INITIAL
BLOG ONTL 6201
FACILITATING
ONLINE COURSES
BARBARA J. ANDERSON
1-25-15
ONTL 6201 will provide knowledge and
practice in actually facilitating both asynchronous and synchronous
discussion. When taking ONTL 6101 I
enjoyed the experience of asynchronous discussion threads and synchronous
methods of collaboration like Collaborate and Blackboard IM. This was my first experience as an online
student. The discussion threads seemed straight-forward
but the Collaborate and Blackboard IM did not.
The Collaborate sessions sometimes have issues-people going in and out,
sometimes you can’t hear, someone might
call in on the phone because they can’t enter the Collaborate session, written
chat may not work, etc. I felt
frustrated after the first session, better after the second session, and much
more confident about the possibility for Collaborate after our first session in
ONTL 6201.
I am excited about the opportunity to
actually learn how to facilitate Collaborate for an online class. Since the nonmajors online Biology class that
I teach has almost no collaboration right now, I find these methods to be a
great opportunity to be able to incorporate this aspect into my class in the
future using creative methods.
Although I am excited about this
opportunity I am also apprehensive.
Actually terrified would be more accurate! I am concerned about being able to ask the
right questions and make appropriate comments to keep a productive discussion
thread going. I am confident about
preparing a powerpoint lesson and discussion items for the Collaborate session
that I must facilitate, but nervous about actually facilitating the
session. How many students will
attend? How will they receive the
lesson? Will they openly discuss while
we are in the session or will there be silence?
What will I do if there is silence to energize the conversation? How will I control student responses so
everyone has a chance to speak?
I signed up to facilitate a session in the
middle of the course. I am looking
forward to see how a few other students handle the facilitation for their unit
before I facilitate my unit. After I
experience several sessions, I am hoping that my session can be planned and
well executed for myself and the other students in ONTL 6201 so that I can
actually experience this as a facilitator in my own classes.
