Summary of week 6

I'm being a bit early this week with the weekly summary because I am traveling home to New Zealand and won't have to time to write this over the weekend - so apologies for missing any little gems that you're just about to publish. We have another couple of participants join the course - feel free to check out the blogs of Susan and Justine. Justine - please can you enable 'comments' on your blog so we can communicate with you :)

Blogging and comments
One of the observations I have made over the last couple of weeks is that some of you are not replying to the comments that people are making on your blog. This may be because you haven't realised people have commented. One of the things you can do that makes things easier is to set up your blog so that you get an email every time someone leaves a comment. That way you will know there is a comment to reply to. If you do not reply, you will stifle discussion and readers will get discouraged and not return to your blog.

Here is some information from Gina Trapani about how to make a comment on a blog and here is a great post by Michele Martin that will help you encourage people to leave comments on your blog.

Surrendipity

There's been a little surrendity happening this week. Jean has been reading a blog by David Hopkins and what he has to say about Skype and Skype etiquette. Karen read the same article at the same time and reflected on her reality of multi-tasking. Claire has been busy and moved to yet another blog and wrote a really useful post reflecting on a session she attended using DimDim - this is worth reading because we'll be having a look at DimDim in a couple of weeks. Mirielle has been catching up and thinking about how an online facilitator 'invites you in'.

Personal philosophy

Lyn has been reflecting on Nancy White's session and how the way Nancy facilitated the 'chaos' has made Lyn feel more confident to 'have a go'. Jade made me laugh with her 'angry face' when she was discussing netiquette. Rayna reflected on her experience of facilitating the live session with Greg Walker last week and fully understanding what 'flexible delivery' entails. Jane talked about the importance of having a personal pedagogy. And whilst some of us doing this course are not educators, I still think it is important for us to think about our personal philosophy toward online facilitation. Patricia also watched the recording of Greg's session and found that because she did not have the pressure of being a participant in the session, she was able to focus much more on the content.

Starting to plan for the mini conference

Jillian is way ahead of the game and already thinking about what she will facilitate for the mini conference. Maurice has been thinking about how he can engage staff in his department blog.

I haven't heard much about your experiences of using Skype, but I had a fabulous time earlier this week talking to Jean as I demonstrated Skype to nurses and midwives in Karachi - thanks to Jean for helping me out :)

Thinking ahead

Willie, Karen and Jane are facilitating next week's Elluminate session. Not only will they be facilitating the session but they will be leading it too. I heard a whisper they may try putting us into break-out rooms which will be exciting.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks. I need a couple of volunteers who are feeling very brave to help facilitate the DimDim session on Friday 10th September with Wayne Mackintosh - Wayne is a very experienced online communicator so he won't need much facilitating. This is a great opportunity for people who do not have access to Elluminate so will be relying on free tools.

I am also looking for a couple of people who would like to take responsibility for the Twitter session in the week of the 13th September. This will not be so hard from a technology point of view, but you will need to get your head around Twitter. Sarah

Image: skype birthday http://www.flickr.com/photos/jon_ovington/4315834126/

August 23rd The idea

We have identified what online facilitation is and looked at several models for how we can do it. We have also looked at a couple of examples of how online facilitation works in education, business and non-profit organisations. Over the next few weeks we will be focus more closely on the intricacies of online facilitation and 'play' with some communication tools.

Once you know what you want to facilitate there are several issues you need to think about.

• What is the most appropriate approach to the event, project or discussion? Synchronous or asynchronous?
• What are the barriers to your facilitation and what are the enablers? For example, do the participants have access to the Internet bandwidth that will support your event, project or learning activity?
• What communication tools will be most appropriate? How will you ensure your participants will have access to the tools?
• What technical skills will you need as facilitator and what skills will your participants require? How will you ensure the participants have the appropriate skills?
• Is this a work or 'play' activity? Will time constraints impact on the participants' ability or motivation to attend and engage?
• If this is a work activity, will the participants' organisation, institution or employer allow them to have access to the Internet, or will institutional policies or firewalls prevent them from engaging with you?
• What are the costs to you, the participants and their employer/institution/organisation? Will the costs be prohibitive?
  

Another issue you need to think about is sustainability of your online facilitation. In one respect working online is more sustainable than spending large amounts of money to fly people around to attend face-to-face meetings. Developing resources and making them available online often reduces the wasteful use of paper. At the same time, there are more general questions about social sustainability to consider.

• Who's going to be involved and who is not? Who does your event or learning activity discriminate against? In other words, who cannot attend because they do not have access to a computer or the Internet?
• How do you ensure that everyone has equal opportunities for learning, communication and collaboration. Is everyone's needs being met?
• Is online the best mode of delivery? Is there another mode of delivery that is more appropriate?
• In terms of planning for the future, how do we manage eWaste?
  
