3 Initial Thoughts
- Whenever I hear the word “facilitation”, my initial thought is that it’s synonymous with teaching. While this isn’t necessarily wrong, I also recognize that facilitation is so much more. The Association for Talent Development (n.d.) emphasizes that facilitation and presentation are key tools that every trainer should have, yet differentiates between the two, stating that “in contrast to presentation, which is typically characterized by a “sage on the stage” delivering content to an audience, facilitation usually involves a “guide on the side” who asks questions, moderates, discussions, introduces activities, and helps participants learn” (para.1).
- Boettcher’s (n.d.) ten principles are a great guide to facilitating in an online environment. I recently interviewed for an online instructor position, and among their questions, they asked if I would be open to having a dedicated time each week for students to ask questions (similar to office hours). Since Boettcher (n.d.) emphasized the importance of being present for students, this is something that I will focus on should I be successful in getting the position.
- I appreciate that Boettcher (n.d.) said that “learning within the setting of an online course community will work better for some students than for others. Some students may choose not to participate very actively at all” (“Best Practice 2”). I am often this student since I don’t feel as though discussion forums are an organic way of communicating. Despite this, I am still interested in many of the topics that are discussed, I just prefer to communicate in-person with smaller groups. All this is to say that not even the greatest facilitator, or leading edge technologies, can tailor an online environment to everyone’s preference.
2 Questions
- As Boettcher (n.d.) said, “if content is not digital, it is as if it does not exist for students” (“Best Practice “), and since we live in such digital-heavy world, do we even need to specify digital facilitation, or will there be a time (if not already) where facilitation is just assumed to be digital?
- What can digital facilitators do to help those who are not keen on participating in discussion forums?
1 Metaphor
I couldn’t help but laugh at Boettcher’s (n.d.) comment that content can be accessed through mp3 players – a rather dated reference. But as we all know, technology changes quickly, which leads to digital facilitation evolving as well. I took the metaphor of looking into the future to ponder what’s next for digital facilitation.
References
Boettcher, J. V. (n.d.). Ten best practices for teaching online. Design for Learning. http://designingforlearning.info/writing/ten-best-practices-for-teaching-online/
What is facilitation?: ATD. (n.d.). https://www.td.org/talent-development-glossary-terms/what-is-facilitation