Category: LRNT 528

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Final Blog Post

So, to recap, here were the 3-2-1’s from my initial blog post for this course:

Feelings:

  1. Facilitation is harder online
  2. Facilitation needs to be developed more thoughtfully online
  3. I might not be good online. My in-person presence might not translate.

Questions

  1. How to find new sources of resources, etc
  2. How to find friendly critics/beta testers

Metaphor:

  1. Online collaboration happens differently than in-classroom. Looking back on this, I may not have described it well. What I was trying to say was that collaboration may happen more overtly between online learners outside of the facilitator’s ‘view’ because, unlike the classroom, the facilitator cannot see what is happening if the learners are collaborating on a back channel in which the facilitator is not involved. This is not to say that the collaboration is bad, but rather that maybe it’s better than we thought it would be.

Now that we are at the end of this course, not only have my views changed, but I realize that I asked the wrong questions and had the wrong feelings. Or rather, not wrong, but where I thought I would go through the course is NOT where I went at all. And this is a pleasant surprise. A few things stood out. First was the feedback methodology, next was the realization that online is not better or worse but simply different, and finally that connections have different ‘flavors’.

The ability for learners to give anonymous feedback to someone that does not hold power over their grades was freeing, I think. We received constructive feedback that was honest, and we actually received it. Anecdotally, whenever I have asked for feedback or a survey, I have received feedback from less than 30% of participants. Including this feedback as part of our required work, but anonymously, was a good way of getting to some honest information.

The other thing that I realized is that online facilitation is not necessarily harder, nor does it have to be developed more thoughtfully than in-classroom. It is simply different. The nature of the relationships that we build with learners online is just different than when we see them in-person. I felt better about that by the end.

Finally, keeping connected with my network will be a good way to keep up on the new resources coming out, as well as finding people to beta test my upcoming materials. Seeing how the different groups presented material gives me a bit of insight into how we each facilitate, and from where we all draw inspiration, which can help me decide who may be good contacts for certain types of review.

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Open Educational Resources Week – Thoughts

This week, we were challenged to consider the advantages and disadvantages of Open Educational Resources (OER). As someone who previously made my living from non-OER, I have been really torn about this topic. I found the readings this week helpful in adding to my knowledge on the topic and I got some new things to think about.

There is a lot that can be done with OER I think: maybe more than I thought could be done. The spirit of OER is more democratic and more in keeping with equity in education. It is not, however, how the world generally works today.

I have been thinking a lot during this week about how we can use OER in niche, necessarily protected areas, like nuclear security. OER methods can be used for facilitation, but the content could still be protected I think. I came across a podcast this week that talked about using a lot of open source tools in the monetization of products, which is where this thought came from. (PS – Mattermost is cited as a viable alternative to Slack).

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LRNT 528: Assignment 1: Infographic

Fishbone Diagram

I chose a fishbone diagram deliberately. I work in the nuclear industry and the fishbone diagram is one root cause analysis (RCA) technique used in industries like nuclear that are required to investigate incidents and improve processes.

From the tail on the left, a fishbone diagram has the observed elements or causes that feed into an event or process. In my infographic, the tail section contains various strategies available for each of the three presences (Teaching, Social, and Cognitive) outlined in the Community of Inquiry framework (Lalonde, 2020, 2:20). The fish head on the right is the result. For an investigation, for example, it would be the observed event. For my infographic, it is the created learning event, considering the strategies for each presence.

I facilitate learning for professionals in the nuclear industry who need to learn and apply regulatory requirements. The next learning event I will be facilitating will be at an international conference in Vancouver in November 2022 where we will be discussing radiation safety training with a group of senior trainers in the industry. I plan to use this information to help prepare that event.

For this infographic assignment, keeping my context in mind, I chose the following strategies for each presence:

  1. Teaching
    1. Vaughan et al (2013) discussed the need to make sure there is a place for the community when developing learning.
    2. Boettcher’s (n.d.) best practices included creating “a supportive online course community” (Boettcher, 2013, heading 2). To me, this said vulnerability by the facilitator first.
    3. Vaughan et al (2013) talked about providing participants with choices early on. The facilitator needs to have these ready beforehand.
  2. Social
    1. For the group to develop its glue, humor can be used (Garrison et al, 2000).
    2. Self-disclosure by learners after the prepared disclosure noted in #1 above by the facilitator can be useful (Garrison et al, 2000).
    3. Recognition (Garrison et al., 2000) is important for learners to receive to continue to participate and make meaning of their learning.
  3. Cognitive
    1. Learners need time to be together and discuss as described by Boettcher (n.d.).
    2. Learners need time to reflect (Boettcher, n.d.) in small groups.
    3. Learners need a Mirror that the facilitator can be (Bull, 2013).

References:

Boettcher, J. (n.d.). Ten Best Practices for Teaching Online – Designing for Learning. http://designingforlearning.info/writing/ten-best-practices-for-teaching-online/

Bull, B. (2013, June 3). Eight Roles of an Effective Online Teacher. Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-course-delivery-and-instruction/eight-roles-of-an-effective-online-teacher/

Lalonde, C. (2020, August 22). Facilitation in a Community of Inquiry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv1bUZv5PLs

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (1999). Critical Inquiry in a Text-Based Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2–3), 87–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1096-7516(00)00016-6

Vaughan, N. D., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Garrison, D. R. (2013). Teaching in blended learning environments: Creating and sustaining communities of inquiry. AU Press.

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LRNT 528 Activity 1-4: 3-2-1 Blog Post

Three initial feelings about digital facilitation are that:

  1. Facilitation is harder online. Without the advantage of being able to see body language in person, I feel like it would be hard to understand learners’ needs as well in order to meet them.
  2. More accurately, facilitation needs to be developed more thoughtfully. Facilitators would need to have a good understanding of their learners’ situations in order to develop effective facilitation methods.
  3. Those facilitators who are good in person may not translate online. I know some amazing in-person facilitators who just didn’t click online. Part of it has been a technology learning curve and part of it has been just a difficulty in translating their own personality to another medium.

Two questions I have about digital facilitation:

  1. How do you find new stuff like Mattermost? There are SO many new platforms and delivery methods coming out all the time. How on earth do we find and keep up with them???
  2. How to build a community of friendly critics for beta testing? I would like a safe place, or safe group of experience facilitators, to review my ideas before launch.

One metaphor or simile about digital facilitation:

A recent class I took through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in July not only permitted group work for the final exam but encouraged it! It was a course on Management Systems that very accurately recognized that, in real life, we will never be working in complete isolation. The test was therefore designed to be better completed by choosing a peer/colleague whose knowledge complements our own. The result was a good collaboration experience in the final quiz, where we both brought our own knowledge and experience to the table. Here’s my image then: