Facilitation plan – Fostering inclusive facilitation practices

Image by Midjourney

Co-authored post by Giulia Di Giovanni, Terry Kent, Andrea Livingstone, and Darren Wilson

In preparation for our facilitation week, our team has engaged in a planning process to incorporate some best practices in facilitation to create a successful learning experience for our participants. The learning content we will be delivering centres around the facilitator’s role in creating inclusive learning environments.

1. Learning objective

To develop an understanding of the facilitator’s role in creating inclusive learning environments and to acquire practical tips and workshop strategies for fostering inclusivity in digital learning environments.

2. Timeline

The proposed timeline for our learning module is as follows:

Date	Mode	Facilitators	Learners
Sunday October 8	Asynchronous	Introduction and orientation to the learning module	Pre-work assigned: (reading/video)
Tuesday October 10	Asynchronous	Comment on learner reflections	Post reflections on discussion forum
Wednesday October 11	Asynchronous	Comment on learner reflections	Comment on peer reflections
Thursday October 12	Synchronous	Lead Zoom session. Summarize themes from learner reflections, describe best practices in inclusive facilitation, guide large and small group discussions	Participate in Zoom session
Friday October 13	Asynchronous	Module summary	Final reflection
Saturday October 14	Asynchronous	Gather feedback	Provide feedback

The timeline is designed bearing in mind that the first two days of the facilitation week take place on a holiday weekend, and that participants’ time will likely be divided. Therefore, we have allocated additional time in the first days of asynchronous learning to complete the learning activities in preparation for the synchronous session, which we have tentatively scheduled for Thursday evening.

3. Learning resources

We will use the following resources to initiate learning during our facilitation week:

LabXchange. (2023, March 23). What Is an Inclusive Classroom? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-AWPB8adE4

Page, C., Hardwick, J., & Takacs, S. (2021). Creating Inclusive Online Learning Environments. In C. Page (Ed.), Inclusive Pedagogies. Kwantlen Polytechnic University. https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/inclusivepedagogies/chapter/creating-inclusive-online-learning-environments/

These resources will be provided to our learners as optional supplementary learning:

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning for Student Success. (n.d.). Inclusive Online Teaching. Appalachian State University. Retrieved September 12, 2023, from https://cetlss.appstate.edu/inclusive-excellence/inclusive-teaching/inclusive-online-teaching

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

Gamrat, C. (2020, February 6). Inclusive Teaching and Course Design. Educause Review. https://er.educause.edu/blogs/2020/2/inclusive-teaching-and-course-design

Hanson, C. (2022). Inclusive workshop toolkit. Teaching and Learning Services – McGill University. https://www.mcgill.ca/skills21/files/skills21/inclusive_workshop_toolkit.pdf

Page, C., Hardwick, J., & Takacs, S. (2021). Facilitating Classroom Communication. In C. Page (Ed.), Inclusive Pedagogies. Kwantlen Polytechnic University. https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/inclusivepedagogies/chapter/facilitating-classroom-communication-with-multilingual-students/

Spence, R., Rawle, F., & Hilditch, J. (Eds.). (2022). Inclusive Facilitation Guide. In Learning to be Human Together. eCampus Ontario. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/onhumanlearn/chapter/inclusive-facilitation-guide/

Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning. (n.d.). Making your online course accessible. University of Calgary. Retrieved September 12, 2023, from https://taylorinstitute.ucalgary.ca/resources/module/developing-online-courses/accessible-learning-environment

4. Asynchronous activity

Our initial plan for the learning activities leading up to our synchronous session include:

1. Read ‘Creating Inclusive Online Learning Environments’ by Page (2021). It’s a relatively short read, taking less than 10 minutes, and it explores strategies for making learning environments more inclusive.
2. Watch the video ‘What is an Inclusive Classroom?’ by LabXchange (2023). The video has a duration of 7:30 and provides an overview of the essential characteristics of an inclusive learning environment. It also presents several interactive teaching methods that facilitators can employ to foster inclusivity.
3. Reflect on your experiences related to inclusivity in learning, either positive or negative, and share them in a Moodle forum post in the section [Reflections on Inclusivity].
   • These can be from your own personal experiences or those of your students.
   • You have the option to express yourself through a video post, brief written paragraph(s), or an audio recording. Please keep your submission within a maximum duration of 3 minutes for video and audio recordings.
   Select one of the guiding questions provided below to help shape your post:
   1. In Page, Hardwick, and Takacs’ (2021) chapter on ‘Creating Inclusive Online Learning Environments’, they state that online learning is shaped by “culturally-informed learning norms”. Referencing your past experiences, either with in-person or online learning, has this been the case for you? Expand on what those learning norms looked like and what you would do to instill change.
   2. The video ‘What is an Inclusive Classroom?’ lists 5 characteristics of an inclusive classroom. Reflecting on your experiences with either in-person or online learning, which one(s) have you encountered? Expand on how the facilitator incorporated these characteristics into their learning space. How did it affect your learning?
4. Comment on your peers’ reflections, with a connection, a question, a thought, or a combination of those three. Ensure that each reflection receives a comment. This practice encourages equitable distribution of feedback. Once all posts have received initial comments, you are free to contribute more to ongoing discussions.

