As a part of the requirement for the online teaching and learning facilitation course, I had the opportunity to facilitate a week of the course. I find the experience to be positive because in reality, the instructor in the online environment has the role to facilitate the course for the entire term and the one-week experience gave me the opportunity to test my ability as a facilitator.
Prior to having the experience, I was very nervous about my ability in the early part of the course, but as each week went by and I prepared for my facilitation, everything seems to fall in place. I also felt that by seeing what the other learners were doing and taking notes of their facilitation experience, I was able to shape my thinking of what to do and I believe that help to prepare me for my week of facilitation. I also had many opportunities to use “Wimba” prior to the online teaching and facilitation course, and that was helpful for me, because not only was I comfortable to some degree with the collaboration tool, I had ample time to prepare myself for the facilitation week, since I was the last student to facilitate in the course.
In preparation for the facilitation week, I also made certain that I attended as much live facilitation sessions as possible to take notes of the different techniques used by the various learners to collaborate on different topics. I attended ten of the 12 sessions live, which includes my synchronous wimba session. I also prepared by activities for the live “Wimba” session weeks in advance and conduct research for the focus of the week, which was problems that the online facilitator may experience, such as (late response, no response, silence, conflict, cheating, and other variations in the course room). I believe that without adequate preparation, the synchronous wimba night could have been disastrous.
The fear in my mind for my facilitation week was that I would not know sufficient to provide appropriate feedback in the asynchronous course room to the discussion topic. However, my fear level was moderate as oppose to high, by the fact that my expectation was that my cohorts would support me and would assist me if there were a need. Having the fear and expectations helped me to prepare myself to do the best job ever to have a successful and positive learning experience.
The Asynchronous Experience:
The asynchronous experience was positive because I knew what to expect from seeing what the other learners did. From a student standpoint, I know that feedback is important, timely response to the post of students is important, and giving positive and constructive feedback is more valued than being critical and non-supporting. I made sure that my post to the post of the learners started with a positive note, and I acknowledged the value of the information shared, and then I provided a personal experience that was positive or negative that made connection with the discussion post. I find that the approach I used was well received by the learners, so I kept that momentum going for the entire week without incidence. I post everyday in response to the posts from learners in the course and I did that for the entire week, which I find, was good because it kept the discussion topic going for the week.
The Synchronous Experience:
The synchronous experience was positive. On my live wimba night, I started the live wimba session with my introduction and purpose and then I went into a brief warm-up session. I was very impress and somewhat surprised that I was the last facilitator for the course and that I had a large audience. I was excited that I felt that I had control and that I was not nervous at all. What I did was put myself in the place of being in the presence of a group of people I know and that we were simply sharing information. Having that frame of mind kept me comfortable throughout my session and I felt that I was in control of presentation.
What was interesting was that repeatedly after each slide in my presentation; I had to ask several times if anyone wanted to provide feedback, comment, or questions. What was also interesting was that I felt on my side a feeling of quietness and I was thinking about things that I could do to get people talking. Although, I had that feeling, I kept going and eventually the feeling went away as I noticed more interaction at the middle and end of the presentation.
What I gained from the live wimba session was that the facilitator needed to have interesting activities to keep the audience alert and interested in the topic. As the facilitator, I felt that I also needed to ask the audience to share personal experiences and that may get them involved as they can demonstrate the connection of their experience to the content presented.
Personal Perspective of Online Facilitation:
Online facilitation is a lot of work and it takes dedication and commitment to be an excellent facilitator. Timely feedback, ongoing communication, and engaging learners, promoting a safe learning environment, addressing problems in the online environment, and completing all administrative course requirements before the start of a course, during the course, and at the end of the course are required roles of the online instructor. Time management, organizational skills, and competencies to facilitate in the online environment are also mandatory requirements. My interest is still high to one day be an online facilitator.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Reflection: End of Part 2-Blog
Taking in…
There was a lot to learn in a short space of time but all that was learn was necessary to grasp the role the responsibility of online teaching and learning and the role of the facilitator in the online course environment. The focus of the five weeks was on pedagogical role, social role in building community, managerial role in setting the stage and after the course starts, technical role of the online facilitator, and learning how to use Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML). Several learning outcomes were identified and to follow is a reflection of the learning over the five weeks in the online facilitation course.
