Well the end of year is near upon us! As I often do around this time, I reflect on how fast the year has gone, how it seems to whiz by. Which is probably due to my advancing age no doubt..
It has been a great year for me, with huge learning curves, new experiences and new doors opened for me. I need to be very thankful for all of these opportunities and for all those who have have entrusted me with them and supported me in stumbling my way through them.
At the beginning of this year, I was new. Brand new. Dare I say ignorant. I was overwhelmed by a new job. I was confident with being a midwife and enjoyed working with students, but facilitating? Teaching? This was a brand new field that I guess I simply fell into. And then found myself slap bang in the middle of it all. I was trying to understand my role, the new cirirculum and all the things I 'needed' to do to fulfill my new job.. Undertaking the GCTTL was one of those. I found it hard working part time, learning and studying part time, another part time job and then attempting to be a mum and partner... But I think I survived. And the kids still seem stable. Ha.
I can safetly say that now I know that GCTTL stands for 'graduate cert. in tertiary teaching and learing', which is something I can honestly say I didn't know until half way through the year.
So yes, I did this course because I was required to.... But....Little did I know that this course and the others in it, were so applicable for my new role. When I haven't had someone to hold my hand from Otago I have been supported by my knowledge from these courses. I have learnt an abundance of things. Like the 'little things' such as confidence in engaging online, about learning online tips such as using a microphone and headset to better the quality of my communication and how to get around and use online tools such as skype, twitter and elluminate. And then I have learnt the bigger and broader concepts around academic online facilitation theory which I can base my knowledge and practice as a facilitator on.
I think I have learnt that actually being an online facilitator is relatively easy, and that I do not need to be afraid and nervous to the extent that I was during the year... However to be a quality facilitator takes effort, skill and an awareness and acknowledgement around the theory of facilitation. I think the 10 steps to sucessful facilitation needs to be laminated and hung on my study wall. I feel although still a beginner facilitator I now have an awareness of the topic and how I can better myself to then better students learning. This needs to be and will be an ongoing learning goal for me. Next year I will not be so brand new, and I will go into 2011 with a new confidence and a few more tools in my toolbox to equip myself with to enhance my role in teaching, learning and facilitating.
Thank you to Sarah who nudged me through and gave me great tips and advice and always seemed to have time to support me. Without her phone calls to touch base and to remind me to keep on track, I probably would have forgotten all about the course and content and simply left it all behind. So thanks Sarah..
See you in 2011.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Feedback on my session.
Here is some of the feedback I received from the elluminate session I facilitated on 'engaging students online'.
Hi Jade - I was glad to be invited to join in your session, and even though I was a bit late I was really interested to hear the discussion. Being new to online facilitation myself I heard many useful tips, some I already have used (e.g. blank slides for participants to brainstorm in) and others I haven't been brave enough to use just yet (break out rooms).I liked that you gave people plenty of time to answer if you asked a question - I think people often hang back because they're waiting to see if someone else is going to answer, so its good to give a few more seconds to let someone begin. I thought you sounded confident, and the 'ums' will disappear as you get more used to it - I do that too, but am trying hard to let a pause be a pause, rather than feeling I need to fill it up! cheers, Suzanne
Hi Jade - I was glad to be invited to join in your session, and even though I was a bit late I was really interested to hear the discussion. Being new to online facilitation myself I heard many useful tips, some I already have used (e.g. blank slides for participants to brainstorm in) and others I haven't been brave enough to use just yet (break out rooms).I liked that you gave people plenty of time to answer if you asked a question - I think people often hang back because they're waiting to see if someone else is going to answer, so its good to give a few more seconds to let someone begin. I thought you sounded confident, and the 'ums' will disappear as you get more used to it - I do that too, but am trying hard to let a pause be a pause, rather than feeling I need to fill it up! cheers, Suzanne
I attended an online elluminate session that Jade organised and facilitated. I found the session to be not only informative, but interesting! I have had experience with using elluminate via several Otago Polytechnic online postgraduate courses, so wasn't a novice in the area of logging on, speaking to the group and writing on the whiteboard, however learnt about 'breakout sessions' and the like. After agreeing to be involved as a participant from the initial session invitation (which was emailed from Jade with ample amount of time for me to be able to organise my busy schedule around the session), I found it simple to locate Jade's session from the elluminate link that she provided. I found Jade to be confident with addressing the group and able to handle issues surrounding eluminate that arose, in a timely fashion. Rachel.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Done...? and dusted???
What a relief...My mini conference is now over. Phew. And thankfully no major dramas, no technical issues and people actually turned up....you could almost call that a success.
I managed to get onto elluminate early and load up photos of both myself and my guest speaker Fiona. All that is easy stuff now. I ensured I had my microphone and headset to help with clarity of my voice, and went through the audio set up. I had spoken to Fiona in the morning again and we discussed some of the discussions that could take place. Initially I had a panic attack at the thought that I didn't have any slides or power points to present but after talking it through with Fiona we decided that 1. it was too late anyway and 2. it would be a short presentation where Fiona could present some of the tools on elluminate. This would encourage engagement and discussion. In hindsight I think that having no slides added a freshness that benefited our session.