Facilitator note: After all have posted, the facilitation team will respond with a summary and 4 key themes/topics that have emerged. These themes will inform discussions during the synchronous session.

5. Synchronous activity

Proposed date and time: Thursday October 12, 17:00 Pacific Time, 20:00 Eastern Time.

5-10 minutes	Inclusive welcome icebreaker: To establish an atmosphere of trust and inclusion, we will go around the room and ask people to introduce themselves and welcome others to the session following the Diversity Welcome approach, starting with the facilitation group (to set the tone). Each participant will select the next person to add to the welcome. We will conclude by welcoming the ancestors of the many nations of people across this land who lived here before Europeans came. We would like to acknowledge them and invite their spirits to this place. Welcome.
5-10 minutes	Introduction: Best practices in inclusive facilitation, and the themes which emerged from the asynchronous exercise.
10-15 minutes	Breakout rooms: The meeting will be divided into two groups, where participants will engage in an activity known as Mapping Participation Styles. This activity aims to assess various participation styles, promoting better collaboration and ensuring that every voice is heard. Each breakout group will then work collaboratively to develop facilitation strategies that promote inclusivity and ensure everyone’s voices are heard. How can technology support and hinder inclusivity in education?
10-15 minutes	Discussion: Returning to the larger group, the breakout groups will share some of the strategies discussed. The facilitator will then inquire about the ways in which technology can either support or hinder the implementation of these facilitation strategies in different learning contexts.
5 minutes	Conclusion: The facilitation team will conclude the session, describing next steps and providing additional resources.

6. Learning technologies

Moodle will be used as the “shell” for our facilitation week. This will allow for a range of asynchronous activities, including discussion forums, which we plan to use as part of the pre-work leading up to our synchronous session. We chose this tool because of its familiarity to the participants, and for its versatility with including various learning resources, including OERs.

Zoom will be used for the synchronous session, affording opportunities for more personal discussion in a larger group as well as in breakout sessions.

We are continuing to evaluate other tools to use to facilitate an engaged learning experience in both asynchronous and synchronous components of our learning module.

7. Learning Experience

Garrison et al. (1999) describe three foundational forms of engagement that can create high-quality learning experiences: Social Presence, Cognitive Presence, and Teaching Presence. We will endeavour to support these forms of presence through the following activities:

	Activities	Indicators
Social Presence Establish social presence by establishing an environment of trust, where learners can express themselves with authenticity, and collaborate freely with their colleagues in a risk-free setting (Garrison et al., 2007).	Offer video reflection as an option Use collaborative groups in our synchronous session Facilitate commenting on reflection posts, both facilitator and student These options offer learners the opportunity to connect and aid in the feeling of involvement, engagement, and being a part of the group (Dunlap & Lowenthal, 2018).	Creating an environment for risk-free expression Encouraging collaboration We will facilitate establishing connections by encouraging collaborative activities in our synchronous session, as well as offering multi-modal choices in how to respond to their reflection of the materials offered. Our facilitators will also be commenting on several learners’ posts, which can encourage connection and trust.
Cognitive Presence Build cognitive presence by creating opportunities for learners to connect new ideas to their lived experience, and apply new knowledge to their teaching and learning contexts (Garrison et al., 2007).	Encourage and support the progression of inquiry in discussion and small group activities through triggering events, exploration, and integration to resolution. Provide thought-provoking comments on other posts to make meaningful learning Observe learners using the content to drive conversation	Provide the necessary conditions for further inquiry Comments indicate a progression of thought and consideration of the other student posts Discussions allow for information exchange, formation of new ideas, and applying new information to learners’ own contexts (Garrison et al., 2007)
Teaching Presence Apply best practices in online learning, such as giving learners an overview of the learning expectations and activities for the week, being present and engaging in the ongoing learning activities, and inviting open participation through a variety of learning activities (Boettecher, 2022).	Offer both individual and group tasks (Boettcher, n.d.) Have clear expectations for assignments, including criteria and estimated times (Lalonde, 2020) Encourage and acknowledge student contributions in synchronous discussions (Lalonde, 2020). Use a combination of direct instruction and facilitated discourse to share knowledge (Garrison et al., 2007)	Commenting on others’ posts: sharing personal meaning Clear syllabus and expectations: setting curriculum and methods Commenting in discussions: focussing discussion Our plan to establish a teaching presence includes setting expectations for activities and lessons. We will include estimated time requirements and expectations for submissions. We will also be commenting on our learners’ reflective posts, which allows us to share personal meaning while also focusing the discussion (Lalonde, 2020).

Next steps

This draft facilitation plan is a work in progress. We will continue to develop our plan in greater detail as we dig deeper into both the subject matter and the wealth of facilitation techniques and OERs we have access to.