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Facilitate e-learning Guide and facilitate e-learning

Guiding and facilitating e-learning is concerned with the ‘doing it’ aspects of e-learning delivery. This involves implementing the e-learning plan, encouraging interaction and participation, using the electronic tools, and dealing with the technical issues and support mechanisms, as well as ensuring an authentic learning experience is created for students.

This topic will cover:

• How to facilitate e-learning in accordance with the e-learning plan, relevant electronic communication tools and facilitation skills

• How to ensure an effective learning experience is created

• What technical issues and support mechanisms need to be addressed in an e-learning package or environment?

• How to build authentic learning, practice and formative assessment into the e-learning experience

 How to facilitate e-learning in accordance with the e-learning plan, relevant electronic communication tools and facilitation skill

How to facilitate e-learning in accordance with the e-learning plan, relevant electronic communications tools and facilitation skills The e-learning plan should be the blueprint underpinning all your decision-making in the implementation of your e-learning package or environment. In implementing the plan the following facilitation considerations should be addressed:

• learning settings that encourage meaningful communication and interaction (between students as well as facilitators and students)

• planned learning activities with features such as topics for online discussion or debate, collaborative learning exercises, peer tutoring tasks and problems involving role play

• human or intelligent electronic tutoring

• advice to teachers in the teaching guide on using electronic communication to support the provided learning activities

• definite roles for facilitators.

Teaching online requires many of the same skills and techniques facilitators use in traditional classrooms, but there are some differences. In an online course, students may access the course materials over the web at any time of day or night. This requires effective use of electronic communication tools and facilitation skills that can accommodate asynchronous environments. Written communication skills become extremely important and all directions must be clear and unambiguous and feedback precise and motivating. Remember to keep your tone friendly and inclusive as written communication doesn’t have the benefit of body language such as a smile to accompany it. Be particularly careful of using humour as it often doesn’t translate as well without the visual body language to accompany it.

The learning package or environment should include provision for the use of electronic communication tools, even if it’s as basic as email. You may be fortunate enough to have some specific communication tools such as Adobe Connect, Skype or even teleconferences. Your orientation and/or induction session should have introduced the students to the use of these tools.

Developing Effective Facilitation Skills Access the Quick Guide for Effective Online Facilitation from the Australian Flexible Learning Framework site at http://pre2005.flexiblelearning.net.au/guides/facilitation.html

The authors of this guide present some of the challenges they faced in online facilitation to be:

• designing the right mix of online and off-line activities (referred to by some as 'blended learning')

• keeping tabs on individual students' progress

• catering for different learning preferences and learner needs

• adopting student-centred approaches and becoming a 'guide' or 'facilitator' rather than information deliverer

• dealing with the pragmatics of teaching online - e.g. administrative and support requirements, and issues of time

• dealing with technical issues.

2 © NSW DET 2009

A mix of readings and interviews with experienced online facilitators offer the following tips for effective facilitation..

• Engage the student in the learning process at the outset • Give clear timeframes in order to guide students through the course and assist with motivation and time management • Send regular (i.e. at least weekly) emails with reminders of the tasks required and upcoming deadlines • Keep a communications log and follow up with students you have not heard from • Break large groups of learners into smaller groups for collaborative work • Establish clear rules for communication – perhaps develop these collaboratively with the group as a ‘netiquette’ guide • Establish a clear folder system for organising your work, communication and student marking and feedback

For examples of specific teacher implementation in the use of technology to enhance their online learning and communication with their students check out Your Guide to Social e- learning which includes Case Studies of how some facilitators are using these technology tools in their sessions. You may be able to adapt some of these for your environment. http://socialelearning.flexiblelearning.net.au/social_elearning/index.htm

A TAFE NSW ICVET site (no longer updated) but containing readings on Facilitation can be found at http://www.icvet.tafensw.edu.au/resources/facilitation.htm

There is also a reading in the second topic of this resource that has Tips for Facilitating online. It comes from the AFLF Up Front! (Frontline Management) Toolbox.

The Technology pack in this resource offers explanations and advice on the use of electronic communication tools.

Activity 1

List communication tools that you can use to ensure your students get adequate support, communication and feedback.

How to ensure an effective learning experience is created The objective of any e-learning design is to create stimulating, challenging and rewarding learning experiences. This includes looking at ways in which online technologies may be used to enhance the experience.