I had 5 participants attend, made up of one of my students, one colleague, one midwife friend and two participants from the facilitating online class. So with my lecturer and guest presenter there were 8 all up. A great number. I started my recording, and began my introduction. I think I was good at fooling everyone about how nervous I really was. The recording link to my session is below;
http://elluminate.tekotago.ac.nz/play_recording_confirmation.html
Everything went really smoothly, the only hiccup I had was that I could not chat to 'everyone' only staff members. I trouble shooted for a while and then asked Sarah. Eventually she came to my rescue to clicking on my name where the chat icon comes up and problem fixed. Listening back to the recording I said a lot of 'um' though. I was not aware of how often I said 'um' until I listened. Ha. I also stopped the recording too soon, as even though I had started to close up the session, people then continued to make comments and discuss. So for next time I think the recording will be the very last thing I do.
Another thing I learnt was about planning the time and length of a session. I had anticipated that the session would be short and only go for 15mins. However even without discussing all of the things Fiona and I talked about it still went for over half an hour. I guess that is the nature of discussions.
After the event I had a chat with Sarah. We came up with the plan to see if we could get some feedback from some of the participants on how the session went. So I will email the participants I know and see if I can get some honest feedback posted to my blog.
Keep you posted.
Jade
I managed to get onto elluminate early and load up photos of both myself and my guest speaker Fiona. All that is easy stuff now. I ensured I had my microphone and headset to help with clarity of my voice, and went through the audio set up. I had spoken to Fiona in the morning again and we discussed some of the discussions that could take place. Initially I had a panic attack at the thought that I didn't have any slides or power points to present but after talking it through with Fiona we decided that 1. it was too late anyway and 2. it would be a short presentation where Fiona could present some of the tools on elluminate. This would encourage engagement and discussion. In hindsight I think that having no slides added a freshness that benefited our session.
I had 5 participants attend, made up of one of my students, one colleague, one midwife friend and two participants from the facilitating online class. So with my lecturer and guest presenter there were 8 all up. A great number. I started my recording, and began my introduction. I think I was good at fooling everyone about how nervous I really was. The recording link to my session is below;
http://elluminate.tekotago.ac.nz/play_recording_confirmation.html
Everything went really smoothly, the only hiccup I had was that I could not chat to 'everyone' only staff members. I trouble shooted for a while and then asked Sarah. Eventually she came to my rescue to clicking on my name where the chat icon comes up and problem fixed. Listening back to the recording I said a lot of 'um' though. I was not aware of how often I said 'um' until I listened. Ha. I also stopped the recording too soon, as even though I had started to close up the session, people then continued to make comments and discuss. So for next time I think the recording will be the very last thing I do.
Another thing I learnt was about planning the time and length of a session. I had anticipated that the session would be short and only go for 15mins. However even without discussing all of the things Fiona and I talked about it still went for over half an hour. I guess that is the nature of discussions.
After the event I had a chat with Sarah. We came up with the plan to see if we could get some feedback from some of the participants on how the session went. So I will email the participants I know and see if I can get some honest feedback posted to my blog.
Keep you posted.
Jade
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Counting down to mini conference
Tomorrow is D Day for my mini conference.... Will it be a success? Will anyone turn up? Will 100 people turn up? Have I set it up correctly? Will there be technical difficulties?? Who knows??
I have arranged my presenter which is great. She appears very relaxed and understands what I am doing and more importantly what her role is. Unfortunately the first presenter I asked, although she was keen, we were unable to find a day that suited us both.. Nevermind.
So I have created the elluminate session. Hopefully correctly... I am a bit nervous about this now, especially in regards to who I have made staff members??? I have emailed the link onto google groups and onto our mini conference platform. I have also sent it to my students who I thought might be able to provide moral support and bring a student perspective at what motivates them online.
I have had to email the facilitators of another session which finishes at 12pm, as my session starts at 12pm... Just to let them know so hopefully they can keep to time.
Unfortunately I have been unable to attend other sessions. I have just got back from Sydney on Monday and worked for 16 hours at the hospital yesterday... Shattered. It has been a real juggle with working two jobs, studying, being a mum, buying and selling a house, and just to top it off my partner is having surgery on monday.... So I am a little unsure that I am tracking along as others in the class are. I have an huntch that I am probably down the line of the online facilitating spectrum calibre, however I have learnt a load...
I guess Ihave learnt too, that it doesn'thave to be a huge undertaking however. That facilitating well can make those subtle and gentle differences that possibly nobody notices. I can compare it to the sporting arena. Like when the defence do all the work, but go unnoticed as they are not the ones scoring the points... Which is great.
Well I might write again tomorrow morning if there is another update, otherwise I will post my reflection on how the event went.... Fingers crossed.
I have arranged my presenter which is great. She appears very relaxed and understands what I am doing and more importantly what her role is. Unfortunately the first presenter I asked, although she was keen, we were unable to find a day that suited us both.. Nevermind.
