Source: https://quotefancy.com/quote/1577074/Matt-Biondi-Persistence-can-change-failure-into-extraordinary-achievement

My final reflection on digital facilitation involved critically considering my learning over the past nine weeks in LRNT 528. Initially, I thought I knew a lot about facilitation; however, I was incredibly naïve. Using the 3-2-1 approach, I will share my final three thoughts, two questions, and one meme on digital facilitation.

3 Thoughts

First, I have been interested in the power of persistence and perseverance related to learning for as long as I can remember. Prior thoughts came flooding in as I reflected on being both a learner and facilitator during LRNT 528. The research behind motivational intrinsic and extrinsic factors among learners participating in MOOCs came to mind (Huang & Hew, 2017). After more forethought, I am resolved now that I can only control my persistence towards completing activities and not the learning of others for future facilitation.

Second, I referred to Dunlap and Lowenthal (2018) about using videos outside the LMS in my initial reflection. This thought was amplified for me as I value both the video creation by facilitators for explaining units and discovering videos to supplement content that can explain a concept better than the written medium. The key for me is that they are microlearning snippets that are direct to the point (Corbeil et al., 2021). In addition, using AI as a digital resource assistant to develop follow-up questions for content videos is a helpful tool for facilitators.

Finally, my third thought in my initial reflection was capturing informal feedback (Boettcher, n.d.).  Having informal feedback throughout Team Green’s unit/course would have allowed Catherine and myself to pivot if we had not accommodated learners’ needs. This topic is still one that I am struggling with determining how to effectively engage with learners who may not want to share feedback until the final evaluation.

2 Questions

How can facilitators ensure that all learners are offered sufficient challenges to make the educational experience both meaningful and achievable?

What motivations aside from grades and participation points can be implemented to foster complete engagement from participants?

1 Meme

I still hold fast to my initial metaphor of the Swiss Army knife, which resembles a digital facilitator needing to handle various tasks during digital facilitation. This hardworking ant also arose while reflecting on the persistence in completing the many activities during our facilitation weeks.

Image from Canva

References

Boettcher, J. V. (n.d.). Ten best practices for teaching online. Design for Learning. http://designingforlearning.info/writing/ten-best-practices-for-teaching-online/

Corbeil, J. R., Khan, B. H., & Corbeil, M. E. (Ed). (2021). Microlearning in the digital age: The design and delivery of learning in snippets. Routledge.

Dunlap, J. C., & Lowenthal, P. R. (2018). Online educators’ recommendations for teaching online: Crowdsourcing in action. Open Praxis, 10(1), 79-89. https://doi.org/10.5944/openpraxis.10.1.721

Huang, B., & Hew, K. F. (2017). Factors influencing learning and factors influencing persistence: A mixed-method study of MOOC learners’ motivation. ICISDM 17: 2017 International Conference on Information System and Data Mining, 103–110. DOI: 10.1145/3077584.3077610