Many pedagogical models was discussed in the fifth week of the course and an there was an opportunity to select a model that would be suitable for teaching based on personal preference, course learning objectives, and the learning environment. Opportunity was present to evaluate teaching strategies that would be compatible with instructional objectives and through the experience, my personal vision for my role as a facilitator was formed.
I believe that I would be more effective as a facilitator if I allow the students dominance in the online environment, because it is their opportunity to learn and grow and through interaction and collaboration with instructional support from the instructor, the opportunity for high level of satisfaction with online learning is attainable. I learned how to use HTML to format text and although it seemed easy, it was not an easy task, but a valued experience. HTML allows the instructor to create course materials with a more appealing presentation and clarity.
Online education requires the combined effort of a group of people, interacting, collaborating, and sharing information in an open environment. The more people see the value of online education, the more people will value the learning approach and the higher the level of satisfaction will be. The benefit people get from the online experience is dependent on how effective the relationship is and how willing people are to share with each other and how effective the facilitator is with encouraging and fostering high level of social interaction.
Getting people engage requires providing learning experiences from the start of the course that get people working together and interested in the course work. One way to start a course and get the group of learners interacting with each other is to provide icebreaker activity such as asking for an introduction, or to have students complete a scavenger hunt activity and report their findings in a discussion folder so that learning and sharing takes place together in a fun and friendly like environment.
As a facilitator, getting people in a course that is separated by geographic boundaries can be difficult but separation does not have to be present if the activities in the course room support interaction, critical thinking, and knowledge sharing. The facilitator can provide an assignment requiring group work, set period for completion, communicate timely reporting of grade, and provide constructive feedback that supports the growth and progression of learning. Having an open line of communication, checking the course folder daily, responding to concerns of learners, having a folder for questions and answers, and keeping current with the discussion folder, ensuring the equal contribution of learners and communicating concerns are effective strategies to promote a successful online learning experience.
Using the announcement folder and a brief overview of the course material each week can enhance the learning environment and create a focus for the week experience. Learning how to use HTML code to insert links and images in a web page was extremely difficult and even after numerous attempts, the activity seems cloudy in my mind. The challenge and learning will come with an actual assignment to develop a web page using HTML code to insert links and images.
Online facilitators have to ensure that online courses are developed and updated before the start of class and that is a complex role for instructors. The facilitator has to look at the entire course to determine what sections need modification and upgrade since information changes so rapidly ensuring that the course and course links are current and the course content and delivery method is current and appropriate is necessary. Specifying body attributes in HTML programs and aligning the text was complex but the challenge was well worth it because HTML helps to make the organization of course materials clear and it allows organization of content with an appealing presentation.
In the online environment, the facilitator has to ensure that communication is clear and appropriate, and definitely ongoing. Learning occurs through sharing and communication is important to learning. Communicating clearly, timely, constructively, respectfully, and positively is important to learning and sharing in the online environment and the facilitator role is to make sure communication barriers are removed to facilitate acceptable communication.
Setting the communication tone, monitoring communication, quickly providing feedback to correct unacceptable behavior in the online environment is an important role of the online facilitator. Using HTML codes to create ordered and unordered list was one of the least complex activities of the week. However, the challenge will come when a need arise to use the HTML codes in a course to create ordered or unordered list for the first time.
Once a class starts, the role of the facilitator is to ensure that communication is effective and efficient, that learners get the feedback they need to succeed and that learners are sharing information regarding assignments in an effective and efficient manner. The facilitator role is to direct or provide suggestions for optimal information sharing, providing active links for learning, and to address communication needs timely. Providing timely feedback, positive feedback, and checking the question and answer folder to communicate timely with learners is necessary.
