Module One: Overview
What do you expect as you enter the world of online facilitation? Perhaps you have taught online in the past. Perhaps you have taught face-to-face in the classroom for years. Whether you are experienced or a novice, working in an online environment involves unique qualities, roles, and responsibilities for both the facilitator and the participant. In addition to a strong understanding of course content, the facilitator must have a grasp of basic technical, security, privacy, and copyright concerns as they apply online.
Module One Outcomes and Activity Checklist
Module Two: Communication
Other than your initial phone call, almost everything in an online course is done through writing: posting announcements, answering a forum post, even sending a text message in a chat. Making sure that your writing conveys both the content and the tone you intend can at times be a challenge. Supporting participants by correcting their mistakes without creating defensiveness can be exceptionally difficult. In this module we'll introduce and practice basic skills that will keep the communication channels open and positive between you and your participants.
Module Two Outcomes and Activity Checklist
Module Three: Communication and Conversation Skills
Communicating effectively in your online course demands specific conversation skills running the gamut from positive phrasing to critical thinking. This module will cover specific skills designed to help you encourage, redirect, engage, and challenge your participants in the core content of the course.
Module Three Outcomes and Activity Checklist
Module Four: Community Building and Collaboration
One of your most important responsibilities as a facilitator is building a sense of community and collaboration among participants. Your leadership and guidance are critical to creating a learning environment where people support each other in learning together. Using strategies and tools for community building can help you create a vibrant, dynamic learning environment.
Module Four Outcomes and Activity Checklist
Module Five: Assessment
Over the last several weeks, we've looked at building community and collaboration in online learning environments. But how do you assess how effectively a student has participated in the community? How do you determine the value of an individual's contributions to a small group? And how do you know what they learned during this process? Authentic assessment and evaluating community participation require methods that don't look for a single "right answer"; rather, allow for gradations along a scale. For this type of assessment, rubrics are an effective tool.
Module Five Outcomes and Activity Checklist
Module Six: Engaging All Learners: Learning Styles
In this module we will be looking at Sensory Preferences, Organizational and Perceptual Styles, and Multiple Intelligences. There are many other learning styles that influence participant learning which are not mentioned here. Our goal is to provide a brief overview on three critical areas that influence online learners.
Module Six Outcomes and Activity Checklist
Module Seven: Engaging All Learners: Cultural Competence
In the last module, we looked at individual differences in learning styles and their impact on online facilitation. In this module, we continue working on engaging every learner in our online classrooms by exploring how culture and gender affect learning online.
How does culture affect communication patterns? Do men and women communicate differently in online communities? How do we create online learning environments where all learners can be successful? These are questions we will answer together in this module.
Module Seven Outcomes and Activity Checklist
Module Eight: Handling Conflict
In this module, you will examine different types of conflict and approaches to responding to conflict. You'll practice recognizing when to intervene and how to do so. This module also includes a final reflection project that allows you to look back on the entire course.