1. Facilitator Training Program
Steve Duarte
CUR/532
March 12, 2015
Todd Burke

2. Table of contents
Part I – Vital Information in the Facilitator Training
Training program audience
Training program goals
Training program objectives
Summative assessment of trainees
Part II – Facilitator Skills and Instructional Material
Training materials
Phases of development for distance learning facilitators
Theories of distance learning

3. Table of contents (cont’d)
Part III – Management and Technology Tools
Mentoring program for faculty
Management and evaluation programs for facilitators
Learning platform used for facilitation
Technology and media tools
Part IV – Issues and Classroom Management
Technology tools for student collaboration
Description of different distance learners
Differences between synchronous and asynchronous facilitation skills
Technology management
Classroom management

4. Part I
Vital Information in the Facilitator Training

5. Part I – program audience
The audience for this facilitator training program is a group of traditional ground campus faculty that have been resistant to the thought of facilitating distance (online) learning classes. Although the group of faculty do have sufficient enough experience with utilizing technology in a traditional face-to-face setting, they do not have experience in facilitating online classes and they lack the training to do so. Part of the reason why this particular group of faculty is resistant is because they have not previously been trained on how to be an effective distance learning educator.

6. Part I – Program goals
The overall goal of this training program is to provide facilitators with a solid understanding of what an effective distance learning educator is and the skills they must possess to be successful. This training program will also focus on applying technological web tools to enhance the distance learning experience.

7. Part I – Program objectives
1st day:
Facilitators will create a Venn diagram identifying at least three methods of establishing presence in a distance learning environment.
2nd day:
Facilitators will learn how to create and use technological web tools, like Wikiblogs, to engage learners and create community for distance learning students.
3rd day:
Facilitators will gather in groups of three in which they will present their newly gained knowledge in front of the class, using a technological web tool of their choosing.

8. PART I – Summative assessment
Summative assessment of trainees:
Trainee success will be measured by the end- of-course surveys that the online students submit after taking a course from the facilitators.
Summative assessment of the program:
Overall success of the program will be determined by the amount of faculty that receive favorable end-of-course surveys after their first experience in facilitating an online class.

9. Part II
Facilitator Skills and Instructional Materials

10. Part II – Training Materials
Skills needed for effective distance learning facilitators:
Establishing Presence
Engaging Learners and Creating Community
Course Development/Instructional Design skills
Technological Aptitude
Strategies for presenting:
Web tools
Group activities via web-conferencing

11. Part II – Phases of development for distance learning facilitators
Visitor:
In this phase, faculty who have entertained the thought of possibly integrating technology into a ground course have had very little practice with doing so.
Novice:
Although faculty members in this phase have not taught an online course or taken an online course as a student, they do currently use technology as a resource for posting their syllabus and have incorporated technology in their ground course.
Apprentice:
Faculty in this phase have actually taught a class or two online and are ready to gain a better understanding of the distance learning environment and the key skills needed to be an effective online faculty.
Insider:
Faculty in this phase have taught multiple online courses at the same time and are quite comfortable in an online distance learning environment. They are quite familiar with course management technology and they already possess a basic understanding of the essential skills needed for distance learning facilitators. Additionally, they have designed at least one online course.
Master:
Master faculty have not only taught several online courses at one time, but they have also designed several online courses and they have mastered the art of incorporating technology into an online learning environment. They have also learned to incorporate technology into their teaching and they are at an extreme comfort level in an online environment and can provided support and mentorship to faculty who are new to online.

12. Part II – Theories of distance learning
Transactional Distance – There are three aspects of distance learning that this theory focuses on: dialogue, program structure, and learner autonomy.
Multimodality – identifies the different modes for e-learning.
Intrinsic Motivation – acknowledges the special place that intrinsic motivation has in e-learning. E-learning requires that extra motivation than traditional face-to-face modalities.
Social Informatics – this theory focuses on the communication aspect of e-learning.
Digital Media Theory – this theory hones in on one specific aspect of communication, the digital media method (visual).

13. Part III
Management and Technology Tools

14. Part III – mentoring program for faculty
Goals and objectives of the mentoring program:
Provide vision for technology use
Individualize technology support
Break down hierarchy
Establish collaboration
Create community
The performance status of the mentor:
Current standing as a professional distance educator
How many years have they been educating?
Three years
How many classes have been taught successfully?
Seven
What is their criteria of success?
An extreme level of comfort in an online distance education setting in which they incorporate multiple technological web tools to enhance instruction. Experience in developing and designing online courses is also a sign of successful distance educators.
Mentoring experience criteria: Must the mentor have had prior experience?
Mentors must be at a “Master” level and possess a significant amount of experience in an online setting, as they will be leading their mentee by example. Mentors should be able to provide their mentees with an accurate picture of what a successful distance educator looks and acts like. Experience doesn’t always necessarily equate with age of the mentor, but they must have spent an adequate amount of time teaching in an online environment.