So I have created the elluminate session. Hopefully correctly... I am a bit nervous about this now, especially in regards to who I have made staff members??? I have emailed the link onto google groups and onto our mini conference platform. I have also sent it to my students who I thought might be able to provide moral support and bring a student perspective at what motivates them online.
I have had to email the facilitators of another session which finishes at 12pm, as my session starts at 12pm... Just to let them know so hopefully they can keep to time.
Unfortunately I have been unable to attend other sessions. I have just got back from Sydney on Monday and worked for 16 hours at the hospital yesterday... Shattered. It has been a real juggle with working two jobs, studying, being a mum, buying and selling a house, and just to top it off my partner is having surgery on monday.... So I am a little unsure that I am tracking along as others in the class are. I have an huntch that I am probably down the line of the online facilitating spectrum calibre, however I have learnt a load...
I guess Ihave learnt too, that it doesn'thave to be a huge undertaking however. That facilitating well can make those subtle and gentle differences that possibly nobody notices. I can compare it to the sporting arena. Like when the defence do all the work, but go unnoticed as they are not the ones scoring the points... Which is great.
Well I might write again tomorrow morning if there is another update, otherwise I will post my reflection on how the event went.... Fingers crossed.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Planning for mini conference and quadratice equations!
Hi again,
Well as I had no idea what WizIQ was, I decided to check it out. There was a public session about to run on 'quadratic equations'.. Hmmmm. This could or more likely could not be of any interest to me, so after some pondering I decided to give it a miss and listen to the recording of Nelly Deutsch on evaluation strategies in Wiz IQ. It is great for me to realise that there is more than one option when it comes to synchonised interaction. As I have been working on elluminate, it is easy to become comfortable with that platform and become adverse or scared of another. Initially I wanted to get a presenter for my mini conference to discuss all the specific tools available on elluminate. However I believe I have learnt that one needs not to be afraid and that most of these platforms are user friendly and not that scary, with similar but slightly different ways of doing things. After talking this over with Sarah I have decided to change my focus on elluminate and instead focus on encouraging student interaction with synchonised arenas.
So that is the plan. A mini conference on elluminate with the topic on 'how to encourage student engagement in the synchonious environments online'. Colleagues have generously said they will present for me if I needed someone which is great and I do have colleagues that have had some good experience within the synchonous environment, but they are all about as new to this as I am so perhaps it would be better to get someone with a bit more experience? I have asked a senior lecturer if she would mind being a guest presenter. I explained the requirements of the course and the mini conference plan and said it need not be long (<10mins) presentation and informed her of the date of 12th November. I let her know what my initial plan was but said I would be interested in what thoughts she had about what would be a good idea/topic. She told me she would have to have a think about it as she is very busy right now and would get back to me.... Fingers crossed... I guess a back up plan though will be my friendly colleagues in Wellington.. We just won't tell them they are my second choice.
So basically I have half chosen the topic, the date, the time, although these can be worked around according to the presenter. I have a few presenter options.
Next I need to think about advertising my event. I have advertised it within the online facilitating mini conference page, but also thought I could advertise to some students as they might give another beneficial perspective. I have also thought about advertising it to some of my family members..don't know why.??
I feel much more confident now about creating a session on elluminate as Sarah has shown me through this.. Easy once you know how. I will formulate my introduction once I can confirm my presenter. I need to think about how am I going to plan for or manage technical difficulties and issues around attendance (perhaps that is why I will invite family?). The easy answer to technical difficulties is to have someone experienced in attendance such as my lecturer to help and give pointers or tips if I need. Also to have the more experienced presenter would help in that regard too. Last time, and luckily I was early for it, others told me my microphone had a hum.. The advised trying my head phones and mic on as oppossed to just the computer mic and that made all the difference. But there is always what I don't know that I don't know.
Anyway, I plan to keep you posted. I plan to attend another classmates conference too. Sharons event on cultural competence online sounds good.
Jade
Well as I had no idea what WizIQ was, I decided to check it out. There was a public session about to run on 'quadratic equations'.. Hmmmm. This could or more likely could not be of any interest to me, so after some pondering I decided to give it a miss and listen to the recording of Nelly Deutsch on evaluation strategies in Wiz IQ. It is great for me to realise that there is more than one option when it comes to synchonised interaction. As I have been working on elluminate, it is easy to become comfortable with that platform and become adverse or scared of another. Initially I wanted to get a presenter for my mini conference to discuss all the specific tools available on elluminate. However I believe I have learnt that one needs not to be afraid and that most of these platforms are user friendly and not that scary, with similar but slightly different ways of doing things. After talking this over with Sarah I have decided to change my focus on elluminate and instead focus on encouraging student interaction with synchonised arenas.
