Reflections

Synthesising all Reflections

The five weeks of this course have been an incredible adventure both on a personal level and as a teacher. It seems as if the weekly activities have aroused not only technical challenges but have drawn out aspects of my own personality and the way in which I engage, primarily within the teaching environment but also beyond that.

From a personal perspective I notice that;

· I love the excitement of learning something new which has come out in the way I have explored all the links, apps and creations of my colleagues. At the same time I am a bit of a ‘flitter’ and instead of engaging extensively with what is presented to me I move on quickly to the next item that attracts my attention. This will result in not bothering to download or save a lot of the material I have engaged with. By around Week Three I realised that this is not really useful in the long term as I would like to come back to things I have learnt. The Research component of the e-portfolio thus starts to include items from the latter part of the course. I also found that as much as I did explore I also needed to give myself time to assimilate and integrate. I have included this in my PDP moving forward to give myself time to take stock so to speak. It may mean going back over some of the course content and activities but I don’t think that is a bad thing. My learning from this has been to learn to focus sometimes and not be so quick to move onto the next thing that interests me.

· I get frustrated really quickly when I don’t understand something or know how it works. Also when I feel overwhelmed by pressure of work etc. My usually means I give up easily and by Week Two I was about to do that. When I noticed this, I took a deep breath and decided that I would tackle this slowly. As much as I wanted to keep up with everyone else I found that I needed to give myself space to do things. Once I did this I managed to systematically work through the Activities and gain much from the process. The focus being on process rather than product. During this process I learnt to be kinder to myself and not to feel that I have to do everything at once. It works better to tackle things at a slower pace if it means that learning happens instead of stress.

· I find my mind works quite linearly when learning. If I miss the first step or don’t understand something, I give up as I go into a tailspin. I noticed this on the day that Janus gave the presentation about e-portfolios. I missed something in the beginning and then gave up with the result I stayed with Blogger for the e-portfolio even though I suspect that Google would have offered more options. To assist me in this I also ‘discovered’ that YouTube has lots of tutorial videos. I have started to allocate time to doing tutorials on some of the apps I have downloaded. During the course I realised that if I had a feeling that I was going to ‘taught’ something I needed to give that up quickly. Online learning is more about finding out for oneself. The facilitators and material is just a guide, they cannot do the teaching. In this regard I began to think about how I would make it easier for learners to move towards this approach especially since we all came out of a school system where information is delivered and our job was to regurgitate.

· I felt overwhelmed with the technologies available. Perhaps too enthusiastically I explored everything that I came across until I realised that I needed to find what worked for me and master that. I also find that I work well if someone explains to me the basics. For example we heard about ‘Handbrake’ and I know what it did so downloaded it. Since then I have compressed two video but have no idea how I did it and what all the setting mean in this app. I am determined to find out on this app and all the others that I have accessed. When I do eventually get comfortable with something I will push it to the limit. I have been quietly proud of my work using OpenShot Video Editor. I still have a long way to go but this is the phase I enjoy. I need a leg up then I am fine. Whereas at first I felt totally inadequate with technology I feel a lot more confident now after five weeks of persistent engagement. I know that it is a simple thing but yesterday I set up a Project Site on SAKAI for myself and colleagues who are collaborating on a paper. I volunteered as I could hear the panic in the voices of my colleagues. It was so simple to do that it is laughable. However much like my colleagues I would never have dreamt of even looking on SAKAI of trying to do it. Revelling now in my new-found technological confidence.

My role and that of my peers in the learning process has been interesting;

· I feel that I maybe did not engage fully online in the Forum and only made tentative attempts to connect with others. After a couple of weeks I did try to contribute to some of the discussions but maybe not with as much depth and engagement as possible. By nature I am reticent and don’t to chatting etc. easily in ‘real life’. This becomes even more difficult online which is why I totally resonated with the ‘Lurkers’ topic. Where I did engage I found it fascinating to read such a variety of views. Maybe if I were to do this again, I would also set aside time for discussion and interaction.