15. Part III – management & evaluation programs for facilitators
How might the faculty learning community approach affect management?
It should hopefully break down hierarchical structures where faculty are always looking toward management to get questions answered and receive support. This should free up management to focus on other things.
Identify the specific challenges and strategies used to manage adjunct faculty from a distance.
Lack of training in pedagogical theory
Isolation
Community-based approach
On-going training
What evaluation strategies will you use for facilitators?
End-of-course student surveys
Evaluate a course that they have designed
Observe facilitator interaction online through the learning platform being used
Mentor feedback
How will the evaluation and management strategies align to the identification of effective faculty skills and behaviors in Part I?
Faculty mentors will create a checklist based on the effective online faculty skills discussed
Student end-of-course survey questions will also be based on the effective online faculty skills discussed in training

16. Part III – Learning platform used
Identify processes facilitators will use to do the following:
Present information, such as lectures or videos
Content delivery through lecture or videos will be placed in the Main class forum where all students can easily access the material
Conduct class discussions
Class discussions will also take place in the Main forum, so as to ensure that the discussion can be easily accessed by all students
Conduct private discussions
Private discussions between the student and the facilitator will be conducted through the student’s individual forum that only the instructor and the student have access to, or via personal phone or
Private discussions between students can take place via personal phone, , or through the IM chat function built-in to the student website
Receive assignments
All assignment must be uploaded onto the “assignments” link on the student website, assignments will only be accepted through if there is a known technological issue at hand
Provide assignment feedback and grades
All assignment feedback and grading will take place in the “assignments” forum on the student website
Provide a clear definition of which system is used, LMS or CMS.
An LMS system will be used by faculty to facilitate their online courses because it allows all of the course content to be placed online.

17. Part III – technology & media tools
Include at least three different technology or media tools that engage and enhance student learning, such as the following:
Audio – Podcasts can be used to record supplemental lectures for students to listen to
Video – Youtube is a great educational resource that students can use for research or to create presentations
Visuals and infographics – Piktochart is a great web tool that can be used to create infographics, banners, or informational pamphlets to market or promote any given subject

18. Part IV
Issues and Classroom Management

19. Part Iv – technology tools & difference between distance learners
A minimum of three different technology tools for student collaboration, such as the following:
Wikis/Blog – A wikispace blog will be created as an additional supplement for class discussion, and for students to share their own thoughts; kind of like a chat room.
Video-Conferencing tools – due to the fact that Apple FaceTime is only available on Apple products, Skype will be the video conferencing tool used to team discussions, as it is available on multiple devices whether PC, Mac, Android, and iPhone/iPad/iPod
Mobile computing – Students can use the school’s mobile application to communicate in the classroom forums via their mobile devices (phone or tablet)
A description of the different distance learners:
Cultural – This is taken from a global perspective, describing the cultural environment in distance learning which can be made up of people all over the map geographically.
Experiential – Experiential students prefer minimal structure and they prefer to take more of an active role in the learning process.
Prior learning experiences: nontraditional learners – Non-traditional learners might need a little more attention than traditional students, and more focus on intrinsic motivation will need to be emphasized. Nontraditional students are often adults who work full-time jobs and have a family, which impacts the classroom dynamic in a certain way. Distance learning is often the only option for nontraditional learners, so the class must be designed in a way that will be most convenient for the students.

20. Part IV – difference between synchronous & asynchronous facilitation skills
Facilitation skills for both synchronous and asynchronous learning only differ in how they are carried out
Example: Establishing presence in a synchronous environment is just as necessary as it is in an asynchronous environment, but the way it plays out is different

21. Part IV – technology management
Students who may experience an issue uploading their assignment document onto the student website should let the instructor know and utilize a secondary method for assignment submission (i.e. ).
3 out of a group of 4 students have iPhones and want to FaceTime for their next learning team meeting – students all download Skype to accommodate the 1 android user in their group
Student gets a text from one of their team members about a post in the team forum but they don’t have their computer with them at the moment – student can access their school’s mobile app on their phone to look at the post in the team forum and respond via mobile app.

22. Part iv – Classroom management
Learner feedback
Issue: If students are confused as to where to post, messages that are intended to be private might end up on a public forum
Solution: It is important for the facilitator to set clear expectations as to the purpose of each forum, in order to give students a clear expectation of where they should post their respective inquiries.
Challenging behaviors
Students who are engaging in inappropriate activity (cyber- bullying, inappropriate posts, lack of participation/engagement) in the classroom forums need to be first addressed in the following steps:
Student will be contacted individually and privately to rectify the issue and prevent further occurrences
If the student refuses to adhere to the reprimand, student will then be reported to academic affairs for further escalation
ADA learners and associated strategies
All ADA referrals will be handled by the school’s ADA advisor team, and the facilitators must establish a relationship with the student’s assigned ADA advisor should they have to make any accommodations.

23. references
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2011). The excellent online instructor: Strategies for professional development: Strategies for professional development. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Haythornthwaite, C., & Andrews, R. (2011). E-learning theory and practice. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.