Self Reflection Online Facilitation

Self Reflection Online Facilitation

I did my first online facilitation on Lesson 7, called “The Technical Role of the Online Instructor” on June 27, 2018 at 7:30pm. I was lucky because I had seen how my classmates handled theirs and knew what to expect. However, I have worked as an instructional designer, so I already knew about the various learning management systems, or LMS, needed to be effective. Since the class (and this program) is Blackboard focused I concentrated on that program. I created a presentation for the synchronous part and for the asynchronous section I kept the discussion boards going.

I first concentrated on the synchronous part of the lesson, which dealt with the presentation. First, I read the chapter then created the slides discussing my background and what I found important. I was worried someone would say “hey not related” because my experience is dated, but I did tie it to Blackboard and other current technology. I prepared by relaxing and doing the work slowly, including research and the presentation. I also created notes in the event it wasn’t making sense. I didn’t apply a different technique as the days came closer, rather I just kept going back to edit my presentation. If I had to say I was surprised by anything it would have to be that the lesson really stressed an instructor needs to be technical savvy. I know HTML, but I didn’t think an instructor needed to know that. I was happy to be honest they need to know this because knowing technical skills will help me, not to mention help me with the students in the event of situations, such as a dead link. My biggest issue in general was that I hate public speaking and often get so nervous. However, speaking about something I knew, and then studying was a blessing. I wish I had created more exciting topics to ponder, I feel I was lacking in that but in general the presentation worked because I used my experience and the sources related to the chapter.

Once I finished the synchronous part, I worked on the asynchronous part. Since classmates were posting at different times, I found it was an ongoing thing. How I started was by reading each post. Luckily, everyone knew the topic but if they hadn’t, I would have steered the conversation towards that. Since they did, I was able to banter with them by asking questions. I hope the questions were thought provoking and I learned a lot from my classmates by what they were thinking, and resources. My fear was I wouldn’t have made sense with the questions, but everyone knew, and my expectation was that everyone would answer the questions the way I hoped, and they did. This was my only technique or this and it worked as both answered and a few times even asked me questions. I wasn’t really surprised by anything as both of my classmates are very intelligent, though was surprised at times they asked me something. If I could have improved anything, I think I would have searched additional questions to keep the post going even more.

Having done both parts of an online facilitator, I would say my biggest takeaway is that there is more to becoming an online instructor than I realized. I hadn’t thought of discussion posts, for example, because my instructor often never responded. Also, I liked the technical aspects and that is part of the job. I really like finding sources online and then creating a presentation that all types of students will understand. I also like the idea of creating social media to use in my class, such as Facebook. An online instructor is more than a teacher, they are an instructional designer, a technology expert, a creator and even a student because they must keep learning so they can help other students. What I used years ago to create classes is outdated and many years from now, current technology will be obsolete, so an online instructor must roll with the changes to be an effective facilitator.