effective facilitation in synchronous environments pt 2

Effective Facilitation in Synchronous Environments

Michael CoghlanNewLearning28/3/13

(Session 2 of 2)

Using the Drawing Tools

activity courtesy of LearningTimes

TODAY’S AGENDA

• Whiteboard Activities• Synch v asynch: resolving the tension• More on Designing for interactivity

USE OF WEBCAMS

• Use your webcam (or at least show a picture) briefly at the start of the session as part of the introduction

• Have students do the same if they have them , if they want to, and if bandwidth allows

• I recommend you then turn off webcams to conserve bandwidth, but it is a personal choice.

Establish ‘Modus Operandi’ (Ground Rules) for the session

• Questions/Comments: any time? Throughout session? At the end? In text chat? Via voice? Using the hands-up tool?

• How will you handle the text chat? Will you use a co-moderator?

META:

PURPOSE?

• a presentation tool?

• a collaboration/interaction tool?

HOW MIGHT YOU USE WEB CONFERENCING/VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS?

What kinds of synchronous activities can you use in virtual classrooms?

TEACHING• ‘straight lecture’• Guest lecturers• Oral presentations• Group work• One on one (eg

pronunciation)

OTHER• Office hours• Peer support• Social: student -

student

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Attend online conferences, seminars, workshops

• Meetings (much more cost effective than teleconferencing)

SWOT ANALYSIS

ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES?

POETRY SLAM

activity courtesy of LearningTimes

ANTICIPATED PROBLEMS?

WHITEBOARD OR

TEXT CHAT?

WHITEBOARD AS WORD CLOUD

LABELS – DRAG AND DROP

shaft

cog

tank

pulley

chain

nut

beam

SYNCHRONOUS ASYNCHRONOUS

Asynch

Synch

Oral Written

Minimalist; rapid (evolving)

COMMUNICATION AXIS

Spontaneous;dialogue

Reflective; monologue

Structured; expository

COMMUNICATION AXIS

Most classroom communications take place here

New – have been enabled by technology (only happen online)

Tension: Synch v Asynch

Terry Anderson, Toward a Theory of Online Learning:

“….the major motivation for enrollment in distance education is not physical access, but rather, temporal freedom to move through a course of studies at a pace of the student’s choice.” Participation in (synchronous events) “almost inevitably places constraints on this independence.”

 “ The demands of a learning-centered context might at times force us to modify prescriptive participation in (synchronous events), even though we might have evidence that such participation will further advance knowledge creation and attention.”

RESOLVING THE TENSION BETWEEN ASYNCHRONOUS AND SYNCHRONOUS APPROACHES

• Don’t make synch sessions compulsory; use synch for those who want/need them

• Stagger the timing of synch sessions eg Monday afternoon in week 1, Thursday morning in week 2, etc

• Consider night sessions • Run the same session twice in any given week• Record and archive the sessions for viewing later• Use in conjunction with asynchronous activity (eg forums, wikis,

blogs, Facebook) • FLIPPED CLASSROOM – record short videos (15 mins or less) to

be viewed before class (may be best done using screen capure software like Camtasia, Screenr, etc)

DESIGNING FOR INTERACTION

examples of this in the 2 sessions so far?

Other Strategies to Increase Interactivity

• Ask students where/who they are• ‘Fill them out’ as real people• Share some information about yourself• Don’t underestimate the value of small talk• show a map so people can mark where they

are

Other Strategies to Increase Interactivity

• Use a webcam (or at least show a picture)• Have students use webcams if they have them

Other Strategies to Increase Interactivity:

• Ask questions – esp open questions• Global (to the group) and individual• Encourage questions and comments• Exploit the whiteboard:

– Brainstorming– Group work– Inserting images (have students prepare some)– For fun (especially before session, during breaks)

Other Strategies to Increase Interactivity:

• Ask for feedback regularly via– Voice– Text chat– Whiteboard– Poll– Emoticons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/edublogger/7566567130/

Run a Progress Check

• We could use emoticons…..• Or do a quick poll:

How is everyone feeling about the session so far?

A. SatisfiedB. Very SatisfiedC. NeutralD. Dissatisfied

Other Strategies to Increase Interactivity:

• Hold group discussions

• Question: Do these examples of interactivity seem practical in your teaching situation?

GROUP WORK

Other Strategies to Increase Interactivity:

• Enable all channels of communication (when appropriate)

• Encourage student to student communication – especially text chat

Other Strategies to Increase Interactivity

• Exploit polling/quiz tool (short answer, multiple choice)

• New polls/quizzes can be created on the fly • Share the results• Use results as starting point for discussion

Other Strategies to Increase Interactivity

• Conduct web tours• Have students lead web tours

Other Strategies to Increase Interactivity

• Share your desktop• Have students share their desktop• Let students take control of your mouse!

Skills of the Live Online Presenter

• Golden Rule: 6-8 minutes talking at a stretch maximum• Intersperse presentations with questions, polls, other speakers (from

the floor), whiteboard activity• Decide how to handle text chat – will you monitor/respond? Or ignore

it? Dip in and out of it?• Consider working with a producer/co-presenter• More at michaelcoghlan.net/fll/blog.htm#skills

FURTHER RESOURCES

See the wiki at http://synchfacilitation.wikispaces.com/

Contact Details

MICHAEL COGHLAN

http://michaelcoghlan.nete: michaelc@chariot.net.au