  

Web Conferencing
Skype is a free tool that you download onto your computer and use for synchronous voice, text and video meetings. It is especially effective for small group or one-to-one meetings.
1. Download Skype and set up a Skype account.
2. Add your Skype details ie user name to the "Participants" page. Add course participants to your contacts list in Skype.
3. Connect with a course participant and have a one-to-one meeting. In your meeting you may wish to discuss what you have learned this week, or your experiences of using Skype.
4. Connect with several course participants and arrange a Skype conference call in which you may wish to discuss the questions that have cropped up this week. (A Skype conference call can take up to 25 people but it is preferable to have a smaller number of people to retain the quality of the call).

• How to set up a conference call in Skype. Here is a short video that shows you how to set up a conference call.
• You may wish to use Doodle to help you work out a time that is convenient to meet.

Activity
1. Read the article Building Sustainable Communities through Network Building by Valdis Krebs and June Holley (2002).
2. Watch the video of Carol Cooper-Taylor talking about "How to ... Have Successful Online Forums/Communities".
3. Read the wiki page Synchfacilitation - moderating live synchronous sessions.
4. In your blog, you may wish to reflect on your experience of using Skype.

• What worked well?
• What did not go so well?
• What skills or resources do you need to facilitate one-to-one meetings or conference calls with Skype?
• How do you see yourself using Skype in the future, if at all, for online facilitation?
  
  
  
  
  

Summary of week 5 and recording of Greg Walker

The last five weeks have been really hectic and full on so I am hoping things will settle down as we build our confidence and comptence with the online tools, and start to really think about how we will use them in our work. In the meantime, Menaka has just joined us, so please welcome her to the group.

Recording
I would like to thank Bronwyn Hegarty for holding the fort while I am in Pakistan, and Rayna and Jane for facilitating the session with Greg Walker, in which he talked about facilitating online courses. I understand there were a few dramas behind the scenes, but they were sorted by all involved.

Here is the Elluminate recording of Greg's session - I will turn it into an audio and video recording when I return to New Zealand.

Scattered thoughts
It has been an interesting week for me. Having handed over the reins, so to speak, to Bronwyn, I have felt less immersed in the course. I feel like I have been able to take a step away from the course and take a more global view of what's happening. And it has been fascinating to see how conversations and thoughts are scattering off into all sorts of directions.

Online facilitation
Karen is at the stage where she is still onsure what she wants to focus on. Sharon wrote a very reflective post about her experiences of facilitating Nancy White's session last week. She found it hard to 'let go' and make sense of the 'chaos' that was going on around her. Jane, Tara and Tania all reflected on what online facilitation is. Jillian and Carolyn have started a conversation about the difference between teaching and facilitation - at the moment they disagree - so do drop into Jillian's post and join the discussion because I would like to know what the rest of you think. Tracey describes facilitation as drawing ideas from a group and supporting the group to move on with the ideas.

Pedagogy
Willie is keen to think more about the pedagogy behind online tools like Elluminate. Chris is frantically busy but found time to help Carolyn out with a technical problem. Carole is also busy setting up her online ePortfolio community of practice. Kim was inspired by Nancy White to think about how an online facilitator summarizes learning or activities.

Blogging
Karen Humber has made an interesting observation about blogging - the more she engages with other blogs, the more comments she gets on her blog. This point will be emphasised when we talk about how to facilitate blogs for collaborative work. Mark has an interesting conversation starting on his blog about how you engage people in an online community once that initial flush of enthausiasm has fallen away. Claire wrote an extensive account of her experiences of attending an online conference which may be useful for those of you who are planning a live event at the end of this course.

Mobile learning
Matt is continuing with his quest to do this course from his mobile phone. I am finding his account to be really interesting in light of the view that mobile learning is the way of the future. Malcolm kindly responded to a question I asked with a whole blog post about online facilitation and social capital. As for me, I am finding that the issues that face education are the same the world over. Sarah

Fees for international student: $420 NZ

A number of international participants have been asking how much it will cost to enrol as a formal student in Facilitating Online 2010. I am really pleased to announce that we have been able to negotiate fees for international student (including Australian citizens) - $420 New Zealand....about $1,000 cheaper than normal.

If you are thinking of enrolling as a formal student, please contact Catherine Lindsay (course administrator) for more details.





Image: Money, money, money:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dborman2/3258378233/in/photostream/

August 16th Case studies

Here are several case studies that illustrate aspects of online facilitation in a number of contexts.

• eMentoring. Jenny Leigh talks to Sarah Stewart about how she uses web conferencing for eMentoring in business and non-profit organisations.
• Virtual conference. The Virtual International Day of the Midwife is an annual online conference for midwives and people interested in pregnancy and birth.
  
• Facilitating asynchronous discussion. Lorraine Mockford talks to Sarah Stewart about strategies for engaging students in discussion boards and people in general interest online communities.

Web Conferencing
Join this week's course meeting in the Elluminate virtual meeting room here on Friday 20th August 12.00 hours New Zealand (World Clock). This session will be facilitated by Jane Field and Rayna Dickson. Bronwyn Hegarty will be supporting the class and session.

• Greg Walker will be discussing how he facilitates online courses. Greg is an educational technology developer and distance education coordinator at the Leeward Community College, Hawaii, USA.

