SYNCHRONOUS FACILITATION IN A NUTSHELL

Michael CoghlanDesigning for Flexibility

October 28, 2011

PURPOSE?

• a presentation tool?

• a collaboration tool?

Establish ‘Modus Operandi’ (Ground Rules) for the session

• Questions/Comments: any time? Throughout session? At the end? In text chat? Via voice? Using the hands-up tool?

• How will you handle the text chat? Will you use a co-moderator?

PERSONALISE THE EXPERIENCE

ICEBREAKER: Welcome to Today’s Session

While you are waiting please type your name beside a chair by using the text tool ‘A’.

MULTIPLE VENUEPRESENTATIONS

(MVPs)

remote students guest

lecturer

CLASSROOM/F2F VENUE

publicspace

MVPs: Implications

Participants can be in a variety of locations:• F2f classroom, lecture theatre• PC suite• Office (at work)• Home office/study• Other (café, beach)

EXPLOIT THE INTERACTIVE POTENTIAL OF THEENVIRONMENT

EXPLOIT THE WHITEBOARD

Interactivity: Golden Rules

• Don’t talk for more than 5 minutes at a time! ie ‘chunk’ the session

• Don’t assume you know it all – utilise the knowledge and experience of your participants

Readiness Checklist

• If using slides, consider printing out a copy of them for reference (they can act as your agenda)

• Have a pen and paper (or online tool) handy for taking quick notes

• Have a glass of water nearby• If working in a shared space make it clear you are not

available• Get there early, check any technical issues, and the

materials you’ll use.

Readiness Checklist

• If doing application sharing orweb tour check screen layoutbeforehand; if possible be logged in as a participant on a second computer so you see what your participants are seeing

Post Session

• Allow discussion to continue post session

KEEP CALM!

Skills of the Live Online Presenter

• Golden Rule: 6-8 minutes talking at a stretch maximum• Intersperse presentations with questions, polls, other speakers (from

the floor), whiteboard activity• Decide how to handle text chat – will you monitor/respond? Or ignore

it? Dip in and out of it?• Consider working with a producer/co-presenter• More at http://users.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/fll/blog.htm#skills

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewblank/3919454433/sizes/s/

Some Resources:

• Interactivity in Virtual Classroomshttp://www.slideshare.net/michaelc/interactivity-in-virtual-classrooms

• Moderating Live Synchronous Sessionshttp://synchfacilitation.wikispaces.com

• Book: Finkelstein, Jonathan; Learning in Real Time http://www.learninginrealtime.com/

• LearnCentral http://www.learncentral.org/ - regular free professional development sessions