Looking for volunteers

There isn't much to report in terms of blog postings this week. We're still waiting for several participants to add their blogs to the course wiki, so if this is you, please don't forget to do that. It is really important that we all know who you are so we can contribute to the conversation on your blog.

We are a small group of people this year which means we need to participate regularly and interact with each other. If we don't, we'll miss the unspoken nuances of online communication. We must be able to communicate and work together online before we can move on to being online facilitators.

Who are the participants of this course?
To find out who is taking part in the course have a look at the course wiki, at the "Participants" page. You will see the contact details of 24 people. Some of them are not participating regularly, so the challenge for you will be to connect with those who are blogging about the course and are people who you can network with. And don't forget the students of iFacilitate who will also be keen to hear from you.

Another reason to checking out the course wiki is because there are informal students listed who are working through the course with us. I do not include them in my weekly summary however, I know they are blogging regularly and have some very valuable things to add to our conversation. If you do not check out the wiki, you will not know who they are and miss out on making valuable connections :)

And don't forget - those of you who are formal students - that having a blog is a major requirement for the course assessment - Assignment One is due on April 15th 17.00 hours New Zealand.

Recording
This week we had a fabulous live meeting with Terry Neal who talked about facilitating online teams. She gave some very practical advice about facilitating the phases of teamwork: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. We discussed how to overcome negative attitudes to online communication; how to work with newbies, and how to break the ice when you are working with teams who have never met each other face-to-face.

• Here is the Elluminate recording.

I have promised to turn the recordings into mp3 files so you can listen to them on iPods etc, but to be honest, I forgot to do that this week - I will get onto it first thing next week.

Looking for volunteers
One of the aims of this course is to provide 'practice' experience of online facilitation as we go along. It is an opportunity to 'have a go' in a safe environment, where you will be well supported by the rest of us.

If you are a facilitated or formal student, please feel free to volunteer to facilitate our next live session on Wednesday 30th 13.00 hours New Zealand. As the facilitator, you will be responsible for liaising with the speaker, managing the meeting room, reminding the course participants about the meeting, facilitating the meeting and sorting out any technical problems. I will support you to do this. If you think next Wednesday is too soon, let me know and I'll pencil you in for another week.

The Virtual International Day of the Midwife
I will also be looking for volunteer facilitators to help out on the Virtual International Day of the Midwife on May 5th 12pm - May 6th 12pm. You do not need to know anything about midwifery or childbirth, but you do need to be fairly comfortable with using Elluminate - here is more information about what is expected from facilitators.

Have a great week, and please get in touch with me if you have any queries about blogging, or any other aspect of the course. Sarah

Image: 'MBC Lille 2007'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24183489@N00/366202554