Online Facilitation

2008-03-03 15:51:24

( Web Hosting-SEO-Web Design )



What is Online Facilitation?

Facilitation refers to a pedagogical method where you elicit discussion among your students instead of conducting an entire lecture yourself. In facilitating, you allow students to talk more than you do. You simply act as the navigator of the discussion and control its flow.

Technological advances have made online facilitations possible, where you can communicate online with your students using either vocal or non-vocal chat access, or even a video conference platform.

Benefits of Online Facilitation

Online facilitation allows you to reach people who are in different places all at the same time. They don't need to physically meet at a specific venue and can even be in the comfort of their own homes or at a favorite recreation spot.

Online focus groups are usually small in number, so each member can contribute to the discussion and not be left out. As online facilitator, you can easily monitor each person's progress during the session.

Online facilitation also allows you to display text, videos or slide shows to your students effectively, as long as they have the system requirements. Your students can concentrate on the teaching materials better since they can view and hear them right on their computer screens. Online facilitation also makes learning more fun and interesting for your students, especially those with short attention spans.

Pitfalls of Online Facilitation

You need to be very skillful in leading an online facilitation session. Some participants may not be able to cope with the speed and flow of the discussion.

A common pitfall is to have too many participants in your online focus group, that you may lose attention of some members and forget to elicit views or answers from them.

If you're a novice online facilitator, you may also find it challenging to maintain an orderly discussion. You might be allowing only the most dominant members to participate, while shortchanging the more timid ones.

Just like classroom settings, online discussions are not immune to tendencies of getting out of hand, or dragging longer than expected.

Tips for the Online Facilitator

In organizing an online focus group, be careful in choosing your members. They must manifest similar skill levels, so that no one gets left behind during the sessions.

Before starting your discussions, make sure to review house rules with your online focus group, so that the session will flow smoothly. Observe their behaviors carefully during the session and get to know their personalities. Keep the more active ones in check so that they don't dominate the conversation, and encourage the timid ones to speak up or at least send chat messages.

Always keep to the time schedule. Start and end your sessions on time. Leave a lot of time for open discussions, and regularly remind everyone of the time constraint.

Above all, treat everyone with courtesy and respect during the session. This gives them the message that they are equally important.


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