Bender's Recipe for Online Facilitation

The week’s discussion was anchored on Tisha Bender’s book “Discussion-Based Online Teaching.” With continued emphasis on improving our WebCon and EdWeb preparations we were asked to reflect on what changes we anticipate adopting in our online facilitation. I thought this was a good learning exercise. The Web Con was intense; I was just glad to have it over with that I missed out on digesting what went on during the conference.

I started off the discussion thread with my thoughts on “Silence online.” This is a topic very important to me because the nature of the online environment can drive a wedge in the learning process if these silences are not addressed. As a facilitator, I found this to be one of the most unsettling experiences: trying to balance jumping in to lessen the uncertainty while leaving enough room to allow gestation of individual perspectives. Based on this and the interesting exchanges that ensued, I thought that this was my best contribution for the week.

Several people in class provided insights that expanded the dimension of silence online. Some of the ideas include:
     Timing: The possibility of fielding a question when the participants are overwhelmed with other tasks, thus, reducing their capability to do more.
     Uncertain Closure: The discussion may be dragging on for too long. The learners may assume that the exchanges will wrap up soon and will not be worth the time to jump in.
     The Question itself: The phrasing of the question may be too vague, or too narrow; its purpose may also not be clear.

All of the above create ambiguities in an environment that already offers more of this than its face-to-face counterpart. There seems to be agreement that these affect learners’ interest and motivation which could lead to the silence.

Chad’s insightful question regarding action plans for a facilitator’s unanswered question generated several responses. Citing an online source, Kerry provided strategies to help avoid this incident. These include 1) clarifying objectives, 2) asking opinions on a controversial topic, and 3) asking questions that will require learners to analyze the subject matter (as opposed to having obvious answers).

David’s suggested strategies included applying the Keller’s ARCS model (Attention, Relevance, Confidence & Satisfaction) in online discussions, as well as managing expectations through the introduction of more structure. Both of these mitigate the uncertain environment and related motivational aspects stated earlier.