· I feel I have to do everything on my own and so did not reach out to my mentor as much as I should have. In fact there were times when I think she may have felt I was ignoring her? When I did send her work she always came back with encouragement and valuable comments. This was an underutilised resource for me but there was also a part of me that did not want to bother her, or give her too much work.

· I found that I focused on doing the activities rather than being in an interactive space with others. However when Hannah le Roux reached out to me to co-facilitate a virtual session it did feel as if my engagement with the course and its value was catapulted. From that time I have been seriously engaging with exploring what online facilitation can mean for me personally.

· I did value the contributions that people made in discussions and particularly was drawn to those around online assessment and engaging learners. I find the value of what I have learnt can be taken back to the lecture hall. I think that providing students with technological alternatives would be a great way to keep them interested and engaged with my courses. And, when it comes to formative and minor assessments, a pleasure to have SAKAI grade the work. It means a totally different way of thinking and setting tasks and assignments but maybe this is the way that the world operates today. Maybe learning etc. should reflect that rather than sticking to the methodologies of our ancestors.

At the end of the day doing a course like this only has value when it can be put into practice. We were propelled into online teaching and I had to suddenly cope with teaching three courses online. They are all first semester courses, one to third year Bachelor of Architectural Studies and two courses to Master in Architecture students. These are all quite technical subjects and I did find it difficult to find a way to present them.

At first I felt that did not give my students as much value as I was grappling to come to terms with this sudden and new way of teaching. I don’t think that this is entirely true and although on reflection there are a few things that I would do differently based on what I have learnt during this course I think that the students did well. My attitude to online teaching has shifted from one in which I saw this as second best to something that has equal value to face-to-face teaching. I did my psychology degree up to honours level through UNISA and I have always felt that maybe my degree is not as good as one I would have received at another university. I see now that I worked just as hard and did learn everything I needed to and maybe a bit more as I extended my reading beyond what was required. Being self-directed does have value and my new attitude to online teaching means that I can offer a lot more to many more people in future. I think that a blended teaching approach would also enrich my students in future. The things that I could have done differently with my students are;

· Engage with them more instead of just delivering content
· Found ways to create interactive platforms for peer learning
· Devised much more sophisticated assessments
· Created interesting multimedia presentations instead of the Workbooks I wrote and distributed.
· Been more present with the students instead of working behind the scenes.

I think the practical test for me took place outside of the university where I have been teaching dance online. The duration intensity of this project over the three months has allowed me to reflect on myself and online teaching.

At first my attitude was that I would not be able to teach dance online and that people would not value what I had to offer. From the start of the lock down I offered short dance session daily online for free. I noticed that the format and content of these sessions was evolving over time until I became confident to give a full one hour dance class. At first still undervaluing myself I charged very little. However during the course of nine weeks I noticed that the participants were gaining as much value from the class as ordinary studio-based classes. They were different – but of equal value. Having completed the online facilitation course I have now started to design more sophisticated dance classes. Instead of me standing in front of the ZOOM camera, I have started to include video and PowerPoint slides to complement what I am saying or demonstrating. The dance classes are starting to take a different form which will include the different tools I have been exposed to. My presentation skills have also changed over the past three months and whereas before my delivery was similar to what I would have done in the studio I found that the information and research of learner engagement has changed this. I am much more conscious of the different space ZOOM is to the studio and have explored ways in which to engage the participants so that they feel included. Simple things for now;

· Always welcoming people by name
· Giving people a moment to feel heard and present
· Using breakout rooms on ZOOM to encourage more intimate interactions
· Using the Pin Video function on ZOOM to get people to dance in pairs

Going forward I am really excited to explore how I could push the boundaries of these dance classes. Luckily I am not teaching at WITS during the second semester.

I am including this short video I created which I used in the class last night (8th July) to introduce both the creator of Biodanza, Rolando Toro and an explanation and demonstration of the dance that formed the core them of my class. Biodanza: Liberation of Movement

I have also set up a Blog space where I intend to post the themes for the classes and give people an opportunity to engage with each other and me through the comments. I am also using WhatsApp to direct people towards this space. This is the link to this blog. VISVITA ONLINE

Holding thumbs this works!

