“life is just one big balancing act” by NCinDC is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
The ubiquity of digital technologies has significantly impacted education and learning; innovations like eLearning, mobile learning, immersive and simulated learning, and the list go on, so I will stop here. The pandemic crisis has heightened the need for digital technologies in education to bridge physical distancing issues to promote safety. Our role as educators and facilitators is to ensure a balance between the use of education technology and the learners we are supposed to serve.
I chose the image of a man performing a balancing act because I believe, as an educator, it is my role to ensure there is a balance between education technologies, inclusivity, and access. As I ponder on this thought, the ideas that came to mind about digital facilitation are:
- Digital facilitation is about using digital technology to facilitate either synchronous or asynchronous learning sessions.
- Digital facilitation can enhance human connection and promote cultural tolerance, inclusivity, and access to learning for almost every learner if done right.
- Digital facilitation can act as a bridge to work collaboratively with other groups. It can enhance a community of learners through either synchronous or asynchronous coaching and support.
As we continue to promote education technologies to enhance and mediate learning, burning questions I have are:
- How can educators and facilitators enhance their digital skills, including cultural competencies, in facilitating a virtual learning environment?
- Is digital facilitation only exclusive to virtual facilitation? If I am in the classroom, using digital technologies to enhance learning, e.g., Kahoot to poll questions, storyline to present learning objectives and case studies in an interactive way, would that be considered digital facilitation?
Hi Sharon, I enjoyed your post. Re: your second question, “Is digital facilitation only exclusive to virtual facilitation? If I am in the classroom, using digital technologies to enhance learning, e.g., Kahoot to poll questions, storyline to present learning objectives and case studies in an interactive way, would that be considered digital facilitation?” In my opinion, yes. The use of multimedia or digital technologies in a traditional classroom would be considered digital facilitation as you are using these platforms to enhance the learning exerience even though it’s in a face-to-face environmet. I imagine some would disagree though.
Thank you Susan for your comments! Leigh also made a good point about digital facilitation not inclusive to virtual- synchronous or asynchronous. You may also find this link interesting (Leigh shared) https://www.howspace.com/digital-facilitation. 🙂
Hi Sharon,
I enjoyed reading your blog post! You have clearly articulated so much of what is going on what now in education and digital facilitation. I most appreciated your choice of the image of a man performing a balancing act, as a metaphor for digital facilitation, because you “believe, as an educator, it is [your] role to ensure there is a balance between education technologies, inclusivity, and access.” I think this is a wonderful goal and aspiration – to find THAT balance – as an educator today. I aspire to that same goal of a balance between education technologies, inclusivity, and access in my instructional planning–previously for K-12, and now for adult learners. And it is indeed, quite a balancing act – WITH A BREEZE of constant change to affect one’s balance.
I also strongly support your idea of digital facilitation as being able to: “enhance human connection and promote cultural tolerance, inclusivity, and access to learning for almost every learner if done right.” IF done right. Once again, a balancing act– but so necessary and worthy of the effort. I have appreciated our course readings and investigations of Universal Design for Learning principles to support these efforts.
You also raised an interesting question: “Is digital facilitation only exclusive to virtual facilitation?” My first inclination in response to this question, as a K-12 teacher who regularly incorporated educational technology into classroom activities, was, “No, digital facilitation is not exclusive to virtual facilitation.” But then I thought I would do a little research to see what the ‘rest of the world’ says about this. I came across this interesting definition from what looks like an interesting company: “Digital facilitation allows participants to engage with one another not only during a workshop but also before and after. This way, each participant becomes an active change agent, instead of a passive bystander. In this ultimate guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about digital facilitation, including the benefits, best practices, and the best tools” (Howspace: https://www.howspace.com/digital-facilitation). Another site https://www.neole.ca/what-is-digital-facilitation-2/ reminds us of the HUMAN components of digital faciliation, in face-to-face environments. You know all of this, but thought I would share where you led me! 🙂
Best,
Leigh
Hi Leigh, thank you for your thoughtful comments. Since we started this learning journey, you and I have always shared the same interest and passion to support digital education that is inclusive and accessible to all. I’ve been in many conversations with family and friends that do take access to education technology for granted because after all, we are part of the privileged learners. I commend your work and your commitment to always strike a balance in your design and delivery of educational programs- after all, we are doing these for all learners. It could be challenging since there are many things that are beyond our control, e.g., areas that have low bandwidth, kids that may not have access to technologies, and so forth. As educators, we are faced with education and social justice issues all the time. Our course with Irwin has heightened my awareness of these social justice issues and just like you, I am committed to making a difference at my workplace by ensuring we are providing inclusive and accessible education and training for all our staff. Although all our classes have switched to virtual, we still provide on-site instructions to those that need it- with physical distancing 🙂 Thank you for the links on digital facilitation. I enjoyed reading howspace.com and their take on digital facilitation that I bookmark it! 🙂