At the start of the course, setting expectations for communication and being consistent with practice will support ongoing and timely communication in the course room. If for any reason, a link is not active or a learner addresses a problem with the course room and course folder, the facilitator should seek clarification and quickly make changes to get the course room on track.
Instructors/facilitators use technology to deliver course materials and understanding technology is necessary in order to use the technology effectively and efficiently to deliver course content, share information, and promote learning. The facilitator must know how to use the technology to instruct learners on how to use the technology. The role of the instructor is to keep up with technology through training and development and ongoing education. Using technical support and encouraging students to use technical support for any technical issues would help to enhance the use of technology in the online course room.
The learning experience over the past five weeks have be challenging and stimulating and taking the information learned in the course and applying it to the real practice environment such as during the facilitation experience is the practical approach to online teaching and learning development.
I am not finish. Stay tune, to my next update...
There was a lot to learn in a short space of time but all that was learn was necessary to grasp the role the responsibility of online teaching and learning and the role of the facilitator in the online course environment. The focus of the five weeks was on pedagogical role, social role in building community, managerial role in setting the stage and after the course starts, technical role of the online facilitator, and learning how to use Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML). Several learning outcomes were identified and to follow is a reflection of the learning over the five weeks in the online facilitation course.
Many pedagogical models was discussed in the fifth week of the course and an there was an opportunity to select a model that would be suitable for teaching based on personal preference, course learning objectives, and the learning environment. Opportunity was present to evaluate teaching strategies that would be compatible with instructional objectives and through the experience, my personal vision for my role as a facilitator was formed.
I believe that I would be more effective as a facilitator if I allow the students dominance in the online environment, because it is their opportunity to learn and grow and through interaction and collaboration with instructional support from the instructor, the opportunity for high level of satisfaction with online learning is attainable. I learned how to use HTML to format text and although it seemed easy, it was not an easy task, but a valued experience. HTML allows the instructor to create course materials with a more appealing presentation and clarity.
Online education requires the combined effort of a group of people, interacting, collaborating, and sharing information in an open environment. The more people see the value of online education, the more people will value the learning approach and the higher the level of satisfaction will be. The benefit people get from the online experience is dependent on how effective the relationship is and how willing people are to share with each other and how effective the facilitator is with encouraging and fostering high level of social interaction.
Getting people engage requires providing learning experiences from the start of the course that get people working together and interested in the course work. One way to start a course and get the group of learners interacting with each other is to provide icebreaker activity such as asking for an introduction, or to have students complete a scavenger hunt activity and report their findings in a discussion folder so that learning and sharing takes place together in a fun and friendly like environment.
As a facilitator, getting people in a course that is separated by geographic boundaries can be difficult but separation does not have to be present if the activities in the course room support interaction, critical thinking, and knowledge sharing. The facilitator can provide an assignment requiring group work, set period for completion, communicate timely reporting of grade, and provide constructive feedback that supports the growth and progression of learning. Having an open line of communication, checking the course folder daily, responding to concerns of learners, having a folder for questions and answers, and keeping current with the discussion folder, ensuring the equal contribution of learners and communicating concerns are effective strategies to promote a successful online learning experience.
Using the announcement folder and a brief overview of the course material each week can enhance the learning environment and create a focus for the week experience. Learning how to use HTML code to insert links and images in a web page was extremely difficult and even after numerous attempts, the activity seems cloudy in my mind. The challenge and learning will come with an actual assignment to develop a web page using HTML code to insert links and images.
Online facilitators have to ensure that online courses are developed and updated before the start of class and that is a complex role for instructors. The facilitator has to look at the entire course to determine what sections need modification and upgrade since information changes so rapidly ensuring that the course and course links are current and the course content and delivery method is current and appropriate is necessary. Specifying body attributes in HTML programs and aligning the text was complex but the challenge was well worth it because HTML helps to make the organization of course materials clear and it allows organization of content with an appealing presentation.