Activity 4.6 Reflection

Discussion contributions in the Forums/Week 4: Creating/

1. Handling online facilitator criticism

Thank you for introducing this topic. I must say that two things come to mind.

1. During the current crisis I did receive some concerns from students which I took to heart. The emotional component of teaching! I think what I was feeling is exactly what has been expressed in some of the other responses. That is, that I was thrown into the deep end and worked day and night to ensure that students received value from online learning. And then took the students' comments as not having done enough.

2. However going forward something which has also been raised in the comments, that of preparation. We truly had not time preparing for this. (which is why I signed up for THIS course) But I have been really inspired by the tools, ideas and methods I have been exposed to in the last four weeks. My designer brain is itching to create new courses that utilise as much of what I have learnt. In my imagination I am already seeing the structure of these being very different from just transposing F2F courses online. I think that we can start to questions some real fundamentals about how we present the course. We have the whole internet as a repository of information and tools to create really exciting online courses. I know that when eventually we go back to F2F teaching I am taking everything I learnt over the past two months with me. I admit I was one of those SAKAI-shy lecturers using this platform for the very basics and in a passive way. I am lucky now as I don't teach for the second semester so will have time to explore. Really looking forward to that.

In response to the student. I agree with the suggestions to immediately communicate with student and class. Find out what are the expectations. Sometimes they could be quite simple and easily remedied. From a human perspective I think we all have a need to feel we are connected and in relationship with other people - not machines. Dumping content online and sitting back does feel like letting the machines take over.

2. Peer Debates

Thank you for the article.

Ruth Kennedy, “In-Class Debates: Fertile Ground for Active Learning and the Cultivation of Critical Thinking and Oral Communication Skills,” International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 19, no. 2 (2007): 183–90

I must say that I seem to have tried everything to get my students to participate.

Role play: I have used this to explore Hersey and Blanchard Leadership styles setting up various combinations of architect/client interactions. The students love these sessions but the group usually divides into the actors and spectators. Still I think everyone gains something as I usually do a wrap up session at the end just to draw attention to what I would like them to take away, using the role play sessions.

Peer review: I have introduced this many times during student presentations going so far as to set up really detailed review rubric sheets. Usually doesn't make a difference as students just give full marks or next to full marks to their peers. Sometimes there is a glimmer of hope when some students take this seriously.

Soft Shoe Shuffle: This is a tool which I acquired through my training as a Deep Democracy facilitator. Essentially it gets people to move around the room as a show of the level of agreement with a point of view or statement. Someone initiates the discussion with a statement. If you agree with it you stand close to the person. If you disagree you move away. And if you half-agree then you indicate this by your proximity to the person. The facilitator then approaches any one of the other people who have disagreed and invites them to make a statement. The group then moves around again in response to the new statement. This is a constant shift of the group - no one remains static and you are allowed to change your mind. Its a wonderful way of reading the group. Eventually the facilitator will pick up if there are any polarities of view being formed in the group and then move onto a debate or other discussion tool to delve deeper. Everyone is involved in the soft shoe shuffle and so everyone is heard/seen even if they don't make a direct statement.

This is really a fascinating topic as I strongly believe that the more students interact with each other the more learning takes place. Not just information gathering but critical thinking that adds depth.

22nd June 2020: Week 3

It seems like a lifetime since I engaged with the course. Its been a week but feels forever.  During the past week I immersed myself into marking the exams of my third year students.  I have managed to get all the marks sorted out for project, tests and exam.  I still have my master’s students to sort out.  But today, I put aside the day to catch up with the course and I will pick up marking tomorrow. 

 Looking at the way I am engaging at the moment I wonder if this is what many people go through with online courses.  Priorities seem to push the course to one side.  It’s easy to do that because it doesn’t feel ‘real’. I think that when one has to physically be present in a lecture or seminar room it is far harder to put to one side ‘to do later’.  F2F happens in real time while online seems to feel a lot more ethereal.  I think this is a lesson for me when I offer online courses in future.  How do I keep students engaged?  It will be good to do this without putting extra burden on myself or guilt on the students.  While delivering the course to my third years I set up short Test/Quizzes on SAKAI.  They counted towards the course mark.  However the quizzes had weekly deadlines – which were an incentive to do them or lose the marks.

