In LRNT528, I had the opportunity to co-facilitate a week of discussions with my team, and participate in other digital courses and discussions facilitated by other classmates.
3 thoughts about digital facilitation based on my course experience
In my first 3-2-1 blog post at the beginning of this course, I felt that digital facilitation allows for, but needs to find balance in integrating new technology and tools. Additionally, fostering and evaluating meaningful participant engagement can be difficult.
During my facilitation week, our team chose to limit the number of platforms and digital tools used for discussion and engagement. We saw our classmate engage in meaningful discussion with only a simple reflective prompt, and my three thoughts about digital facilitation now are:
- Engagement uptake is driven largely by participant interest
- Triggering questions open up the space for participants to reflect and share their thoughts
- The ability for participants to connect to each other is not dependent on the tools and platforms chosen, but by their ability to relate to others’ shared thoughts and ideas.
2 questions about digital facilitation
Prior to facilitating, I wondered what the facilitator would take away from the experience and how to integrate tools without overwhelming the audience. My two follow up questions are:
- What are strategies for facilitation that will encourage participants to drive their own research and knowledge after the experience has ended?
- How can we effectively integrate learner feedback and improvements agilely while a facilitation is underway?
1 metaphor
Previously, I used the metaphor of a Ferris wheel for digital facilitation where every experience is a separate carriage on the wheel and every experience is different depending on who is in the carriage with you. I believe that my new metaphor should focus on the participants as the main driver of a facilitation experience. The facilitator provides the framework and space for interaction and discussion, but the experience is led by the input from the participants.
Perhaps, instead of a Ferris wheel where the control of the wheel is out of our hands, it should be more like a paraglider. Where the equipment is the facilitator enabling the experience, and the participant is the rider determining where they might land and navigating the winds. In this sense, the overall experience requires both facilitator and participant to work together, but the participant plays a large role in determining the quality of their experience.
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