In the online environment, the facilitator has to ensure that communication is clear and appropriate, and definitely ongoing. Learning occurs through sharing and communication is important to learning. Communicating clearly, timely, constructively, respectfully, and positively is important to learning and sharing in the online environment and the facilitator role is to make sure communication barriers are removed to facilitate acceptable communication.
Setting the communication tone, monitoring communication, quickly providing feedback to correct unacceptable behavior in the online environment is an important role of the online facilitator. Using HTML codes to create ordered and unordered list was one of the least complex activities of the week. However, the challenge will come when a need arise to use the HTML codes in a course to create ordered or unordered list for the first time.
Once a class starts, the role of the facilitator is to ensure that communication is effective and efficient, that learners get the feedback they need to succeed and that learners are sharing information regarding assignments in an effective and efficient manner. The facilitator role is to direct or provide suggestions for optimal information sharing, providing active links for learning, and to address communication needs timely. Providing timely feedback, positive feedback, and checking the question and answer folder to communicate timely with learners is necessary.
At the start of the course, setting expectations for communication and being consistent with practice will support ongoing and timely communication in the course room. If for any reason, a link is not active or a learner addresses a problem with the course room and course folder, the facilitator should seek clarification and quickly make changes to get the course room on track.
Instructors/facilitators use technology to deliver course materials and understanding technology is necessary in order to use the technology effectively and efficiently to deliver course content, share information, and promote learning. The facilitator must know how to use the technology to instruct learners on how to use the technology. The role of the instructor is to keep up with technology through training and development and ongoing education. Using technical support and encouraging students to use technical support for any technical issues would help to enhance the use of technology in the online course room.
The learning experience over the past five weeks have be challenging and stimulating and taking the information learned in the course and applying it to the real practice environment such as during the facilitation experience is the practical approach to online teaching and learning development.
I am not finish. Stay tune, to my next update...
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Changing Roles and Pedagogy
Over the last four weeks in the online facilitation course, I learn that there is a difference between teaching online and teaching face-to-face and that a teacher who teaches online has different roles and responsibilities and different expectations for learners. I learned that online instructors must work towards becoming successful teachers in order for students to be successful. Online instructors must use science to explore boundaries in learning and teaching. He or she must feel confident to use science in teaching to help us teach effectively, and use evidence-based learning to develop as instructors. I learn that there are seven principles of effective teaching, encouraging student participation, cooperation, active learning, providing prompt feedback, allow students to work at their own pace, communicate high expectations, respect individual learning styles and acknowledging that students in the course room has diverse talent and ways of learning. The instructor should keep these principles in mind at all times and apply these principles in the course room.
I learned that online instructors have different roles, pedagogical, social, managerial, and technical. There must be personal adjustment made to teach effectively in the online environment. There are certain strategies that online instructors must use to engage students in the asynchronous environment such as allowing students to interact and share their knowledge since personal experiences varies with a diverse group. The instructor should encourage reflection and allow students to reflect on ideas so that new concepts are clear in the minds of students so that they can take the information and process it then share the knowledge and experience in the course room.
The instructor/facilitator should allow interaction in the discussion room to permit critical thinking and improve the critical thinking process of students. This approach is especially good because during the critical thinking process, students make data comparison; they contrast the data, analyze, synthesize, and they evaluate the data using the discussion board as the vehicle and information sharing medium. In the discussion board, the instructor can use case scenarios, brainstorming, role-playing, reaction postings, and sharing of new information by searching the internet for article related to the topic of discussion, and the instructor can extend the discussion if it is producing substantial data that could benefit learning.
The online instructor should stipulate the number of postings required for a discussion and ensure discussion and interaction in the course room. The instructor should determine the acceptable manner of communication in the course room, student led or student controlled and what the role of the instructor will be in the discussion room, and whether there will be a grade for posting and the grade value. The instructor is to develop effective responses to student posts to maintain and deepen student learning on the asynchronous discussion topics.