 Meanwhile I have also signed up for another online course “Developing and Teaching Online Course”.  Somewhere in my mind I thought I would be free to take this up.  Feeling very pressured now that the university has paid for this course I undertook to do the first module last Friday.  I watched all the videos but have still to do the two assignments.  Today is that day!

 Last Friday I also presented an online meeting for the Biodanza Facilitators.  There is a series called Heart Circles with two facilitators leading each session.  I did this with another facilitator.  Our session was called Shared Spaces.  This was the format.

 Prior to the meeting sent out message for preparation

SHARED SPACES with Christos and Soraya  What do our shared spaces look like when we cannot physically be in the same room?  What is a safe space in these times?  What do we need to stay connected?  These are some of the themes we would like to explore today with you.  In preparation If you are attending today's Heart Circle please could you take two pics and upload them via the link below onto Padlet.  The two pics are: 1. The most public aspect of you home – open to everyone.  This might be where you entertain or work. 2. A private space where it's unusual to find any visitors etc. This space could be a garden shed, your favorite place to go read a book…  Just a bit of fun as we explore the continuum from private to public in our home space.  Directions for uploading the pics  - Click on this link which will take you to the Heart Circle page on Padlet https://padlet.com/00300376/bkwvcdcf6241jpgr   - In the bottom right hand corner there is a circle with a + sign – click here  - A pop up box will appear  - On the bottom right hand corner there is a ‘upload’ icon – click  - Select your saved pic file and it will upload   - You can also just drag your pic onto the page directly.

The run sheet for the event was as follows

17h30: Welcome - Chantal/Virginie Check-in  Christos Question – what did taking pics bring up for you in terms of space/privacy/Zoom invasions  NOTE: we need to send out a note to facilitators telling them that if they want to join they need to take the two pics and post them Padlet:  Link to padlet page: https://padlet.com/00300376/bkwvcdcf6241jpgr  18h00: Intro SHARED SPACES – Christos Intro PERSONAL STORY – Soraya  (have we got a pic yet – it would be nice to have the pic on screen share for the duration of the intro)  18h20: BREAK OUT ROOMS – 10 mins Sharing the question  What does an online shared space look like for me? What would I need to feel I am connecting?  18h30: Group discussion – Soraya  What is the shared wisdom of the group

Having attended the Virtual session given by Zama and the session I did on Friday I realise that it is easy to feel that we need to do a lot in order to make the session worthwhile.  I think doing less and keeping it simple gives the students and opportunity to engage more.  This is a valuable method of learning.  From the Magna course I realise the difference between being a facilitator and allowing the learning to unfold and being a teacher feeling that all the knowledge needs to be transmitted.

 FacilitatingOnline2020A

Week 3: Facilitating

 Activity 3.1 Be the Facilitator

I assisted Hannah le Roux with the virtual session called THRESHOLDS on 11^th June.  Felt a bit silly as I didn’t realise we were doing this in our mentor groups.  When Hannah asked me I just said yes without thinking.  Because of this I felt as if I had let my group and my mentor down somehow.  Realise that I am not connected to the mentor group in any special way.  However the virtual session was wonderful as it gave me first-hand experience of introducing external tools to the session.  I also realised that it is fine to give out some readings and preparation tasks to the session.  I think it builds up the expectations and engagement.  Tony Cox’s session was great to see how tools could be used.  For now I seem to be comfortable with:

-          ZOOM https://zoom.us/

-          Flipchart

-          Padlet https://padlet.com/

 Activity 3.2 Exploring Facilitation

Contribution to the Google docs file

Christos Daskalakos Similarities   1.       Both require preparation even if this is different.  The online course requires more structure but even F2F teaching requires clarity on the part of the facilitator 2.       Both require to give value to the teaching process.  Learning is not lesser or different just because it is online - the delivery is. 3.       Feedback from students is important in both methods of teaching.  The facilitator needs to know that the information is getting through.  Finding out and dealing with questions will be different.

