Month: August 2023

As we begin a new course on facilitation in digital learning environments, we are asked to reflect on our initial thoughts about digital facilitation in a 3-2-1 format. Below are my thoughts. 

3 Initial Thoughts 

Effective facilitation in an online learning environment takes a lot of careful planning and work to ensure learning objectives are being met in a meaningful way. You cannot take an in-person learning plan and plug it into an online environment, contrary to what many people believe. 

Taking the role of a co-learner when facilitating in a digital learning environment by being a (relatively) active participant in discussions (Bull, 2013), can help develop facilitation skills and strategies while also learning more from the context of the participants. 

There is a lot of potential for online learning, but good design and facilitation of learning are key to the realization of this potential. This includes the careful and thoughtful balance between social, cognitive, and teaching presence as described in the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model (Dunlap & Lowenthal, 2018). 

2 Questions 

Boettcher (n.d.) suggests that using current news events for students to relate to and discuss can be motivating. What are other effective digital facilitation strategies that support engagement and motivation? 

There are several elements to consider when designing and facilitating an effective online learning experience. However, most of these elements apply to learning that takes place over a period of time. How does this translate to short-duration learning events such as one-off professional learning?  

1 Metaphor  

Being a facilitator of digital learning is like being a wedding planner. They are focused on the experience of others, working behind the scenes to ensure a smooth and memorable event for all who attend. 

References 

Boettcher, J.V. (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. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/eight-roles-of-an-effective-online-teacher/ 

Dunlap, J. C., & Lowenthal, P. R. (2018). Online educators’ recommendations for teaching online: Crowdsourcing in action. Open Praxis, 10(1), 79. https://doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.10.1.721

As we near the end of LRNT 527, we have been asked to reflect on our journey in this course and how our final Digital Learning Resource (DLR) might expand into the final stages of the MALAT program. Throughout this course, I have been working towards completing an eLearning module for my team at work aimed at developing their design and facilitation skills for delivering professional learning. This module is a proposed solution to a Problem of Practice (PoP) that I identified as being that short-duration, content-heavy professional learning for K-12 educators and administrators does not usually result in deep learning leading to changes in policy and practice. Reflecting on my design thinking process to arrive at my final DLR product, I am grateful to have engaged in the empathy stage of the process and feel that is the most important thing that I did to yield the most promising result. Mindful Marks (2018) describes the empathy stage of the design process as a way to understand the feelings, needs, and pain points of the people we are designing as being critical to producing an effective final product. I feel strongly about this after conducting a needs assessment and gaining a deeper understanding of the specific challenges my colleagues face as well as their learning goals for their own professional development. This process allowed me to align my instructional goals with their expressed needs and goals and was truly foundational to the subsequent steps in the design process. I am confident that I will have an effective final product for my colleagues. 

However, I am less confident that this will solve my PoP entirely. The issue of behaviour change after a professional learning session, I believe, is related to a larger systemic problem that will take several steps and changes to yield results. Having said that, I am reminded of the ‘starfish story’ in which a man finds a young boy throwing beach-stranded starfish one by one back into the ocean. The man asks the boy what he is doing, and the boy responds by saying that he is saving the starfish. The man challenges the boy saying that he will never make a difference given how many starfish were stranded on the beach, and the boy responds by picking up a starfish and throwing it into the ocean, saying, “It made a difference to that one.” So, improving the design and facilitation skills of my colleagues to aid in the process of learning is one way to help create the conditions for change in practice for the people who attend the professional learning sessions we offer as a team. It will not solve the problem on its own, but it will make a difference. 

Moving forward in the MALAT program, as I approach the final two courses and applied research project, I am inspired to continue to humanize my process of thinking and design. To humanize the process is to be inclusive of diverse perspectives and ways of knowing (Wellum, 2022), which aligns with my desire to create culturally inclusive professional learning environments and experiences. My completed DLR gives me a foundation to build upon in terms of understanding what effective design and facilitation of professional learning means. I am looking forward to exploring this further, including how to decolonize professional learning by using constructivist learning theories. 

References 
Mindful Marks. (2018, June 9). 1. Design thinking: Empathize [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q654-kmF3Pc&t=24s

Wellum, C. (Ed.). (2022). Humanizing Learning: A student-generated framework. University of Toronto Mississauga and the Humanizing Learning Team. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/humanizinglearningframework/