Managing difficult behavior in the online environment is also an important role of the online instructor. Students can have a variety of characteristics in the course room that is not healthy for learning, distractor, questioner, apologizer, intellectualizer, and monopolizer. The instructor is to curtail disruptive behaviors and ensure a conducive environment for learning. Sometimes hot moments can occur in the course room and it is left to the instructor to see the opportunity as positive and to find teaching opportunities to enhance learning. The instructor can handle conflict in the course room appropriately by doing a variety of things, not reacting instantly, read the post later, discuss the situation with another person, and choose to respond or not. The instructor can view the conflict in a good way by considering that people do not normally have bad intent, use clarification, and use emotion to express his or her tone, step in the shoe of the person, and choose the best words to express thoughts and feelings in working through the conflict.
In the online environment, the instructor is to demonstrate effective teaching, keep the discussion in the course room on track, contribute to the discussion and introducing personal insights, and maintain and sustain a healthy online environment. The instructor must have knowledge about teaching and command of the topic, create a friendly discussion and interaction environment, set the rules for the discussion in the course room, and support the technology for the course room to communicate and interact with students. The instructor should have clear objectives, allow flexibility, encourage participation, avoid an authority figure in the course room, and be objective. In addition, the instructor should not expect too much during a discussion and settle for two or three good post on a topic, try not to use offline materials, communicate privately when necessary or in the discussion forum when necessary, and use a combination of threads to stimulate the discussion on a topic. The instructor should set simple assignments, provide relevant materials; do not use lectures, and request responses. By keeping all these factors in mind, the instructor can promote a high performing online environment and be successful in promoting successful student outcomes.
The instructor and students has roles in the online environment and this course, facilitating online learning provides the opportunity for both experiences. As a student/learner, there are roles in the online course room, freedom of information, active learning, authentic activities, and generic skills. As a facilitator, there are roles coaching, designer, teaching for outcomes and assessment. Hence, roles interchanges and responsibilities differs form one role to the other but roles blend and complement each other to create a successful learning environment. In the online environment, students have the opportunity to take the information provided and create meanings that are real to them and then share the experiences in the course room to enhance learning. As active learners, students share, collaborate, and interact together to learn, grow, and develop. Authentic activities are possible in the online environment where students have assignments that allow them to apply the theoretical knowledge to practice through case-based learning and work-place learning experiences. The generic skills that students in the online environment gain are the ability to take the knowledge gain in the course room and applying it to their personal and professional lives and make life long changes.
The changing role of the instructor as a coach is that he or she guides the learning process and allow the students to engage and interact. As the learning designer, the instructor plans the learning activities for students and creates opportunities for authentic engagement of students. The instructor role as teaching for outcomes is where the instructor provides the learning opportunities and then students leave the learning environment and use the knowledge and experiences to promote change in their personal and professional encounters.
I learn that instructors can provide feedback to students in the asynchronous discussion board by providing feedback directly through the discussion board, using the question and answer thread, via e-mail, or by using the communication tool in the course room. The instructor can communicate with students in the synchronous live Wimba classroom to communicate in real time.
I learned that instructors have administrative, personal, technological, instructional design, pedagogical, assessment, and social competencies that is necessary to be successful and effective as an online instructor. These complementing competencies are what set an excellent instructor apart from an average instructor. It is the instructor responsibility to harness these competencies to ensure effectiveness in the online environment. For example, a competent instructor knows that interaction and collaboration is necessary and required in the online environment to support learning. A competent online instructor knows that communicating in the online environment with high integrity and honesty is important to promote and build the instructor-student relationship that is important to learning. A competent online instructor knows that keeping current in knowledge and practice is necessary and mandatory to supporting an effective online environment. A competent instructor knows that understanding technology and keeping up with current technology that could advance education and promote efficiency in the online environment is important to success as an instructor and a students. In this facilitating online course, the introduction to HTML is a focus which is hyper Text Markup language. It is important for the instructor to understand the use of HTML because it will be the tool that the instructor will use to help develop a course or course materials. At this point, learning HTML is at the begenning phase, but as the course progress, the facilitator will learn how to use the tool completely in order to develop a course in the online certification program. The instructor must take the initiative to master technology because it is the most effective way for delivering course materials and interact online. The instructor can complete tutorials on using new technology or access resources for support that is available through the academic environment for technology users.