Christos Daskalakos Differences   1.       Communication F2F takes place using different channels.  Oral communication includes voice prosody which gives learners cues and clues as to the importance and structure of the content.  Online written documents or recorded slides tend to be uniform. 2.       F2F students cannot leave the learning space easily.  They need to be physically present even if they are not paying attention.  When online it is very easy to turn off the computer 3.       Students need to be more motivated as the course is more student driven

 www.researchgate.net

Key Differences Between Online and Face-to-Face Teaching

— Excerpted with permission from the North Carolina Community College System’s Principles and Techniques of Online Instruction.

 https://miamioh.edu/regionals/academics/elearning/ecampus-faculty-staff/eccoe-news/2019/01/differences-between-f2f-and-online.html

 Yi-Fan Chang, “Online vs. Face-to-Face Learning,” Edb.Utexas.Edu, accessed June 22, 2020, https://www.academia.edu/1576750/Online_vs._Face-to-Face_Learning.

 Activity 3.3 Practicing weaves

Even before I start this activity, I like it.  Reading the brief is exciting as I think it appeals to me as I love integrating discussions.

 My attempt: Based on the discussion around my own video: Christos Daskalakos Dances with Life

The nature of video prepared by everyone differs.  In response to my video, Christos Daskalakos, Dances with Life, which I thought may have been too long Scott Smalley found it to be something to aspire to.  We have no idea what impact our videos may have on others but it seems that Greig Krull finds that videos where “the lecturer/facilitator just recorded themselves using a phone at home or on location somewhere (either giving feedback or explaining something) to be the most valuable.”  The comments made by Najma Aghardien who used the words “fascinating ideas and so much creativity” and Renee Koch who expressed curiosity about “spatial meaning and embodiment” highlights the value of authentically presenting oneself to other students on online platforms.  The video should not be seen as simple record of fact but also as a source of inspiration, entertainment and learning for others.  It may be worth exploring this aspect in future when writing up the brief for this task if I were to include it in any of my courses.

 Activity 3.4 Reflection

Having entered week 3 of the course, it may be useful to reflect on the below questions:

1.       When is it important to encourage students to move from lurking to actively participating?

Before making this decision I would first interact with the student privately to find out if they are learning and if they are gaining value from the course.  Everyone learns in a different way and unless the ‘lurking’ behaviour is causing distress or dissent with the other students I am not so sure it would be necessary to change it.  However, in discussion with the student I would also try to find out what prompts non-participation.  I would then try to address this in a positive way.  If students say they are shy to initiate discussion, I would find ways to encourage that (further below)

2.       How do we, as online facilitators encourage participation while accommodating diverse learning styles (an equitable participation, if you will?

Give options

My feeling is that we need to explore different ways in which students can participate and contribute to sharing experiences and knowledge.  There will always be students who are reticent to initiate discussion or contribute opinions.  There is a range of ways in which interaction and participation can occur.  On one side of the spectrum there are the open discussion forums which are totally voluntary and on the other would be the delivery of a graded paper or assignment.  The course should include a range so that the students are gently encouraged to participate.  In the recent session SHARED SPACES I used to processes ensure that all voices were heard.

A: Check-in

For the check-in I asked the people who intended to join the session to photograph and upload two imaged to Padlet.com. One image was of their most public space in their house and the other private of space no one really gets to see, like a shed or a pantry.  When we met via ZOOM I screen shared the Padlet page and asked people to introduce themselves and then comment on their experience of taking the pics.  There was quite a variety of responses.

B: Breakout Rooms

During the session I set up breakout rooms with two participants in each.  This way it would be easier to share in a more intimate fashion. At the same time it was not voluntary so sharing was inevitable.  For the breakout room discussion we gave them two questions.

·         What does an online shared space look like?

·         What would you need in an online share space so that you feel connected?