Activity
Summarise your learning from the last three weeks in your blog. You may wish to consider some or all of these questions.

• What is online facilitation?
• What skills do you need as an online facilitator?
• How does a facilitator build an online community or network?
• What are the key things to remember when facilitating an event, meeting or education course, especially when working with people who are new to online technology?
• What is the difference between teaching and facilitation?
• What is netiquette?

Image: Settimana Internet @ Roma - 25 giugno, Internet e Anziani
http://www.flickr.com/photos/codiceinternet/3665516986/

Summary of week 4 and recording of Nancy White's session

I don't know about anyone else, but life has rather overtaken me this week. I don't think I am the only one. Having said that, we have had two great live Elluminate discussions this week - one about online identity, and then the session with Nancy White this morning.

We have had a couple more people join us - Susan, Tara and Tania. I am sure they'd love it if you pop along to their blog and say 'hi', and lend them your support as they catch up with things.

Nancy White
Nancy's session was invaluable and I highly recommend you take the time to watch the recording if you were not at the live session. Nancy is an amazing facilitator who models everything she talks about. We learned heaps about facilitating online and how to use Elluminate. We talked about 'letting go' as facilitators... playing ....and watching the learning that emerges from the chaos. I would also like to congratulation Sharon and Carole who facilitated the session and did a very professional job. Rayna and Jane are going to facilitate next week's session.

Here is the Elluminate recording to Nancy's session - I will organise the audio and video recording when I return from Pakistan - but having said that, this is a very visual, experiential session so I think you need to watch it as opposed to listen to it.

Busy lives
The one thing that has stuck me this week is how complex people's lives are, and the implications for trying to organise any kind of online event. Rachel, Jade and Jo have been busy being midwives and catching babies. Gillian has been occupied with her family. Floyd is travelling around the USA. Bettie is preparing for her husband to be deployed. And Maurice has been trying to work out how to engage the educators he works with, with his other blog Flexible Learning Initiative @ Lincoln.

There is so much competition for people's time so you have to think very carefully about the thing you are trying to facilitate...you have think how you are going to capture people's attention and make the event, activity or whatever , relevant and meaningful.

Second Life
A couple of people were inspired to visit Second Life following Terry Neal's talk last week. Gloria has got as far as getting her avatar all dressed up and ready to go. When Tracy went in SL, she had a very nasty experience of being bullied and attacked. Jean believes that SL provides very authentic learning opportunities. On the other hand, Kim hasn't got around to going into SL yet and has decided she does not want an avatar representation of herself - she feels it would give a false impression of who she is.

NB: Those of you who are interested in SL will have the opportunity for a guided tour later in the course.

Learning in the online environment
Several people have been reflecting on they as facilitators can support learning in the online environment. Trish was wondering how she can support her students not to procrastinate and manage information overload. Mark asked how to 'create stimulating environments for learning'. And LaDonna thought about experiential learning - how we plan, act, reflect and learn...but not necessarily in that order.

Facilitation and blogging
Last week I mentioned a blog post by Michele Martin that was really useful called "How to Blog When Your Industry or Occupation Isn't Into It". I asked Michele how she thought we can use blogs for online facilitation. She replied with another blog post called "More on Blogging When Your Industry Isn't Into It" . This is another excellent read for us because in it Michele talks about various startegies for engaging our readers, and how to facilitate blogging events.

Practice opportunities
Last but not least, Mireille is really keen to hear from anyone who is interested in practising their live facilitation skills in Elluminate - please contact Mireille on her blog if you'd like to know more about this. There are a number of resources in the course wiki for those of you who would like some tips and tricks for how to use Elluminate.

Look forward to hearing how things go next week, and might even catch up with you while I am in Pakistan. Sarah

Thinking about the next two weeks

I know some of you are still getting your head around the content for the last couple of weeks, let alone the next two weeks. But I just wanted to let you know how we're going to manage the next couple of weeks.

Visit to Pakistan
I have been asked to make a visit to Karachi, Pakistan, to work with a group of midwives in the Aga Khan University...looking at how they can develop their undergraduate midwifery program as an online package. This has come about quite quickly but is an opportunity I could not refuse. I leave New Zealand on Sunday 15th August.

Introducing Bronwyn Hegarty
I will still be available and monitoring everyone's progress, so please keep in touch - the Internet connection is probably better there than it is in New Zealand. But please be mindful that my time zone will be seven hours behind New Zealand.

If you have an urgent query and need to talk to someone by phone or face-to-face, please contact my colleague at Otago Polytechnic, Bronwyn Hegarty (0800 smartmove). Bronwyn will be facilitating next week's Elluminate meeting with Jane and Rayna.

Skype
The second week I am away (23rd - 29th August) we'll be having a play with Skype. The web conferencing for the week is getting in touch with each other with Skype. There are full instructions on how to use Skype and make conference calls on the wiki.

However, if you wish to check out Skype in the next couple of days before I go to Pakistan, please feel free to get in touch - my Skype contact name is: sarah.m.stewart

Sarah