Facilitating learning online is the pressing challenge that teachers encounter, not only because of the ongoing pandemic but also because of the exponential growth of technology. I too face this challenge and there is no other way to move forward but to learn to conquer such a challenge. I enrolled in a course that aims to equip me with knowledge and skills related to facilitating learning online.
In this article, I am sharing to you my insights and experiences in facilitating learning online. The course is designed and facilitated by Dwayne Harapnuik who is also a scholar and an expert on online and web-based learning. This has been a wonderful course and I am eager to share to you how wonderful it is.
There are 3 main modules that we need to go through: 1) create an introduction video as a way to invite collaboration from other learners, 2) design and facilitate an asynchronous collaboration, 3) design and facilitate a synchronous collaboration.
My insights on creating my introduction video
In the introduction video, I talked about who I am as a teacher, my expectations and challenges in learning and facilitating online, and one online teaching practice that interests me. It is not an exemplary intro video, but I’ll share it anyway. What do you think are the strengths and needs for improvement of my intro video? I would appreciate your thoughts and feedforward.
1. Start with something that can catch the attention of the audience.
I learned from my classmates’ introduction videos that it’s best to start several sentences that can catch the attention of the audience. In my case, I started with a story about an insight from my student and connected it to the challenges I am and will be facing in facilitating learning online.
2. Be vulnerable and make it conversational.
Although it would help to have bullet points or a script to facilitate smooth delivery, I also noticed that engaging videos are those delivered with emotions and in a conversational way. Delivery with emotions refers to those videos showing honesty by talking about the negative experiences and negative emotions experienced in facilitating learning online. Having some short pauses, asking questions from the audience, and just being comfortable in the video are some of the qualities I observed which made the introduction conversational.
3. Use quality equipment for better audio and video output.
I recorded my introduction video using my laptop’s built-in microphone, a mid-range USB camera, and in an open space which has a noticeable amount of noise in the background. Unfortunately, the quality of my output is poor. Investing in good quality equipment will be useful in the long run because I am currently teaching and will be teaching for the rest of my life!
My insights on creating, facilitating, and participating in asynchronous collaboration
I was free to use any medium for my asynchronous collaboration, so I decided to make a blog entry. You may check it here and let me know your thoughts by writing on the form at the bottom part of the blog.
1. Combine text, pictures, video, and sharing of personal experiences to maximize recall and engagement.
Along with my classmates’ blog entries, I find the learning session to be engaging when it combines the written content with pictures, short video clips, and relevant personal experiences. I believe one of the reasons for this is that it accommodates participants with different learning preferences. Sharing personal experiences as an example of the concept made it conversational – as if I felt that I am talking face-to-face with the creator of the session.
2. Ask for a feedforward and the participants’ take-away.
I observed that putting a feedback form, a learning check, blog rating, or asking for their take-aways at the end of the blog increases collaboration. Participants were able to send me their thoughts immediately after they explored my blog.
3. Provide details and refer the participants to the resources.
Participants who wanted to delve deeper on the topic appreciated that I referred them to primary resources that they can check on their own. I did this through providing links and a list of resources.
My insights on creating, facilitating, and participating in synchronous collaboration
Among the 3 outputs, this is the output that provided me a lot of learning opportunities. Aside from designing and facilitating my own 40-minute session, I am also free to participate in any learning sessions. Most of the learning sessions I participated in were using the BOPPPS model.
I scheduled and facilitated 2 sessions with similar contents but different participants. It was beneficial for me because I was able to apply the points for improvement (i.e., feedforward) in the first session into the second session. Refer to the two recorded sessions below and notice the improvements I made in session 2. Let me hear your thoughts in the feedforward form that follows.
2. Prepare a set of strategies by taking note of PRISM.
- P – Participants’ number and time limit
- R – Relevance of the concepts to participants’ personal experiences
- I – Introduce a warm and welcoming session
- S – Simplify the discussion and presentation
- M – Moderately challenging activities
Through facilitating my synchronous sessions and participating in my classmates’, I learned that the number of participants dictate the time limit of the activities and other areas of the session. That is, for a 40-minute session, it’s ideal to have a maximum of 4 participants. There were more than 5 participants in my first session so we went beyond 40 minutes and it also needed more time for me to facilitate each breakout session.
Connecting the discussion to the relevant personal experiences of the participants was helpful to increase participation. This is because participants were able to immediately relate with the ideas. Couple this with establishing a warm and welcoming atmosphere so that participants open up and feel comfortable throughout the session. I started the session with a simple activity on introducing their pets (session 1) and sharing their favorite place (session 2).
Finally, simplifying the discussion through presenting a picture as a summary, mnemonics, chunks of information, asking questions, diagrams, and other simple but creative ways can help participants focus on sharing their ideas rather than the facilitator talking too much about the topic. In my session, I presented diagrams to present a summary of points – this served as the starting point for sharing our thoughts. Knowing that most of the participants have their own ideas about the topic, the activity does not need to be very simple or very difficult – there has to be a balance between the time limit and the enthusiasm of the participants engaging in the learning activity. Engaging the participants in a moderately challenging activity can facilitate this balance.
3. Be prepared for technical glitches.
In the first session, there was no breakout room button even if I already prepared and tested the feature a day before. Hence, I requested participants to transfer to another Zoom session while also building rapport with them. I was honest with what happened and they were understanding and patient about it. This helped me move forward with the session.
To minimize the negative impact of unexpected technical glitches, I was at my second Zoom session 30 minutes before it started. To be safe, I used two accounts so that if one account is having trouble, one account is there to save me. I am more familiar with Google Meet (which is free and has no time limit) than Zoom; so if you’re restricted with the time limit, try Google Meet. In this case, I subscribed to a premium Zoom account with the intention of learning more about how to manage online classes using this platform.
In terms of using Zoom, I learned that even if I transfer the hosting to a premium account, the 40-minute time limit of the basic account (of the original host) still takes effect. On the other hand, when a premium account originally hosts the meeting and transfers the hosting to a basic account, there is no 40-minute time limit as long as the original host is part of the meeting. I used my basic account during the second Zoom session and we were cutoff after 40 minutes – thankfully we were able to cover everything!
There are different softwares and platforms to hold the online learning session. What I learned from my session and in participating in other sessions is to never let the technical glitch overwhelm me and just be honest with the situation – participants will understand.
Overall, I learned as much as I could from all the sessions I participated in! I will continue to learn by participating in other sessions. I hope the insights that I shared with you will be able to help you in facilitating your own online learning journey. Please feel free to share this blog to your fellow learners.
flowjame 