Activity 9-1 Review of Facilitation

As I review my original thoughts on facilitation, I see my approach has shifted from what makes a good facilitator, to how does the facilitator fit in open education.

Three thoughts I now have on digital facilitation based on my course experience are as follows:

1. A facilitator is someone who assists in engaging the participants in the learning experience, not someone who is responsible for the participant’s learning.
2. A facilitator can help the participants approach the digital learning material in a way that meets their unique learning needs.
3. In order to make digital facilitation successful, there needs to be support from the educational institution in the way of training, technology, and the freedom to inject digital educational practices into the current learning model. 

Two questions I have about digital facilitation are:

1. As an educator, what parameters are we using to set standards for competence in digital technology? Can we start to assume a basic level of digital literacy from our students?
2. How can we effectively evaluate learning in a digital environment when participants engage with the content asynchronously? 

The following image is how I like to think about facilitation:

I feel that this image is a metaphor for the togetherness that is needed in a facilitation environment. The learning is everyone’s responsibility and everyone chips in to help each other towards the learning objective. There are some that are better to lead, and others who are happy to follow, while some are best positioned alongside someone who is struggling in order to champion them towards the finish line. All of these traits can be useful as a facilitator, as students often respond to different characteristics in a ‘teacher.’

I still struggle to see how to objectively evaluate learning in digital or open education. Coming from a healthcare background, my education had very clear objectives that often had a black and white, right or wrong approach. 

Delving into the grey of open education, I can see issues arising in fields where traditional education strategies are not compatible with the emerging open ed practices. Many institutions are protective over their curriculum, some of which is financially supported by stakeholders who demand their material be kept secure. Facilitating in this new world of open education can be a challenge and an adventure. Students have access to material that can greatly assist their learning, but can get lost in the vastness and lose track of the learning objective. I’ve learned it’s harder to keep them on track when you open the doors to open ed. That being said, it’s also impressive to see the flow of knowledge as students share and engage with open material. It’s inspiring to see students take control over their learning instead of sitting back and waiting to be spoon fed from the instructor