The Ideal Facilitator (November 16, 2019)
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Introduction:
Is there an ideal facilitator - an instructor who meets the learning needs of a diverse student population with various learning styles and individual cultural experiences? Facilitating an online course requires a delivery that clearly differs from the traditional face-to-face setting of a classroom. The stand and deliver method of instruction will not work in this learning environment as an ideal facilitator needs to employ different methods of instruction to actively engage the students in their coursework. An online course should mix video and audio clips with collaborative learning experiences; hands-on activities that allow for discussion and feedback; and the inclusion of brief video tutorials to offer direct instruction to the learners. Online learning must be active to be effective. "The Role of an Effective Online Instructor" shares many valuable ideas about being an effective online facilitator. |
Online Instruction Thoughts:
The first online course I participated in was “Educational Technology for the Practicing Teacher” when I began this Cape Breton University Diploma program in September 2018. Two of the activities that we were required to create were putting together a Podcast and using Digital Storytelling to carry out a lesson. I found both of these activities to be engaging, interesting and purposeful. I had no prior skillset with creating a podcast, so the experience was new, but I successfully put together a poetry podcast that I later brought into the classroom to use with a group of junior high students. These students then worked collaboratively to create their own podcasts so I considered this to be a success. The challenge I felt I faced was working in what feels like isolation, but there were tutorial videos and supporting documents to guide the process. Digital Storytelling was a format I had previously explored in English classes with my students as an alternative to longer writing pieces. Being able to create my own piece allowed me to explore the medium in greater depths to discover a variety of ways to make the work more interesting and appealing for the intended audience.
Due to being an Jr. High English Teacher, I often provide my students with opportunities to achieve learning goals in a variety of formats. “Writing & Other Ways of Representing” is one of the three strands in junior high ELA; therefore, allowing learners multiple ways to achieve an outcome is key if you want all learners to find success. I believe this can be applied to online courses as evidenced by our own classes and peers. There are individuals from a variety of backgrounds and with diverse skillsets, so I believe it’s important to offer a variety of formats for producing work/assignments. Obviously, this cannot be unlimited, but having two/three/four options would allow individuals to engage in work that most closely connects to them and individual teaching assignments. Redmond (2011) acknowledges that online courses require that the learners be engaged through discussion and ongoing encouragement and this is challenging with an online course. Discussions clearly occur, but can be limited by the fact that different people are operating on different schedules regarding when they are online, so a fluid conversation can be difficult to achieve.
Additionally, I also would like to have a clear understanding of who is taking an online course and what they are expecting to gain from the experience. As culturally relevant pedagogy becomes more prominent in the classroom setting, the expectation is to know our students both as academic learners and individual personalities. This appears to be more challenging in an online platform compared to a face-to-face setting where you can spend time working with learners individually. However, if you want an individual to put forth a rewarding effort and interest in the course, there has to be a meaningful connection with the teacher/instructor.
Meaningful, memorable and motivating context would be key to keeping learners engaged in an online course. Yet, frustration may arise in the fact that direct instruction and ongoing, consistent feedback does not always occur. I’m accustomed to offering small-group instruction to students and instant feedback during the writing process or regarding reading. I would want to incorporate these elements into an online setting but that could prove to take some time to solve and to make work for the online learners.
Allen, M.W. (2007). Designing successful e-learning: Forget what you know about instructional design and do something interesting. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.
Redmond, P. (2011). From face-to-face teaching to online teaching: Pedagogical transitions. 1050-1060.
Reflection:
Taking on the role of an online educator is clearly a huge challenge as there are many obstacles to overcome when compared to offering instruction in a traditional classroom model. In a classroom, the teacher has the opportunity to individually interact with all students, offer small-group instruction to support individual learning needs and provide instant feedback as the learners are engaged in their classwork. Passive learners obviously exist within any educational setting, but passive learners need to be pushed in an online course. These individuals do not have the face-to-face interaction that is required to ensure they are actively participating in exploring the critical thinking skills we encourage students to acquire. Personally, I know engaging the passive learner would be a new and unique challenge, not only the first time I was facilitating an online course, but every time I was instructing through this format.
A second challenge an online instructor could face would be the amount of time interacting with students via email or some similar platform to clarify content, answer questions and respond to individual student needs. Teachers, obviously, answer emails from other staff members, their administration as well as parents/guardians, but an online facilitator would have to consciously set aside periods of time each week to guarantee that they are communicating in an efficient manner. Additionally, this would require the facilitator to possess strong organizational skills to track emails and maintain a filing system for storing the communication exchanges.
Being an online facilitator does not simply require the instructor to post some readings and assignments with due dates into a platform like Moodle and sit back while waiting for the student work to roll in at the expected time. Online courses, like the classroom, are dependent upon clear learning goals/targets, ensuring student growth and offering valuable feedback. The "ideal facilitator" knows how to accomplish these goals while keeping students interested and motivated with their coursework.