So that is the plan. A mini conference on elluminate with the topic on 'how to encourage student engagement in the synchonious environments online'. Colleagues have generously said they will present for me if I needed someone which is great and I do have colleagues that have had some good experience within the synchonous environment, but they are all about as new to this as I am so perhaps it would be better to get someone with a bit more experience? I have asked a senior lecturer if she would mind being a guest presenter. I explained the requirements of the course and the mini conference plan and said it need not be long (<10mins) presentation and informed her of the date of 12th November. I let her know what my initial plan was but said I would be interested in what thoughts she had about what would be a good idea/topic. She told me she would have to have a think about it as she is very busy right now and would get back to me.... Fingers crossed... I guess a back up plan though will be my friendly colleagues in Wellington.. We just won't tell them they are my second choice.
So basically I have half chosen the topic, the date, the time, although these can be worked around according to the presenter. I have a few presenter options.
Next I need to think about advertising my event. I have advertised it within the online facilitating mini conference page, but also thought I could advertise to some students as they might give another beneficial perspective. I have also thought about advertising it to some of my family members..don't know why.??
I feel much more confident now about creating a session on elluminate as Sarah has shown me through this.. Easy once you know how. I will formulate my introduction once I can confirm my presenter. I need to think about how am I going to plan for or manage technical difficulties and issues around attendance (perhaps that is why I will invite family?). The easy answer to technical difficulties is to have someone experienced in attendance such as my lecturer to help and give pointers or tips if I need. Also to have the more experienced presenter would help in that regard too. Last time, and luckily I was early for it, others told me my microphone had a hum.. The advised trying my head phones and mic on as oppossed to just the computer mic and that made all the difference. But there is always what I don't know that I don't know.
Anyway, I plan to keep you posted. I plan to attend another classmates conference too. Sharons event on cultural competence online sounds good.
Jade
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Am I a 'facilitator extraordinaire'?
Hello All.
Well I am writing this well in retrospect but I acutally facilitated an online event! It was quite a learning curve and something that I'm really glad I did. Sometimes all of this new technology and new learning is overwhelming and I just want to bury my head in the sand and hope it will all go away. But in hindsight I'm so greatful of having the opportunity. It really has increased my understanding and learning about what online facilitation is all about.
With a little bit of encouraging from my lecturer Sarah Stewart I eventually assigned myself and put my name to an event. It was on 'second life'. I thought this must be some kind of spiritual or personal development tool..gosh was I wrong. I looked into it so that I could have some input if required or at least ask a semi intelligent question regarding it but I was so confused with the actual concept. It appeared second life is a virtual world where one can form an avatar for themselves and roam a virtual world. Of course there are specific communities and avatars with common interest but I was blown away. However after talking to Sarah she informs me not to worry about being an expert in the content and that one should be able to facilitate well in any content. Phew, I take a deep breathe.
I really like being a beginner with online facilitation via elluminate. No one can see my stress and anxiety. No one can see the scrolls of disorganised paperwork and notes I have... I'm hoping my voice is great at bluffing.
Anyway the event went well I think. I found it hard to concentrate on what the presenter was saying as I was always thinking about what to do next. It was very reassuring to have Sarah there just in case. I was watching the chat and the time and occassionally chatting to my lecturer about certain things. Why was a yellow box showing on one attendee? Things like that. Then my poker voice was sprung when she asked me to give some feedback on the topic. Arrggh. I think the more practice I have with facilitating the more relaxed I will be which will then enable me to listen more attentively.
Following this event I also had to present a session for students on elluminate as well. This was the first time for me to do this. Fortunately for me, I was able to catch up personally with Sarah Stewart when down in Dunedin. She was a very helpful and showed me how to create sessions, advertise the link and lots of nifty elluminate tools. I especially like the one when as a staff member I can remove the microphone from people! That is great, I could sensor all the comments I don't like!! No, seriously it came in handy when for some reason speakers were talking away and couldn't be heard. I simply was able to remove the microphone. I learnt however that I needed to then give it back to them or they would be forever silenced.
So I was a facilitator. Hardly a facilitator extraordinaire however.
So next on the agenda is facilitating my mini conference. Since I found the elluminate session and tips so great and informative I thought I would get a colleaguge to present a session on engaging students on elluminate. There are so many tools that can be utilised. Any takers? I will advertise the event soon.
Jade
Well I am writing this well in retrospect but I acutally facilitated an online event! It was quite a learning curve and something that I'm really glad I did. Sometimes all of this new technology and new learning is overwhelming and I just want to bury my head in the sand and hope it will all go away. But in hindsight I'm so greatful of having the opportunity. It really has increased my understanding and learning about what online facilitation is all about.
With a little bit of encouraging from my lecturer Sarah Stewart I eventually assigned myself and put my name to an event. It was on 'second life'. I thought this must be some kind of spiritual or personal development tool..gosh was I wrong. I looked into it so that I could have some input if required or at least ask a semi intelligent question regarding it but I was so confused with the actual concept. It appeared second life is a virtual world where one can form an avatar for themselves and roam a virtual world. Of course there are specific communities and avatars with common interest but I was blown away. However after talking to Sarah she informs me not to worry about being an expert in the content and that one should be able to facilitate well in any content. Phew, I take a deep breathe.
