Online Facilitator

Key attributes of an Online Facilitator

• Competency in the subject matter, as a minimum, at the same level of the themes that are covered in the online course, in particular if he/she acts also as a tutor;
• Certain degree of familiarity with information technology and managing online communications in general;
• Openness to receiving additional training (in relation to the particular Learning Management System being used for the online course that is to be facilitated);
• Being motivating, respectful and sympathetic towards participants;
• Willingness to adapt facilitation style depending on the course structure and/or participants’ needs;
• Seeking and responding to external feedback on facilitation skills, and self-evaluating one’s facilitation style, for improving the provision of online tutoring support.

Recommendations for an Online Facilitator to perform effectively

• Address participants by their names to overcome physical distance and create a convivial group environment;
• Communicate clearly and in simple language, omitting slang words, that can be understood by a global audience;
• Ask direct and specific questions in forums to prompt a higher response rate;
• Provide responses to participants that are rich in content than length;
• Be approachable and have a regular online presence by logging in at frequent intervals.

Primary tasks of an Online Facilitator

Pre-course:

• Become familiar with the technological aspects of the course environment in the Learning Management System;
• Review the course content and tasks involved, including taking note of deadlines for both participants and the facilitator.

Start of the course:

• Ease participants into the online environment with ice-breaker activities and/or initiating a round of introductions among the group;
• Set ground rules for online interaction, including tips on netiquette.

During the course:

• Foster learning among participants through open discourse and experience-sharing;
• Respond to forum postings regularly, and summarise postings in each discussion forum in a concise manner to provide a sense of the key elements surrounding a topic (bringing out both commonalities and differences in student views);
• Provide clarifications on course content, and refer participants to additional resources in the subject area when needed;
• Mediate as necessary to initiate discussions, or resolve disagreements, and to keep participants on track in relation to course objectives;
• Provide timely feedback on assessments, whether these activities are graded or not;
• Remind participants of deadlines at required intervals;
• Support participants, especially those less familiar with technology, in their use of online communication methods when they face difficulties;
• Pay attention to participants’ lack of engagement and follow-up with those who don’t regularly participate to minimize the dropout rate.

After the course:

• Provide requested feedback to course administrators for course evaluation purposes;
• Remain accessible for clarifications required on any-course related issue like grading.

How can Course Administrators support the Online Facilitator?

• Provide clear materials to familiarise the facilitator with the course content, methodological approach and make them aware of deadlines;
• Invest time to technically train facilitators for using the Learning Management System prior to the start of the course;
• Share the burden of providing technical support to participants with the online facilitator;
• Remind participants, if and when needed, that the facilitator can be expected to have a regular online presence but will not be constantly monitoring online activities and that they should also take account of time zone differences;
• Set reasonable and realistic timeframes for the online facilitator to complete tasks such as grading assignments.