October 11th Evaluating and reflecting on an event

An important element of online facilitation is the evaluation of your event, project, meeting or learning activity both in terms of the outcomes of the event and your own performance. There is usually two parts to this process: self-assessment and reflection, and evaluation by participants. The results of your reflections and evaluation will act as a foundation for your planning of future activities. Questions you may wish to ask.

• What went well, and what did not go so well?
• What did the participants and the facilitator learn?
• How was the event organised and promoted?
• How adequate and relevant was the information about the event/activity?
• Was technical support provided, and how adequate was it?
• How relevant the meeting/activity/event for the audience and participants?
• How was the event managed? How effective was the handling of disruptions?
• Did all participants know where they were supposed to be and when?
• How was the facilitation?
  • How was the stage set and participants welcomed, introductions made, aims explained?
  • Did the facilitator remain neutral and how did he deal with conflict or cultural differences?
  • How was the event concluded and outcomes summarised? What recordings and follow up materials were provided?
• How should things be done in the future?

Webconference

Join the virtual class meeting in WiziQ - Tuesday 12th October 9am New Zealand time (World Clock). Dr Nellie Deutsch will be joining us to talk about evaluation strategies. Nellie is an expert in facilitating and designing online workshops on WikiEducator on how to use the wiki and collaborate, on IT4ALL Moodle on WebQuests, Moodle for Teachers (M4T), and Professional Electronic Portfolios (PEP), and in Blended Learning. She researched instructor experiences in implementing technology in blended learning courses in higher education. Nellie is also an expert user of WiziQ and will be passing on some tips on how to use it effectively. This session will be facilitated by Kim McLean.

• WiziQ is another free tool you may be interested in if you are a business or non-profit organisation. Information about how to use WiziQ can be found here.

Activity

1. Bronwyn Hegarty has developed a framework that supports personal reflection. Read about the Hegarty Reflective Framework and Template and listen to the recording of an Elluminate presentation Bronwyn gave about how to use this reflective framework for evaluating your online facilitation. This recording is also available as a mp3.
2. Read this guide to survey design by SurveyMonkey: Smart Survey Design.
3. You may wish to reflect on your experience of using WiziQ in your blog, and compare it with all the web conferencing tools you have used over the last few weeks.

• What worked well?
• What did not go so well?
• What skills or resources do you need to network and facilitate meetings using WiziQ?
• How do you see yourself using WiziQ in the future, if at all, for online facilitation?
• How does WiziQ compare with DimDim, Skype and Elluminate? What will your preferred web conference tool be in the future and why?

Image: 'espejo'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59309871@N00/3207185886