I really like being a beginner with online facilitation via elluminate. No one can see my stress and anxiety. No one can see the scrolls of disorganised paperwork and notes I have... I'm hoping my voice is great at bluffing.
Anyway the event went well I think. I found it hard to concentrate on what the presenter was saying as I was always thinking about what to do next. It was very reassuring to have Sarah there just in case. I was watching the chat and the time and occassionally chatting to my lecturer about certain things. Why was a yellow box showing on one attendee? Things like that. Then my poker voice was sprung when she asked me to give some feedback on the topic. Arrggh. I think the more practice I have with facilitating the more relaxed I will be which will then enable me to listen more attentively.
Following this event I also had to present a session for students on elluminate as well. This was the first time for me to do this. Fortunately for me, I was able to catch up personally with Sarah Stewart when down in Dunedin. She was a very helpful and showed me how to create sessions, advertise the link and lots of nifty elluminate tools. I especially like the one when as a staff member I can remove the microphone from people! That is great, I could sensor all the comments I don't like!! No, seriously it came in handy when for some reason speakers were talking away and couldn't be heard. I simply was able to remove the microphone. I learnt however that I needed to then give it back to them or they would be forever silenced.
So I was a facilitator. Hardly a facilitator extraordinaire however.
So next on the agenda is facilitating my mini conference. Since I found the elluminate session and tips so great and informative I thought I would get a colleaguge to present a session on engaging students on elluminate. There are so many tools that can be utilised. Any takers? I will advertise the event soon.
Jade
Monday, September 13, 2010
Skype, Facebook and other toys!
Hi there,
Things have been very hectic in my life and I am writing this blog prior to flying off to oz with my family for a much deserved break. I am wishing for dry and sunny weather (it has been very wet here!). I have attended the midwifery conference recently in Rotorua and am suitably inspired now.
I have managed to work through the course schedule for online facilitation. There are times when it all makes sense and I feel I really understand the importance of facilitation and its applicability to me but other times I have the realisation that I am such a beginner in all of this and doubt that it will be ever something that I am able to do sucessfully. I wonder whether I have a natural ability to weave networks? Some of these readings seem to fly over my head.
However I have been thinking about how I could start a network for the already formed community of student midwives in my class in Palmerston North. Perhaps start one for next year? We currently get together once a week face to face and catch up via email. But I am wondering whether we could use things such as skype, facebook and elluminate as well. I had a student who contacted me and wanted to go over some individual assignment work. I initially said we could meet up face to face, but she had said she had a cold and might just leave it for the next week.. And then I thought...aaahhha. We could use skype! I would then be able to discuss her concerns and it would be more resource friendly as both her and I wouldn't have to leave our homes and I wouldn't risk catching her lurgys...
I have joined skype and have had a few conversations (one with a very experienced student skyper who showed me the basics). It was fun and I think I took about a hundred photo shots of myself pulling faces for just the novelty factor.. And I told my partner it was work related. Ha. I can see the advantages of a facebook account as I am sure that all 8 of my students feel reasonably confident and comfortable with facebook. It almost has its own culture and im sure they use it daily. This could be a quick and easy way to communicate and post new learnings etc. However the down side could be that facebook is such a SOCIAL network. Professional boundaries could be blurred and ground rules broken. Also security and privacy issues may arise especially when discussing the nature of our training.
Sarah has asked me to facilitate a session in a few weeks. Eek. Sorry Sarah that we have missed each others calls so often. Kind of like playing phone tag! But I can see that this will be a great opportunity for me. And even better when Sarah is there to hold my hand and help me along. I actually don't know why I would be nervous as I have learnt that I should actually have little input and simply encourage participation. I have taken tips from http://synchfacilitation.wikispaces.com/. I need to ideally meet with the presenter before hand, audio check, be familiar with my environment (easier said than done), let people speak, have ground rules, watch chat and lurkers, have fun. Take notes for summarising later, finish on time, thank everyone and discuss how to access the recording. (oh, and tell them they are being recorded). Does that sum it up? Have I missed something? Will keep you posted.
Here ozzie ozzie ozzie!!
Jade
Things have been very hectic in my life and I am writing this blog prior to flying off to oz with my family for a much deserved break. I am wishing for dry and sunny weather (it has been very wet here!). I have attended the midwifery conference recently in Rotorua and am suitably inspired now.
I have managed to work through the course schedule for online facilitation. There are times when it all makes sense and I feel I really understand the importance of facilitation and its applicability to me but other times I have the realisation that I am such a beginner in all of this and doubt that it will be ever something that I am able to do sucessfully. I wonder whether I have a natural ability to weave networks? Some of these readings seem to fly over my head.
However I have been thinking about how I could start a network for the already formed community of student midwives in my class in Palmerston North. Perhaps start one for next year? We currently get together once a week face to face and catch up via email. But I am wondering whether we could use things such as skype, facebook and elluminate as well. I had a student who contacted me and wanted to go over some individual assignment work. I initially said we could meet up face to face, but she had said she had a cold and might just leave it for the next week.. And then I thought...aaahhha. We could use skype! I would then be able to discuss her concerns and it would be more resource friendly as both her and I wouldn't have to leave our homes and I wouldn't risk catching her lurgys...
