Online Facilitation

Guidelines for Online Course FacilitatorsGeneral Duties: Have a good understanding

of course content and requirements. You are not required to be an expert but to have enough knowledge and interest in the content to facilitate discussion and learning.

Provide personal details for inclusion in course outline, example (optional) photo, contact details – phone, fax, email, contact times.

Provide regular time daily to facilitate the course.

Facilitate participation of students by developing an online community.

Checkpoint Requirements Log on before the course

commences and post/email a welcome announcement to introduce yourself and your contact details.

Provide a task for students to introduce themselves e.g. post an intro to the discussion board and/or make your own homepage.

Two weeks after course commencement, contact any participants who had not visited the course, provide assistance or reminders where needed.

Responsibilities: Monitor the course daily/regularly. Check and respond to email/phone/fax

daily. Track the participants' progress. Instigate/facilitate any

synchronous/asynchronous discussions required during the course. Vary the time to suit those who access the Internet at work or at home.

Provide weekly/fortnightly notices/emails in the Announcements about the course e.g. Upcoming discussions, chats, assessments.

Provide assessment feedback in line with course requirements.

Course Evaluation: Provide regular feedback to

course managers:Problems experienced by participant Course participation Advice or suggestions for improvements to course

Complete report at completion of course.

Provide news article if requested on success/highlights of course.http://education.qld.gov.au/learningplace/onlinelearning/develop/facilitators-check.htm

FaciliTips: Quick Tips for Online FacilitationGeneral Tips Assume good intent. Remind

others of this simple trick. Role model the behavior you wish others to use. Practice and encourage active listening/reading. Be as explicit as possible in your communication. Don't automatically assume understanding -- ask for clarification as needed. Build trust by doing what you say you will do. Encourage others to do the same. Trust is slow to be granted, easily taken away. Encourage an environment that values trust. Use irony and humor with care as it does not always come across online as you might have intended. You can always use emoticons to clarify! ;-)Think before you hit the button and a post goes up. Approach every contribution with curiosity, expecting surprise and wonder . .

Strategies for Online CoursesThe single most important element of

successful online education is interaction among participants. It is the instructor's role as a facilitator to ensure that a high level of interaction occurs in an online course. This can be achieved in many ways. The simplest technique is to have students complete regular (e.g., weekly) assignments which consist of answers to problems or questions posed by the instructor.

Strategies for Managing an Online Course"An even more powerful form of interaction

is group activity. Students can be divided into small groups of 3-4 based upon common or complementary interests/skills. These groups can be formed for the full duration of a course (e.g., design teams for a project) or they can be short-term for the completion of a particular assignment (e.g., weekly discussion of a problem/issue). Group membership can be assigned by the instructor or can be determined by the participants themselves

Strategies for Managing an Online course"Getting feedback on things posted is very

important to most people. In fact if participants do not receive feedback on their responses, they will eventually stop posting messages. Providing feedback is the primary responsibility of the instructor (or teaching assistants/tutors)

Strategies for Managing an Online courseAnother way to handle feedback is to use

peer evaluation, i.e., have participants critique and comment on each other's work. This works particularly well if students are paired up and take turns evaluating each other's work over a series of assignments.

Strategies for Managing an Online Course"One of the intriguing aspects of online education is that it

can sometimes succeed in spite of an ineffective instructor. If students form their own discussion groups or project teams using the email/conferencing capabilities of the system, there can be a high level of interaction regardless of what the instructor does/doesn't do. It is also possible for students to upload or exchange files (or web site addresses) so that useful information can be shared among participants. Online education is inherently student-centered and with a group of highly-motivated students, it can be a very powerful form of learning that is relatively immune to the quality of teaching. On the other hand, a good teacher who facilitates well and ensures lots of feedback can make an online class much more worthwhile and enjoyable for participants. Furthermore, online group activities take a lot of effort to organize and manage -- a task that should be performed by the instructor.

Process Facilitation TipsGeneral Tips Assume good intent. Remind others

of this simple trick. Role model the behavior you wish others to use. Practice and encourage active listening/reading. Be as explicit as possible in your communication. Don't automatically assume understanding -- ask for clarification as needed. Build trust by doing what you say you will do. Encourage others to do the same. Trust is slow to be granted, easily taken away. Encourage an environment that values trust. Use irony and humor with care as it does not always come across online as you might have intended. You can always use emoticons to clarify! ;-)Think before you hit the button and a post goes up. Approach every contribution with curiosity, expecting surprise and wonder . . .Process Facilitation Tips Make rules, expectations or norms consistent, explicit and clear..

Process Facilitation Tips Help members take ownership of the interaction space. Use

small group activities to build relationships and "get acquainted." Respond to all first-time participants. Welcome people by name. Acknowledge and reciprocate participation. Reply to messages that get no other recognition. Even if it is a "treading water reply." Use questions to encourage participation. Use (open-ended) questions to encourage participation. (move beyond yes/no) Stimulate input with positive private emails to individuals. Notice if someone is "missing" for long periods of time. Email them and invite them back. Let others know when you will be offline for extended periods of time. Nurture others to help host and facilitate the group. Encourage people to mentor and assist each other. Recognize mentors. Draw out the quiet members. Help focus the chatters. Don't fan the flames (or the flamers!) (see difficult situations below). Ask members for feedback. What is working for them? What is not? What is missing? Respect copyright and confidentiality. Do not repost other's postings or emails without explicit permission.

Process Facilitation TipsProvide orientation materials and paths

for all new members. Remember not everyone thinks or perceives the way you do. Seek to understand participants' styles and needs. Provide ongoing (and often repeated) guidance on "what goes where" in any interaction space. Use recognizable names or pseudonyms (for chat and such) Encourage the use of personal profiles to build relationships. Consider cultural differences of participants