SCoPE: Seminars: Papers and resources to share

Thanks Cindy for putting so much thought into facilitating this forum. And I think that's the point...on-line leaders need to spend considerable thought and time constructing the ideal learning environment that will encourage, sustain and celebrate on-line dialogue. I facilitate a dialogue for special education teachers on-line - their biggest complaint is never having enough time and the random search for resources on-line (what a way to lose 4 hours on a sunday!)

Here. you've given a great example of prep - the wiki, thoughtful responses and great resources embedded in the dialogue - no time spent googling here!

Thanks, I'm enjoying this!

:) susan

Re: Leadership & Dialogue

by Monica Macaulay - Tuesday, 8 May 2007, 12:54 PM

To build on the discussion of leadership function I believe regardless of your role (facilitator, guide, moderator, servant, hero, host, etc. etc.) the first function of leadership should be to obtain a good understanding of your audience/students. It has been my experience that until you understand the needs, backgrounds, and goals of your audience you can't fully function as a leader to them. Some audiences might require and demand a more formal relationship placing the leader in more of a teacher-type role whereas others may require a softer approach to leadership such as through the role of servant. Either way I believe information transmission needs to take place but the extent to which it takes place successfully will depend on how the leader re-invents him/herself to meet the audience's needs. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Phew.....did that make any sense???

Thanks for this discussion I too have been looking forward to it.

Monica

Re: Leadership & Dialogue

by Cindy Xin - Tuesday, 8 May 2007, 10:47 PM

Thanks Susan and Monica for your responses.

Anyone who has facilitate online discussion can agree with Susan - “on-line leaders need to spend considerable thought and time constructing the ideal learning environment that will encourage, sustain and celebrate on-line dialogue.” It is true also for quality face-to-face teaching. The difference is that online, the communication link is much easier to break than it is in a physical classroom. All you have online is pretty much text. There is no physical tension, the silent eye contacts, etc. etc to hold your audience. If one is not careful and thoughtful, one can quickly loose her audience, and it is very easy to quit online. Therefore as an online lead, one must spend much thought in structure the conversation and considerable time prepare one’s responses in order to keep a discussion going in an engaging way.

Interestingly enough, the reason we spend so much time writing our online responses is because we can. In the face-to-face environment we have to react quickly otherwise you miss the boat. Asynchronous communication gives us the time and space to reflect and to think carefully before respond. This is one of the most important features of online dialogue.

Knowing your audience is an important part of the preparation mentioned above. It is very true, as Monica pointed out, depending on who the audience is, it calls very different styles of leadership. In a typical undergraduate online course discussion, the instructor most probably needs to provide a lot more structure and exercise a lot more control than if she teaches a Ph.D. level or professional level class. This actually touches the control issue Nick argues in his latest message, which I’ll respond next.

Cindy