I have joined skype and have had a few conversations (one with a very experienced student skyper who showed me the basics). It was fun and I think I took about a hundred photo shots of myself pulling faces for just the novelty factor.. And I told my partner it was work related. Ha. I can see the advantages of a facebook account as I am sure that all 8 of my students feel reasonably confident and comfortable with facebook. It almost has its own culture and im sure they use it daily. This could be a quick and easy way to communicate and post new learnings etc. However the down side could be that facebook is such a SOCIAL network. Professional boundaries could be blurred and ground rules broken. Also security and privacy issues may arise especially when discussing the nature of our training.
Sarah has asked me to facilitate a session in a few weeks. Eek. Sorry Sarah that we have missed each others calls so often. Kind of like playing phone tag! But I can see that this will be a great opportunity for me. And even better when Sarah is there to hold my hand and help me along. I actually don't know why I would be nervous as I have learnt that I should actually have little input and simply encourage participation. I have taken tips from http://synchfacilitation.wikispaces.com/. I need to ideally meet with the presenter before hand, audio check, be familiar with my environment (easier said than done), let people speak, have ground rules, watch chat and lurkers, have fun. Take notes for summarising later, finish on time, thank everyone and discuss how to access the recording. (oh, and tell them they are being recorded). Does that sum it up? Have I missed something? Will keep you posted.
Here ozzie ozzie ozzie!!
Jade
Thursday, August 26, 2010
IMHO
Welcome!
Over the past few weeks I have developed more of an understanding of what online facilitating actually is. It is not necessarily and soley focussed on teaching. It has been described as being the 'conductor'. Almost like a chairperson in a business meeting.
A great facilitator listens, supports, summarises, keeps time, creates a safe environment online and encourages participation.
To build an online community one needs to first develop a plan, a goal and an aim. Then consider the software or online tool that will best meet this need. For example if I simply want to keep in touch with the students and discuss specific learning attainments, then a discussion board may be appropriate. Once I advertise and motivate the students regarding this, then this will in turn create the community. Really it is about creating the place and the community follows. Hopefully the students will then take ownership. I have also learnt some tips to get students engaging appropriately on discussion boards and forums.
Although I am not lecturing face to face and the current move is away from the tradition teacher centered model this does not mean that 'teachers' or 'facilitators' are now obsolete. I have learnt that the facilitator holds the key to sucess by the way in which they structure the learning experiences.
I have learnt some things about appropriate nettiquette too. Such as;
BTW, THIS MEANS I"M SHOUTING, but if it sounds like I am being hostile I could always add a
to show I am happy or smiling and a 
to show I am angry. If you say something funny and I respond that I am ROTFL that might be appropriate.
I will not want to say anything that might cause offense as I might start a flame war and that would be
.
Thanks guys, I will BRB.
Jade
Over the past few weeks I have developed more of an understanding of what online facilitating actually is. It is not necessarily and soley focussed on teaching. It has been described as being the 'conductor'. Almost like a chairperson in a business meeting.
A great facilitator listens, supports, summarises, keeps time, creates a safe environment online and encourages participation.
To build an online community one needs to first develop a plan, a goal and an aim. Then consider the software or online tool that will best meet this need. For example if I simply want to keep in touch with the students and discuss specific learning attainments, then a discussion board may be appropriate. Once I advertise and motivate the students regarding this, then this will in turn create the community. Really it is about creating the place and the community follows. Hopefully the students will then take ownership. I have also learnt some tips to get students engaging appropriately on discussion boards and forums.
Although I am not lecturing face to face and the current move is away from the tradition teacher centered model this does not mean that 'teachers' or 'facilitators' are now obsolete. I have learnt that the facilitator holds the key to sucess by the way in which they structure the learning experiences.
I have learnt some things about appropriate nettiquette too. Such as;
BTW, THIS MEANS I"M SHOUTING, but if it sounds like I am being hostile I could always add a
to show I am happy or smiling and a to show I am angry. If you say something funny and I respond that I am ROTFL that might be appropriate.I will not want to say anything that might cause offense as I might start a flame war and that would be
.Thanks guys, I will BRB.
Jade
Thursday, August 12, 2010
On line quiz disaster
Hi there again!!!
It has been a very busy few weeks for me. I have been on holiday briefly up to Taupo and Auckland, which was great and just what I needed. I have worked my two hospital shifts at the beginning of the week and have had to sort a bit of a mess out with my other job at Otago. And tried to fit in somewhere being a mum and a partner..
I am the course coordinator for a nutrition paper that had an online quiz as part of the assessment. It was a complete disaster....The students went into the quiz to then find that they could actually have multiple attempts to get the right answer. As I am very new to the quiz set up and moodle I had to lump this problem onto other colleagues. The quiz ended up being stopped and a resit date had to be established. However with the help of the IT dept. it ran smoothly the next time. I have learnt however now a lot more about loading questions onto moodle and how the adaption mode needs to on no to prevent this from happening again...Phew.