Good practice in e-learning is evolving along with the technologies and may include:

• learner focused delivery and support, for example, providing both educational and technical support and offering flexible solutions to suit a range of student needs • providing opportunities for collaboration • guiding and supporting inquiry and engagement • being flexible to allow for and support a range of appropriate student skills, learning styles and student characteristics • ensuring options lead to integrated learning • flexible formative assessment options • using educationally sound and quality resources, including: • accurate, relevant and current content

• sound pedagogical design

• appropriate level of challenge and problem solving in activities for students

• immersive and engaging online learning environments that encourage communication and collaboration

What technical issues and support mechanisms need to be addressed in an e-learning environment? Using the induction session to orient the student to the technology, including access and its operation, provides a comfortable entry for them into the environment and assists when they are doing it alone at a later date. Having a ‘help-desk style customer service’ contact also assists with resolving problems in a timely matter, leaving the student quality time to spend learning.

Support mechanisms you may include an introduction in the induction session would:

• orient the students to the program and the systems and tools to be used

• assist them with setting up and accessing the environment, including trouble shooting

• provide guidelines around occupational health and safety (OHS) for computer-based work

• and even give an an overview or orientation to basic technology for students with low level technical literacy skills (which hopefully will have been done at enrolment stage).

Support throughout the learning program then may be provided by the likes of • a student peer system

• IT support help line or helpdesk with operational hours that are of value to the students • The development and provision of a frequently asked questions (FAQs) service, especially for those hours when the student is online and the help desk may not be in operation. Of course, as part of your planning and development you will have followed the prescribed standards for good design, met any accessibility requirements and addressed the relevant e- standards, and have tested and trailed the resources to ensure they comply with the requirements and function in a way to give the students the best possible learning environment with opportunities for practice and assessment.

For general information and support on applying technical standards to e-learning content, refer to the Australian Flexible Learning E-standards for Training at http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/e-standards

If you are within the NSW DET system, you can also access the e-learning Standards section of the intranet at the Centre for Learning Innovation at http://cliwww.det.nsw.edu.au/services/standards.htmn

How to build authentic learning, practice and formative assessment into the e-learning experience

It’s important that that the learning experience is engaging, stimulating and challenging for a range of learning styles. Interactivity and practical activities/exercises should be built into the learning experience along with formative assessment. In this environment the facilitator moves from the role as teacher and information giver to one of a facilitator focusing on assisting learners in creating personal learning or knowledge networks.

In terms of building assessment and participation opportunities for students to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and experience, ensure you refer to the actual content and skills required for the competency as these will govern what actives might best suit the content and technology available for use.

Options for activities and assessments may include assignments, quizzes and questions, collaborative, or group work, such as discussions via wikis, forums, audio, collaborative projects, role-plays, debates and reviews. Personal activities may include reviews, reflective writing such as in a journal or blog and the presentation of a portfolio, though of course this is likely to also include collaborative samples of work also.

For advice on what tools might best be used for a particular learning strategies, see the Activities section of Your Guide to Social e-Learning at http://socialelearning.flexiblelearning.net.au/social_elearning/index.htm

Assessment challenges around activities and formal assessment in an online environment include difficulties determining the authenticity of the student as the person who actually completed the work, as well as issues around analysis the quality and quantity of individual contribution into group participation activities and how to asses this, as well as the perennial issues of security and plagiarism.

Activity 2

Briefly describe how you can encourage students to participate in activities and online discussions. Are there some tools that might help facilitate this?

Select activities that help students to:

• work towards their assessment • reflect on what they have learned • collect information • develop skills that enrich their understanding • build their confidence.

This resource, Facilitate e-leaning, is aimed at effective facilitation of existing learning by developing a delivery plan for the on-line environment, rather than designing resources specifically. It does assist with evaluating existing resources and activities to determine their suitability for integration into your delivery plan. Access the Checklist for evaluation of existing materials from the Template section of this resource, for use when considering if particular activities and/or resources suit your needs.

If you find you do need to develop resources and activities to suit (while this is outside of the scope of this Unit) a helpful guide titled Create e-learning resources can be found on TaLE at www.tale.edu.au and searching by the title, or accessing http://lrr.dlr.det.nsw.edu.au/LRRView/11737/ (DET login required)

Activity 3

Suggest some activities that could work in your particular learning program.

For more information on Assessment and Online Teaching, access the AFLF Quick Guide at http://pre2005.flexiblelearning.net.au/guides/assessment.pdf

Also see the Assessing online section in Designing and Implementing e-learning from the AFLF at http://designing.flexiblelearning.net.au/gallery/assess.htm