Knowledge is power and knowing the roles and responsibilities of the online instructor and online learner and gaining the online instructor competencies necessary to be a successful online instructor can translate to a powerful online learning environment and lead to successfu outcomes for the instructor and learners.
Bernadette
I learned that online instructors have different roles, pedagogical, social, managerial, and technical. There must be personal adjustment made to teach effectively in the online environment. There are certain strategies that online instructors must use to engage students in the asynchronous environment such as allowing students to interact and share their knowledge since personal experiences varies with a diverse group. The instructor should encourage reflection and allow students to reflect on ideas so that new concepts are clear in the minds of students so that they can take the information and process it then share the knowledge and experience in the course room.
The instructor/facilitator should allow interaction in the discussion room to permit critical thinking and improve the critical thinking process of students. This approach is especially good because during the critical thinking process, students make data comparison; they contrast the data, analyze, synthesize, and they evaluate the data using the discussion board as the vehicle and information sharing medium. In the discussion board, the instructor can use case scenarios, brainstorming, role-playing, reaction postings, and sharing of new information by searching the internet for article related to the topic of discussion, and the instructor can extend the discussion if it is producing substantial data that could benefit learning.
The online instructor should stipulate the number of postings required for a discussion and ensure discussion and interaction in the course room. The instructor should determine the acceptable manner of communication in the course room, student led or student controlled and what the role of the instructor will be in the discussion room, and whether there will be a grade for posting and the grade value. The instructor is to develop effective responses to student posts to maintain and deepen student learning on the asynchronous discussion topics.
Managing difficult behavior in the online environment is also an important role of the online instructor. Students can have a variety of characteristics in the course room that is not healthy for learning, distractor, questioner, apologizer, intellectualizer, and monopolizer. The instructor is to curtail disruptive behaviors and ensure a conducive environment for learning. Sometimes hot moments can occur in the course room and it is left to the instructor to see the opportunity as positive and to find teaching opportunities to enhance learning. The instructor can handle conflict in the course room appropriately by doing a variety of things, not reacting instantly, read the post later, discuss the situation with another person, and choose to respond or not. The instructor can view the conflict in a good way by considering that people do not normally have bad intent, use clarification, and use emotion to express his or her tone, step in the shoe of the person, and choose the best words to express thoughts and feelings in working through the conflict.
In the online environment, the instructor is to demonstrate effective teaching, keep the discussion in the course room on track, contribute to the discussion and introducing personal insights, and maintain and sustain a healthy online environment. The instructor must have knowledge about teaching and command of the topic, create a friendly discussion and interaction environment, set the rules for the discussion in the course room, and support the technology for the course room to communicate and interact with students. The instructor should have clear objectives, allow flexibility, encourage participation, avoid an authority figure in the course room, and be objective. In addition, the instructor should not expect too much during a discussion and settle for two or three good post on a topic, try not to use offline materials, communicate privately when necessary or in the discussion forum when necessary, and use a combination of threads to stimulate the discussion on a topic. The instructor should set simple assignments, provide relevant materials; do not use lectures, and request responses. By keeping all these factors in mind, the instructor can promote a high performing online environment and be successful in promoting successful student outcomes.
The instructor and students has roles in the online environment and this course, facilitating online learning provides the opportunity for both experiences. As a student/learner, there are roles in the online course room, freedom of information, active learning, authentic activities, and generic skills. As a facilitator, there are roles coaching, designer, teaching for outcomes and assessment. Hence, roles interchanges and responsibilities differs form one role to the other but roles blend and complement each other to create a successful learning environment. In the online environment, students have the opportunity to take the information provided and create meanings that are real to them and then share the experiences in the course room to enhance learning. As active learners, students share, collaborate, and interact together to learn, grow, and develop. Authentic activities are possible in the online environment where students have assignments that allow them to apply the theoretical knowledge to practice through case-based learning and work-place learning experiences. The generic skills that students in the online environment gain are the ability to take the knowledge gain in the course room and applying it to their personal and professional lives and make life long changes.