Therefore with dealing with all of this, my study got put a little bit on the back burner, but hopefully I'm back on track now. I have had so much fun (and spent so much time) playing on line. I have now subscribed and downloaded Skype (wasted half an hour taking and retaking photos of myself), created a twitter and myspace account and having been playing with google toolbars. All loads of fun. I need to remember that I should be applying this to online learning, but sometimes it just is so fun to muck about..(couldn't think of anyone to follow on twitter, so choose Pink as she had made a comment about NZ wine..) Contemplated following Justin Beiber before thankfully sanity caught up with me.
Although I haven't managed to get onto the elluminate meetings I have listened to the recorded posts and worked through the videos for the weeks activity. I feel like I now understand much more on what facilitating these meetings entails and the 7 skills for being an online facilitator. Initially when Sarah asked me to facilitate an online meeting I thought I needed to know all about the topic but now thankfully I see my goal is quite different. A facilitator is much more like a conductor, to ensure the outcome is achieved, to provide a safe environment, to summarise and problem solve a little What I found great in the elluminate session was when it all went wrong! When all of this scretchy noise occurred and then Sarah explaining what she did to correct it! That was great. I hope I could have the skills to know how to do this for my students in the future. I just need more experience. So I should really take up Sarah's offer to facilitate a meeting. Hopefully she will hold my hand.
I need to know more about elluminate though. How to upload photos and files quickly and easily,
how to set up multiple talkers, how to create and clear polls, how to record the session?
Anyway enough for now, must go and catch up with what Pink is tweeting about!
Jade
It has been a very busy few weeks for me. I have been on holiday briefly up to Taupo and Auckland, which was great and just what I needed. I have worked my two hospital shifts at the beginning of the week and have had to sort a bit of a mess out with my other job at Otago. And tried to fit in somewhere being a mum and a partner..
I am the course coordinator for a nutrition paper that had an online quiz as part of the assessment. It was a complete disaster....The students went into the quiz to then find that they could actually have multiple attempts to get the right answer. As I am very new to the quiz set up and moodle I had to lump this problem onto other colleagues. The quiz ended up being stopped and a resit date had to be established. However with the help of the IT dept. it ran smoothly the next time. I have learnt however now a lot more about loading questions onto moodle and how the adaption mode needs to on no to prevent this from happening again...Phew.
Therefore with dealing with all of this, my study got put a little bit on the back burner, but hopefully I'm back on track now. I have had so much fun (and spent so much time) playing on line. I have now subscribed and downloaded Skype (wasted half an hour taking and retaking photos of myself), created a twitter and myspace account and having been playing with google toolbars. All loads of fun. I need to remember that I should be applying this to online learning, but sometimes it just is so fun to muck about..(couldn't think of anyone to follow on twitter, so choose Pink as she had made a comment about NZ wine..) Contemplated following Justin Beiber before thankfully sanity caught up with me.
Although I haven't managed to get onto the elluminate meetings I have listened to the recorded posts and worked through the videos for the weeks activity. I feel like I now understand much more on what facilitating these meetings entails and the 7 skills for being an online facilitator. Initially when Sarah asked me to facilitate an online meeting I thought I needed to know all about the topic but now thankfully I see my goal is quite different. A facilitator is much more like a conductor, to ensure the outcome is achieved, to provide a safe environment, to summarise and problem solve a little What I found great in the elluminate session was when it all went wrong! When all of this scretchy noise occurred and then Sarah explaining what she did to correct it! That was great. I hope I could have the skills to know how to do this for my students in the future. I just need more experience. So I should really take up Sarah's offer to facilitate a meeting. Hopefully she will hold my hand.
I need to know more about elluminate though. How to upload photos and files quickly and easily,
how to set up multiple talkers, how to create and clear polls, how to record the session?
Anyway enough for now, must go and catch up with what Pink is tweeting about!
Jade
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Akoranga?!!
Hi everyone!! (gosh are there people out there?)
It's Maori language week and I wanted to have an interesting title to this my second blog. I believe that Akoranga means learning, so the aim of this blog is to outline what I'm learning and what I want to learn.
Anyway, I managed to get onto our elluminate classroom this week for our online facilitating course. Elluminate is not brand new to me. I have a new job and role this year with Otago polytechnic as a midwife practice facilitator . I am based in Palmerston North so we use elluminate for our staff meeting. The students also use elluminate for their virtual classroom tutorials (I have yet to teach on them however, but my time will be coming soon.). Also I did a flexible learning course this year and was required to give a short presentation on elluminate. So I know how to get on there, I know a little bit about how it works, but there a lot of features that I have not mastered...so that is my goal. Be a master of elluminate! I have a tutorial to give on elluminate in October I think, so how fantastic would it be if I was a pro...Can see my name in lights!!
This week I was introduced to words and terms in the course that were very foreign to me. Google reader, i google, wikipedia?? Hmmm. Will have to look into them. I am thinking it might be a little bit like when I first heard of facebook. I was like, ???WHAT?? For me, I think I really just need to get in there and have a play and then I can fully understand. Honestly I do not know what google reader even is... Watch this space.
