I had the the pleasure of doing an extra credit assignment that involved assisting another student who did not have a co-facilitator. Because of communication glitches that took place (and making a long story, short) at the eleventh hour I was to prepare a slide presentation for a portion of the class that she assigned to me. So I thought, 'this can't be too bad, I've done these kinds of things before on Windows/Office, so since Macs are so 'user-friendly', I should be able to figure this out'. Huh! Little did I know (and I didn't) that I needed some training in how create slides in Keynote. I also found out that the WebCt has a limit in how much material a file can hold. Anyway, to make another long story short, it was a learning experience for me. But I enjoyed the process and had fun as well! Although I was unable to present my slides, I did lecture (did I say lecture? I meant talk, erm, facilitated :) !) some of the material that I was assigned to formulate for the class. I also provided a link to a wonderful online 'warehouse' that stores multitudes of information in place for social bookmarking. So my efforts were not all in vain.
But my mistakes and deficiencies certainly showed while I was creating this presentation. So I had to internalize these short-comings and figure out how I was going to overcome them for the next week, as this facilitation was the one that counted for the grade. It was suggested to me that I call Apple up and schedule an appointment for training on the computer and this Keynote application. So I did and it was met by me with success. I sat with the instructor for a couple of hours as he walked me through the ins and outs of the application and showed me the basics (I'm a little slower than some when it comes to this. My daughter picked it up in 10-15 minutes of being shown this and went off shopping with her mom. She offered to explain it to me when we got home, but I declined!) Armed with this new-found knowledge, I went home and began to create.
And create I did to the best of my abilities! But my personality dictates that I have to do something unusual, something no one else has done thus far in their synchronous classes. I know! I'll pose questions to the class for discussion. No one has done that yet. In that way, I can get a discussion going and I won't lecture or teach. I'll just present information and let them discuss the topic based on questions that I can ask the students. Because I was looking for a way to facilitate and NOT to teach or lecture. I thought that this was a solution to my quandary.
It turned out that this was a good thing! When I showed my presentation to my partner,Mike, he was also pleased. I told him that I felt that there was not enough information to last an hour. He told me not to worry and that the process will handle itself, just watch and see. I practiced it aloud at home prior to presenting it. My wife and daughter said that they found what I was talking about was interesting and that they would enjoy it because I was talking to them instead of at them. I thought, 'okay ... this is a good thing!'
I feel that the presentation was a success. The class flowed smoothly, the discussion topics were engaging, and the students provided some valuable insights as well as revealing their own fears and shortcomings. I felt pretty exhilarated after the class as we were paid many kudos by the students and our professor. The funny thing about it was that I didn't do too much during the "lecture" (did I say lecture again? I meant facilitation!). As Mike said, the process took care of itself. I put information out there, posed a question, and off it went. Not a bad days work, I thought! And it was fun to create as well.
The asynchronous facilitation was a little bit different. In this part I had to try, where possible, to keep the conversation interesting or to challenge the students with questions that required more thought. But I found that whether I facilitate or not, a lot of students don't respond to the questions that I pose. I reviewed what I wrote and ensured that it was relevant but still, no response. But for the ones that did respond, the conversation was engaging. I did feel that in one of the student's posts that I may have jumped the gun a little and probably should have stayed out of the conversation as my comments weren't really necessary. I was just role-confused, I guess! But it as I have learned in this class that engaging the students is plays a vital role in the learning process. I have learned that asking questions that require a higher order of thinking and researching is good for both the student and the facilitator. I would be amiss if I didn't say that in these two classes, we (the students) taught something to our facilitators. I am not trying to grandiose here by any means but I feel that a good teacher is also a good student who is always willing to learn and realizes that it is part of this journey in life. At least that is the approach that I take when I teach; I EXPECT to learn something from my students. I also am always open to learn from any and all whom I meet in this trek that is called life. And for me, it's been a fabulous journey!
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