The changing role of the instructor as a coach is that he or she guides the learning process and allow the students to engage and interact. As the learning designer, the instructor plans the learning activities for students and creates opportunities for authentic engagement of students. The instructor role as teaching for outcomes is where the instructor provides the learning opportunities and then students leave the learning environment and use the knowledge and experiences to promote change in their personal and professional encounters.
I learn that instructors can provide feedback to students in the asynchronous discussion board by providing feedback directly through the discussion board, using the question and answer thread, via e-mail, or by using the communication tool in the course room. The instructor can communicate with students in the synchronous live Wimba classroom to communicate in real time.
I learned that instructors have administrative, personal, technological, instructional design, pedagogical, assessment, and social competencies that is necessary to be successful and effective as an online instructor. These complementing competencies are what set an excellent instructor apart from an average instructor. It is the instructor responsibility to harness these competencies to ensure effectiveness in the online environment. For example, a competent instructor knows that interaction and collaboration is necessary and required in the online environment to support learning. A competent online instructor knows that communicating in the online environment with high integrity and honesty is important to promote and build the instructor-student relationship that is important to learning. A competent online instructor knows that keeping current in knowledge and practice is necessary and mandatory to supporting an effective online environment. A competent instructor knows that understanding technology and keeping up with current technology that could advance education and promote efficiency in the online environment is important to success as an instructor and a students. In this facilitating online course, the introduction to HTML is a focus which is hyper Text Markup language. It is important for the instructor to understand the use of HTML because it will be the tool that the instructor will use to help develop a course or course materials. At this point, learning HTML is at the begenning phase, but as the course progress, the facilitator will learn how to use the tool completely in order to develop a course in the online certification program. The instructor must take the initiative to master technology because it is the most effective way for delivering course materials and interact online. The instructor can complete tutorials on using new technology or access resources for support that is available through the academic environment for technology users.
Knowledge is power and knowing the roles and responsibilities of the online instructor and online learner and gaining the online instructor competencies necessary to be a successful online instructor can translate to a powerful online learning environment and lead to successfu outcomes for the instructor and learners.
Bernadette
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Reflection: Acting as a Facilitator in an Online Environment
My expectations in the facilitating online course is that I will have the opportunity to apply the seven principles of teaching online and be able to use the tips for effective online facilitation to facilitate my upcoming lesson twelve (12) session, common problems in facilitating in the online environment. My concern is that I have never facilitated an online course, so I hope that my cohorts doing the evaluation would be considerate of that, and provide me with honest and constructive feedback that I can use to improve my role as an online facilitator.
I am excited about the facilitator role because it is my only opportunity to put theory into practice before actually applying for an online teaching course. I am scared about the new role because I will have to be my best to gain the points required to pass the experience. I am also scared that I will not know enough about the topic as the students may expect more from me as a facilitator. In addition, I am scared that I will not meet the goals and expectations of my cohorts resulting in disappointment from the group and a poor performance evaluation from the group.
I am comfortable using Wimba to deliver the course content in the upcoming facilitation opportunity. So far, I have only upload power point presentations for synchronous discussion and have had the opportunity to use the different features in the Wimba tool such as the hand raise and the talk features to present the information in about three classes at GSU. In addition, my experience with Wimba is only from a student role and I am having slight anxiety about how it would work for me as the instructor and whether I will be able to coordinate the effective utilization of the tool and run a seamless presentation of the lesson to the group and facilitate dicussion on the problems encountered in facilitating a course.
My technical concerns is that the day of the facilitation, I am hoping that everything works in terms of connection to Wimba, voice transmission and audio/visual capability, because without the two of those features, Wimba will be useless that day and I will feel horrible about the experience. I hope that I do not experience any glitch in the system and that everything goes well that day.