This week I've learnt about synchronous vrs asynchronous learning (look that one up Dad!). I was interested to learn about the positive side effect of on line learning being the breakdown of barriers that possibly inhibit participation and learning. When teaching and learning on line, it doesn't matter about you age, your race, your big pimple on your nose...everyone is the same. So I guess that face to face is always great, but that online has it's own benefits.
So basically I want to master elluminate, but I also want to know (a little bit even) about all these other terms. Skype, twitter, i google, citrix..I want to know what is possible for me to teach and offer my students in regards to using online materials or the computer. Next year I could have and offer smaller elluminate sessions for our local group, or record sessions or use blog or ??? what else?
I do have a student who asked me if she went to America for 5 weeks could we use skype to include her in our weekly face to face tutorials. I hope she couldn't read my poker face...or my blank brain.
How do I do this then? Well I'm not sure. Be enrolled in this course. Utilise the very knowledgable participants in this course to give me a hand, let me know where to go, what to do..
That's a bit lazy isn't it. But seems the easiest to do right now. Blogging off. Over and out!
It's Maori language week and I wanted to have an interesting title to this my second blog. I believe that Akoranga means learning, so the aim of this blog is to outline what I'm learning and what I want to learn.
Anyway, I managed to get onto our elluminate classroom this week for our online facilitating course. Elluminate is not brand new to me. I have a new job and role this year with Otago polytechnic as a midwife practice facilitator . I am based in Palmerston North so we use elluminate for our staff meeting. The students also use elluminate for their virtual classroom tutorials (I have yet to teach on them however, but my time will be coming soon.). Also I did a flexible learning course this year and was required to give a short presentation on elluminate. So I know how to get on there, I know a little bit about how it works, but there a lot of features that I have not mastered...so that is my goal. Be a master of elluminate! I have a tutorial to give on elluminate in October I think, so how fantastic would it be if I was a pro...Can see my name in lights!!
This week I was introduced to words and terms in the course that were very foreign to me. Google reader, i google, wikipedia?? Hmmm. Will have to look into them. I am thinking it might be a little bit like when I first heard of facebook. I was like, ???WHAT?? For me, I think I really just need to get in there and have a play and then I can fully understand. Honestly I do not know what google reader even is... Watch this space.
This week I've learnt about synchronous vrs asynchronous learning (look that one up Dad!). I was interested to learn about the positive side effect of on line learning being the breakdown of barriers that possibly inhibit participation and learning. When teaching and learning on line, it doesn't matter about you age, your race, your big pimple on your nose...everyone is the same. So I guess that face to face is always great, but that online has it's own benefits.
So basically I want to master elluminate, but I also want to know (a little bit even) about all these other terms. Skype, twitter, i google, citrix..I want to know what is possible for me to teach and offer my students in regards to using online materials or the computer. Next year I could have and offer smaller elluminate sessions for our local group, or record sessions or use blog or ??? what else?
I do have a student who asked me if she went to America for 5 weeks could we use skype to include her in our weekly face to face tutorials. I hope she couldn't read my poker face...or my blank brain.
How do I do this then? Well I'm not sure. Be enrolled in this course. Utilise the very knowledgable participants in this course to give me a hand, let me know where to go, what to do..
That's a bit lazy isn't it. But seems the easiest to do right now. Blogging off. Over and out!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Beginning to blog....
WELCOME!!!
I'm Jade and I have made my first ever blog... As I write this, I am drawn into thoughts of the movie Julie and Julia..Hmmm, without the cooking.
Anyway I am a midwife in Palmerston North, New Zealand, and work at our local hospital. I also work for Otago polytechnic with training of student midwives in our area. I love my job!! Yes it's work and I guess I'd rather be in Rarotonga, but there is never a time I don't like providing midwifery care. I feel very priviledged to be a midwife.
So, as part of my job for Otago polytechnic I have been enrolled in a graduate teaching and learning course. I have so far this year done an online paper on providing flexible learning and now my second paper is one on facilitating online. I was really excited about this paper as I am really dyslexic when it comes to computers and online stuff! But hey, I'm getting there. And for this course we are to create a blog. ... SO HERE I AM.. BLOGGING.
I'm Jade and I have made my first ever blog... As I write this, I am drawn into thoughts of the movie Julie and Julia..Hmmm, without the cooking.
Anyway I am a midwife in Palmerston North, New Zealand, and work at our local hospital. I also work for Otago polytechnic with training of student midwives in our area. I love my job!! Yes it's work and I guess I'd rather be in Rarotonga, but there is never a time I don't like providing midwifery care. I feel very priviledged to be a midwife.
So, as part of my job for Otago polytechnic I have been enrolled in a graduate teaching and learning course. I have so far this year done an online paper on providing flexible learning and now my second paper is one on facilitating online. I was really excited about this paper as I am really dyslexic when it comes to computers and online stuff! But hey, I'm getting there. And for this course we are to create a blog. ... SO HERE I AM.. BLOGGING.
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