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Course Overview

Participant Facilitation Sessions

Late in this course, depending on the "track" that you've signed up for (as explained on the previous page), you will either be:

  • Reviewing Participants: participating in and giving feedback on at least two synchronous online sessions facilitated by Practicing Facilitators, or
  • Practicing Facilitators: facilitating or co-facilitating a synchronous online session for Reviewing Participants, course facilitators and any other guests you wish to invite

This experience is a chance to practice and demonstrate - in real time - some of the concepts that we will be discussing and modelling in this course - whether you will be facilitating or giving feedback on facilitation.

For Reviewing Participants, you will need to:

  • In Week 2, respond to questions from Practicing Facilitators as they plan their facilitated sessions
  • In late Week 2/early Week 3, participate in at least two sessions being facilitated by an individual or pair of Practicing Facilitators, and complete the Facilitation Session Guide (below) during or after your session attendance
  • Give feedback to those facilitators in Week 3

For Practicing Facilitators, you will need to:

  • By the end of Week 1, decide if you are going to facilitate alone, with someone in the course, or with someone outside the course, and if co-facilitating, work with them during Week 2 to plan your facilitation
    • As part of this, you will need to decide if you are going to facilitate something in a content area (i.e. a subject you'd like to teach/explore with your participants) or if you are going to facilitate your participants through some sort of process (e.g. brainstorming), or a combination of both
  • Facilitate your session in late Week 2/early Week 3, giving advance notice to course participants/facilitators via the Booking Wiki (in the Hub)
  • Reflect on your facilitation and post your reflection in Week 3; receive feedback from course participants and facilitators
  • Participate in one other synchronous session facilitated by your course peers and provide feedback on that session

Frequently Asked Questions of Practicing Facilitators

What is the length of the session that I should facilitate?

If you are facilitating alone, your session should be approximately 15-30 minutes in length. If you are facilitating as a pair, your session should be approximately 30-45 minutes in length.

Who will attend my facilitated session?

You will need to advertise the date of your session with your colleagues and facilitators in this course via the Booking Calendar. You may also wish to ask your institution colleagues (or even family and friends!) to attend your synchronous session so that they, too, can provide you with feedback. Note: Course facilitators may not be able to attend all synchronous sessions but will give you feedback based on your request for feedback (described below) after you reflect on the session and post about it.

What should my session be about?

If you are facilitating a content area, you can choose any appropriate content subject you like that you think is ideal to fit the time frame of the session. If you are facilitating a process and not "teaching" a topic per se, then you will want to think of a focus for the session, perhaps in a question form. Use the Facilitation Session Guide (below) to help you plan.

Who should I ask questions of when planning my session?

Please ask questions of the entire class, not just the facilitators. Reviewing Participants along with the course facilitators are tasked with giving feedback as you plan your session. If you are co-facilitating with someone in the class, you will also be working with them to plan your session.

When should I facilitate my session?

You should facilitate your session sometime late in Week 2 or early in Week 3.  You must record your session. You are welcome to use another platform that you have access to if you don't have access to Blackboard Collaborate.

What should I do after my session?

Reflect on your session after you have facilitated, ideally with your co-facilitator if you have had one. Use the Facilitation Session Guide (below) to assist in your reflection. You may also want to read the Week 3 notes on reflection.

Ask the participants of your session to fill out a short evaluation. You can either give them the Facilitation Session Guide or use a short evaluation form that you create yourself.

Follow a 3-2-1 Feedback structure to post your reflections in the Week 3 discussion forum by the date indicated in the Course Schedule. This structure is:

  • 3 things that you thought went really well in the session in terms of your facilitation skills, technical skills or session design
  • 2 things that you weren't sure went well or that you think could be improved next time
  • 1 question that you have for the group about something specific in the session that you are wondering about or would like feedback on

To help your course peers and facilitators be able to give you feedback on certain portions of your session, please re-watch your recorded session as much as you need to and note the times that certain things occurred and post these timings in the forum with your 3-2-1 structure.

Facilitation Session Guide

Use this Facilitation Session Guide* to help you plan and reflect on your session (practicing facilitator) or give feedback on the session (reviewing participants).

*This link downloads the Guide to your computer.