Blended Facilitation
Welcome to this module on Blended Facilitation
This module on Blended Facilitation follows the earlier module on Blended Learning. Blended learning is about maximising opportunities face-to-face and online, designing the best possible learning experience overall. This involves selecting appropriate online learning resources and activities to enhance, extend or empower students' study experience. With the implementation of the LDF a higher percentage of NMIT courses will be at the extend and empower levels of the 3 E Framework. Online learning effectively complements face-to-face learning, when students are fully engaged in both environments, guided and supported by an active facilitator.
1. Creating links between online and face-to-face learning
1.1 When is facilitator presence needed online ?
- 3E-Activity-Mapping File 327.2KB
1.2 How do you create an online teaching presence ?
1.3 Why is online teaching important ?
View this video and note the benefits of online teaching for your students.
1.4 When should you go online and for what purpose ?
2. Managing an online discussion
2.1 How do you effectively manage an online discussion ?
Online facilitators, also known as e-moderators, are responsible for three key aspects of online discussion;
- encouraging participation
- keeping the discussion on track
- summarising the key outcomes.
The resources in this section will enable you to become a more efficient and effective facilitator of blended learning.
If your students need guidance on the "do's and don't of online communication" here are some useful rules of Netiquette.
2.2 How do you establish an online community of inquiry ?
2.3 How do you host an effective online discussion ?
View the video below on conducting effective online discussions (6 mins) and note what you can add to your facilitation toolkit !
2.4 Do you need to manage groups online ?
Where group work is planned this advice on Managing groups online and How-to Facilitate Robust Online Discussions will be useful ! Where you wish to extend and empower your students learning online Gilly Salmon's The Five Stage Model and the embedded video Scaffolding for Learning are certainly worth a look !
2.5 What happens if students challenge the learning process ?
If you are concerned about your ability to manage students who may challenge the learning process online this video Dealing with Difficult Students in the Online Classroom (17 minutes) provides sound strategies.
2.6 How can you efficiently summarise an online discussion ?
3. Adding additional context
3.1 What is additional context and where do you add this ?
Additional context is content added as appropriate (eg an additional theory, current article or small case study introduced) to stimulate student activity/discussion.
It may be that students require additional context to scaffold learning or for extension purposes. It is more likely that additional context would be required online where the use of technology is extending or empowering learning.
Think about what additional context may be needed to assist your students to achieve their course goals ?
Facilitators who anticipate the need for additional context are well advised to prepare these resources and postings ahead of the course. This will enable facilitators to be responsive to their learners' needs and increasingly efficient !
Adding context is part of your communication plan - see Sample Blended Learning Communication Plan.
4. Using appropriate communication tools
4.1 Communicating effectively online
There are a range of communication options online which can assist in promoting and consolidating communication within a course. This benefits both students and the facilitator ! Options for communicating with your students in NMIT Online include:
- Course news forums: messages are stored online and email copies are sent to all course participants
- General discussion forums: multiple formats for structuring online discussions
- Private messaging: have a private conversation with a student - live text-chat if student is online or email copies are sent to students if they are not online
- Chat rooms: options to set up class text chat rooms for an online brainstorm or simple meeting.
These options are explored below.
4.2 What is a course news forum ?
The News forum is for general course announcements and is automatically created for front page of an NMIT Moodle site. Only teachers and administrators may add posts or reply to posts. Default settings enable every enrolled person to be subscribed to the News forum. The latest news block displays a specific number of recent discussions from the News Forum. Here is a sample course news forum.
4.3 How do you set up forums in NMIT Moodle ?
Well designed forum activity can contribute much to student learning.
See below general information about Using forums and for Using forums in Moodle 2.
4.4 Can I send a private message on NMIT Online ?
NMIT Moodle supports private messaging between users. If both users are online at the same time they can effectively operate a private chat room. If you send a message to someone who isn't online, an email copy is sent to their preferred address. See Private Messaging for instructions on how to send a message.
4.5 When might an online chat room be useful ?
Live chat rooms online can be a useful supplement to face -to-face discussion. Small virtual teams can make good use of this "activity" to progress their work. So that a chat room is live at the designated time it is important to ensure the module settings are accurate.
5. Guiding and supporting students to use tools
5.1 Giving students a good start in their blended learning
All students are familiar with face-to-face learning environments, if not with some learning approaches. Not all students are familiar with online learning. Careful scaffolding can be required from assistance with logins to developing familiarity with using different tools. This has been described as providing an "on ramp " to online aspects of blended learning.
5.2 Selecting tools and resources
Being highly selective is key ! Tools and resources should be used when they are the most appropriate for the task. Students should not be asked to become familiar with a wide range of online tools within the context of any one course. Here is some helpful guidance on how to Add content and activities to your online course site.
5.3 Creating guidelines/instructions
When you are creating guidelines and instructions for your learners there are some key points to keep in mind. Particularly where messages are online, best to ensure that these messages are:
- consistent
- digestable - plain language is best
- correctly sequenced if there is a process to follow
- easily retrievable for future reference.
Guidelines and instructions for students working in NMIT Moodle are well captured in Student Guide to NMIT Moodle.
6. Managing online assessment processes including tools
6.1 What assessment tools are available online ?
There are a range of assessment tools available in NMIT Moodle which assist students and facilitators .
You may be thinking about assessing online forum contributions.Students need a reason to go to a discussion forum. Either their contribution is being assessed or their participation extends their understanding of assessment requirements. If you are going to assess contributions then these two resources may be useful:
For information on assignment submission, how to use Turnitin (pliagarism detecting software) and Turnitin Reports and to see a sample assignment drop box see Assessment and quizzes and how to use Turnitin.
6.2 How do you use the grade book ?
The Moodle Grade Book allows facilitators to view and manage grades and students to view those grades.
6.3 How do you give feedback and mark online ?
Feedback is key in all learning environments ! See Strategies for Providing Feedback in Online Courses for a range of approaches. To find out about giving feedback marking with rubrics see Moodle Assignment Support and Online Discussion Rubric .
Facilitators' Forum
Use this forum to ask any questions you have about blended facilitation. Also post any comments about anything you'd like added to this toolkit.