C: Conclusion

When we returned from the breakout rooms we invited people to share what they had learnt.  Very little was offered and in hindsight it may have required a little more structure.

 This is just an example and I use it as I went through the experience of getting people to share and interact.  Each course will be different and I think there are a lot of online tools we can use to encourage sharing of ideas that do not always involve people having to speak or even to feel pressured to participate in online discussion forums.  I find exploring these possibilities exciting as it appeals to my sense of fairness and inclusion – but also I also tend towards ‘lurking’.

8^th June 2020

FacilitatingOnline2020A

Week 2: Conversing

Activity 2.1 Similarity Safari

 Reflection:

I find it hard to navigate the survey results. Eventually I ventured to send an email to someone who looked like they were going through the same things as me. I exchanged a couple of messages with Viz Moodley but have not taken it any further.  I am still finding it difficult to have an electronic chat.  This is going to be my biggest challenge with Online Facilitation – to be comfortable ‘chatting’ online.

 

 I did post on the Similarity Safari but was not quite sure what to say.  I seem to feel a lot of pressure when asked to make comment or write a post as I am not sure what the most appropriate thing to say is.  I did get response to my post from Myrtle Adams-Garnder, Robyn Van Zyl and Tracy-lynn Humbly.  I did reply to their posts but again felt that it would easier to chat about things and feel very self-conscious about my responses.  They seem a bit simplistic.

 

Activity 2.2 Encouraging participation

 This task seemed to touch a nerve as I feel that sometimes I am a bit of lurker.  I set out to find something in the literature that would make it alright and came across a paper called “A Theory of online learning as online participation by Stefan Hranstinski.  In particular I felt exonerated by the section "Conceptualizing of online learner participation" - especially ...."4.3 Participation is not synonymous with talking or writing"

Activity 2.3 How to work together to achieve our shared goals

 This was an interesting process.  At first I got myself into a muddle because I was using my personal pc at home and not signed into Google with WITS account.  I asked for help from our IT person in the school and got sorted out.  Although this is such a small thing, it really let me feel that I was getting a handle on things.  Being able to contribute to the document felt good.  I added my contributions quite early and going back to see what others have added was interesting.  We have such diverse perspectives!  In the end unrelated to exercise was a kind offer from Myrtle to a problem I had voiced in the discussion.  Online assessment.  Quite excited now to receive the presentation and go through it.

 

Activity 2.4 Reflections

 a)      What are your suggested strategies to build online communities?

I think that for people like me are a little reticent to engage spontaneously with others a more formal or structured approach would be useful.  This could take place in a number of ways:

-          Small group work projects

-          Small meetings

-          Breakout rooms in the virtual sessions (a five minute discussion)

It may also be useful in the beginning to set up more structured tasks. Very specific questions not having things too open ended.

I have been using self-assessment quizzes on SAKAI with my students to ensure they are engaging with the material.  It has proved useful as I do get email queries.  The grading book also keeps a good account of progress.

 

Swanson, K.W. & Kayler, Mary. (2009). Self-assessment in building online communities of learning. Handbook of Research on E-Learning Applications for Career and Technical Education: Technologies for Vocational Training. 431-443. 10.4018/978-1-60566-739-3.ch034.

 

b)     b)  What have you liked so far this week?

I enjoyed the virtual session.  I much prefer to listen to content than read it.

 

c)       c) What can you suggest to the facilitators to improve the course?

I am not sure at this stage I can offer anything constructive.  I just have an observation about myself.  I love that the facilitators respond to the posts etc.  But every time I see a comment which is didactic I feel (strange) not sure how to describe it. 

2^nd June 2020

FacilitatingOnline2020A

Week 1: Arriving

I am a week behind with the course.  I really don’t want to give up and will have to try and fit this in. I couldn’t access my students assignments on SAKAI and it took three weeks before I was able to find the right person to assist. Now I am flooded with grading assignments 44 x 4.  Its daunting as I want to give feedback to the students before the end of the term.

