* Register for the next FLO – Design workshop September 18 – October 13, 2017 *
In January, 2017 we ran a workshop pilot at BCCampus called Facilitating Learning Online (FLO) – Design. The outcome is yet another fine-tuned, brand new workshop to include in the Facilitating Learning Online family of offerings.
The idea for this workshop emerged through participation in the FLO – Fundamentals, an intensive 5-week workshop which engages learners in both participant and facilitator roles and they learn about key themes related to effective planning and online facilitation. There was a fairly hefty design component inFLO – Fundamentals, and after several iterations we began to notice that the design piece (and actually, also the tools piece) was becoming too much of a focus in a workshop intended to be about facilitating learning.
The FLO Stewardship Group identified a need for a separate workshop to help prepare education practitioners for design work. In addition, this required scaling back the FLO – Fundamentals workshop, and reports are that the new version is MUCH more manageable.
The new workshop, FLO – Design, was designed and developed by Sylvia Riessner, an experienced facilitator and learning designer who has been involved in course design and faculty support for many years. Sylvia also has a keen interest in helping instructors to explore open educational practices — perhaps another workshop to add to the family? 🙂
For this pilot we repeated the format of inviting ‘Observers’ to join the workshop. Observers, all Facilitator Development Online workshop alumni, notice and keep track of how others are experiencing the course, then participate in a debrief and assist by recommending revisions. The Observers in this pilot were:
- Emma Bourassa, Consultant / TRU
- Beth Cougler Blom, Consultant / RRU
- Stephanie Boychuk, VIU
- Leva Lee, BCcampus
- Sylvia Currie, BCcampus
In addition to ongoing Observer feedback, the pilot evaluation included a post workshop anonymous questionnaire, and a Reflections and Horizons activity.
Survey Results
5 respondents: faculty, learning designers, instructional designers, instructors
(Quality) How would you rate the quality of this learning/professional development experience? | |
– High quality: | 5 (100.00 %) |
– Fair: | 0 |
– Low quality: | 0 |
(Time) How much time did you spend on the course activities? | |
– Less than 6 hours per week: | 1 (20.00 %) |
– 6-8 hours per week: | 2 (40.00 %) |
– More than 8 hours per week: | 2 (40.00 %) |
(Satisfaction) Overall, how satisfied were you with the FLO-Design workshop? | |
– Very satisfied: | 5 (100.00 %) |
– Satisfied: | 0 |
– Not Satisfied: | 0 |
Selected comments
The feedback provided by participants was very thorough and helpful. Here is a selection of comments:
- The pre-workshop orientation was a good review.
- Sylvia R is AWESOME!! Her support and feedback was amazing, I really appreciate the time she spent posting and interacting with each person in the group.
- I liked the checklists – they were critical to my success to help keep me motivated, on task and grounded.
- Having us choose our own learning direction creates ownership and enthusiasm for the activities.
- Working in small groups really helped with relationships, accountability, community and chunking down the workload.
- There was a great sense of community
- The design and facilitation of this course allowed opportunities for the self directed learner to really dig into their own learning objectives – well done.
- I really got what I needed from this experience (and more). I wasn’t anticipating the new relationships that are going to last long after the course is done!
- I thought the design project was crucial to understanding the concepts of the course. I like the visual focus.
- FLO workshops are safe, supportive and structured to provide a positive learning experience that continues long after the workshop is over.
What’s Next?
Following the pilot the workshop was tweaked based on participant and observer feedback. The next 4-week FLO – Design workshop begins September 18, 2017 and will be facilitated once again by Sylvia Riessner. Also, in keeping with FLO tradition, Sylvia will be mentoring individuals who wish to gain experience facilitating the workshop. Hope to see you there, and please spread the word to your colleagues!