Facilitating Learning Online - APR2015-OER

This mini-session uses a prepared case study that highlights challenges related to the discussions and readings of last week - the diverse needs of adult learners online. Once you’ve read the case study documents and contacted your co-facilitator(s) (team members), take a moment and review the suggestions that follow.

Reminder!

Read the Overview, Readings and Resources before you begin planning. Connect with your team early.

Your tasks:

Lead the participants through this process (with clear instructions and timelines). In the time allotted, and on a schedule that you determine, participants need to: 

• read the case study materials
• look around for other information or sources (optional, but worth a google)
• share their thoughts in the collaborative tool you have chosen
• prepare a short summary of the group's conclusions
• give feedback on this mini-session activity

Assessing learning:

Your mini-session's intended learning outcomes list some suggestions for assessment criteria. Although you are not asked to formally assess the participant’s learning, you’ll be asked to complete a final reflective survey (FLIF - Feel, Like Improve, Feedback) and share your thoughts about the learning that occurred.

Ideas for facilitating this activity

You could follow this basic four-step process:

1. Create, and share with participants, a brief overview and orientation to the topic and activities you have planned. Include any information about timeline expectations.
2. Select a method of engaging participants in the activity - will you use a different tool to facilitate group communication or debate? Will you ask the participants to do additional research to add to the case study analysis or encourage them to draw on their own experiences?
3. Present carefully crafted questions and facilitate the discussion, providing clarification, supplementary instruction, guidance, coaching and feedback as required. Write questions that facilitate critical thinking, application, synthesis, close and thoughtful reading.
4. Summarize and conclude your mini-session.

More ideas - be more or less directive - including things like:

• Define (even assign) roles and tasks to individuals (e.g., you could split the group into "course" and "instructor" and have each focus on those 2 aspects of the case)
• Provide interim deadlines (e.g., identify key issues by “X” date, generate draft list of recommendations by “Y” date, etc)
• Decide (or not) what shape the final product (their recommendations) should take. You could suggest they present in any format that makes sense to communicate their ideas (list, table, diagram, collage, video, narrated PowerPoint), or you could assign a format.
• When providing choice, it's a good idea to ask your learners to commit to their choice by a certain date – this keeps you in the loop, and ensures they're on track.

Above all - don't forget that your participants have a limited to time to complete the activity so keep it simple!