Activity 1.1 Introduce Yourself

Finally I have created a video. Interesting to note that I have a need to make sure that everything I produce is perfect.  This keeps me from moving forward sometimes.  Last week I spent a lot of time digging through old back up discs to collect material for my video.  I was so engrossed in the project that I didn’t note that instruction that it be about a minute long and have now produced something much longer.  I also seem to have a block about using Powerpoint which is irrational.  Instead I used a much more complicated video editing program.  Why would I dive into something complicated and avoid the simple?  Due to the time constraints and the need to catch up I have compromised on the video.   However I did manage to create a methodology.

1.       I wrote a script

2.       Recorded the script using a one person meeting on ZOOM.

3.       Created a folder called MY LIFE VIDEO and collected material

4.       Finally created the video in a program called OpenShot Video Editor

And then, have no idea where to upload it.  The simplest of things seem to confuse me.

This video is a little bit longer that what was suggested.  And a lot shorter than what I would have liked to say about myself.  The exercise made me thing about a lot of things and I had some very interesting AHA moments - often in the middle of the night!

Activity 1.2 Updating Your Profile

I have avoided doing this for ten years!  Or for however long we have been asked via our Head of School.  I have never felt comfortable uploading information about myself.  Partly I feel insecure about my research etc.  It’s so unconventional for the Department of Architecture that I felt too vulnerable to expose myself online.  But have taken the plunge now.

Activity 1.3 Getting to know your space

Insights about the Online Facilitation Course Model

·         Find it hard to just connect with other participants so Level 2: Conversing is going to be a challenge.

·         Level 3: Facilitating is still daunting – but hope to get there with ease soon!

Activity 1.4 Assessing your online facilitation capabilities

The Facilitator Capabilities completed.

I feel I need a bit more experience to be able to make a better assessment.

This is new to me and am guessing a little bit as to my strengths and weaknesses.

Activity 1.5 Reflection

Have uploaded this page to the Learning Journal.

A couple of engagements – but I need to also spend some time exploring the Learning Journals of others.

29^th May 2020

FacilitatingOnline2020A

Week 0: Preparing

Virtual Session 28^th May 2020

Yesterday during the Microsoft Teams meeting I was logged on as a guest – which meant that I could neither see the chats of the other participants nor contribute in any way.  Some people did raise the issue so it felt superfluous to add my voice to that.  It didn’t seem as if anyone could resolve the problem.  I find Microsoft Teams hard to negotiate anyway.  I mainly use ZOOM a platform which I am now very familiar with.  Equally frustrating about the meeting yesterday was that it focused on only one of the options that have been suggested for e-portfolios.  I didn’t choose Google as I have several Gmail accounts and signing into google is now very chaotic.  I haven’t really conceptualised how it works yet.  Sometimes I can access documents on google docs and sometimes I can’t.  I imagine this is due to which email address is being used/invited etc.  Because of this I opted for the Blog although now I feel that maybe I made this decision too quickly.  During the presentation I missed something in the beginning which meant that I spent about ten minutes of the presentation on my own google search to try and catch up.  Overall I think I learnt quite a lot but the experience was extremely frustrating

 Online Facilitation Course Model

I understand the logic of this model but overall do not feel in any way connected to anyone. 

 Level 1: Arriving

I have managed to create an e-portfolio but I have not looked at any of the portfolios or other course participants.  Looking at the rubric now I wonder if I did the right thing and now feel I have to take a step backwards.

 Level 2: Conversing

I find the number of people on the course overwhelming.  They are still strangers to me and I find it difficult to relate to a ‘community’.

 e-portfolio rubric revised

 Quick look at this document but so much info to take in. 

Maybe better if I look at this later in the course when I feel more comfortable with what I am doing.

 Learning Journal of colleagues

“Respond to the insights and questions about the course model shared by at least one of your colleagues in their journal. Be sure to practice sound online facilitation skills.” 

After clicking on several names I thought I was doing something wrong as I did not see any entries. Eventual I found the journal entry of Laetitia and was reassured that this was not the case. I am also relieved to see that she is going through much the same emotions around the course.