During my facilitation role, I will challenge my classmates by first reflecting on the discussion topic and content, focusing on the questions that surface and then provide the opportunity to foster and support critical thinking by carefully constructing my response in writing or verbal to facilitate meaningful discussion surrounding the topic of concern. I will provide insightful information on the topic after carefully researching the topic and having a good command of the subject matter prior to the facilitation day. If I cannot respond to the questions of the students, I will refer them to use the internet because there is a host of information on problems an instructor may encounter facilitating a course online that is available through a click to an Internet link.
I am expecting the facilitation experience to be difficult because it will be my first time with the experience but hope that with constructive feedback and good support, the experience will be meaningful and contribute to my professional development as an online instructor. The fear of the unknown is the bother at this time, but I hope to overcome the fear by preparing myself and by practicing so that on that day I will be ready to do a good job. I believe that if I have a good command of the topic then the technology usage will come and that will reduce my anxiety and allow me to perform at my best.
I have been waiting for this day a very long time, for the opportunity to gain the experience of facilitating an online course and I am very grateful for the opportunity in this course. I will take note from this experience and I think that the experience will allow be to make important adjustment to my online teaching practice. I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to be on the other side of the fence, the instructor side.
This will be an experience of a lifetime and an authentic one…Courtesy of GSU and the online teaching certification program.
Bernadette
I am excited about the facilitator role because it is my only opportunity to put theory into practice before actually applying for an online teaching course. I am scared about the new role because I will have to be my best to gain the points required to pass the experience. I am also scared that I will not know enough about the topic as the students may expect more from me as a facilitator. In addition, I am scared that I will not meet the goals and expectations of my cohorts resulting in disappointment from the group and a poor performance evaluation from the group.
I am comfortable using Wimba to deliver the course content in the upcoming facilitation opportunity. So far, I have only upload power point presentations for synchronous discussion and have had the opportunity to use the different features in the Wimba tool such as the hand raise and the talk features to present the information in about three classes at GSU. In addition, my experience with Wimba is only from a student role and I am having slight anxiety about how it would work for me as the instructor and whether I will be able to coordinate the effective utilization of the tool and run a seamless presentation of the lesson to the group and facilitate dicussion on the problems encountered in facilitating a course.
My technical concerns is that the day of the facilitation, I am hoping that everything works in terms of connection to Wimba, voice transmission and audio/visual capability, because without the two of those features, Wimba will be useless that day and I will feel horrible about the experience. I hope that I do not experience any glitch in the system and that everything goes well that day.
During my facilitation role, I will challenge my classmates by first reflecting on the discussion topic and content, focusing on the questions that surface and then provide the opportunity to foster and support critical thinking by carefully constructing my response in writing or verbal to facilitate meaningful discussion surrounding the topic of concern. I will provide insightful information on the topic after carefully researching the topic and having a good command of the subject matter prior to the facilitation day. If I cannot respond to the questions of the students, I will refer them to use the internet because there is a host of information on problems an instructor may encounter facilitating a course online that is available through a click to an Internet link.
I am expecting the facilitation experience to be difficult because it will be my first time with the experience but hope that with constructive feedback and good support, the experience will be meaningful and contribute to my professional development as an online instructor. The fear of the unknown is the bother at this time, but I hope to overcome the fear by preparing myself and by practicing so that on that day I will be ready to do a good job. I believe that if I have a good command of the topic then the technology usage will come and that will reduce my anxiety and allow me to perform at my best.
I have been waiting for this day a very long time, for the opportunity to gain the experience of facilitating an online course and I am very grateful for the opportunity in this course. I will take note from this experience and I think that the experience will allow be to make important adjustment to my online teaching practice. I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to be on the other side of the fence, the instructor side.
This will be an experience of a lifetime and an authentic one…Courtesy of GSU and the online teaching certification program.
Bernadette
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