediated communication and the on-line classroom in Distance Education; on the web at http://www.emoderators.com/moderators/morten.html

THE TOOLS:• Chat• Email• Forum• Instant Messaging• The telephone• Virtual Classrooms• Blogs, wikis, Personal Learning Environments

(Social Software)• 3D worlds, etc

Troubleshooting/Conflict Negotiation

• private email? phone? public discussion? peer resolution?

Rate of Response/Level of Involvement• Respond within 24 hours unless otherwise

specified, but establish ground rules/expectations about this UPFRONT!

• DON’T RESPOND TO EVERYTHING – let the group assume some responsibility for the discussion. (Again, discuss this upfront.)

• Appropriate ratio: about 1:5 – 1:8

MODELLING• Summarising discussions

• Communication skills• Manner/attitude/humour

Attitudes refer to the affective domain: includes ‘learner’s’ values, beliefs, biases, emotions, and role expectations that may influence their disposition towards the learning environment.

ENGAGEMENT:• Motivate them, inspire them, annoy

them, make them laugh, make them angry, but for goodness sake don’t bore them! (Thiagi)

http://thiagi.com/

STUDENT EVALUATION:• “I think it was a blessing to strike you as the

facilitator in the first unit in this course. You are enthusiastic about the subject and keep your commentary simple and to the point and I appreciated that. You also have a sense of humour and weren’t afraid to show it.”

• “…thank you for your input into my life.”

LET PEOPLE KNOW WHO YOU ARE

1. Self Awareness2. Online communications skills3. Learning together4. Facilitation skills5. Intercultural antennae6. Tolerance for ambiguity7. Switching contexts8. Technical skills9. Cut people slack

8 Competencies of Online Facilitation (Nancy White)

Michael Coghlane: michaelc@chariot.net.aum 0417 899 912http://users.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/