Facilitating Online/Assessment detail

=General information about assessments=

There are four assessments for this course (Facilitating eLearning Communities) and each is worth 25%.


 * Assessment 1 is a journal in the form of a web log, or blog showing evidence and reflection about what you have learned about online facilitation and communities.
 * Assessment 2 is a wiki page you set up with information relevant for facilitation in your discipline and contribution to a wiki for the course.
 * Assessment 3 is a facilitation plan sent in prior to Assessment 4 - this can be described on your blog or in your wiki page.
 * Assessment 4 is the actual facilitation of an online discussion, followed by a reflection on its success in your blog.

All the assessments can be done on your blog or the wiki for the course. Please make sure that you do the following:

Ask for help as you go and feedback from others in the course. Have fun giving each other feedback and assistance - "building the barn". Submit the assessments by the due dates unless an extension has been requested. Your name, pseudonym or student number is indicated on the assessment. Make sure you tell the facilitators when your assessments are ready for marking.

Grading for the course
Grade C is achieved by those students who do the following:

a)     complete all assessments; b)      use reflection in the blog; c)     contribute to the course wiki; d)      exhibit average skills in facilitating an online discussion.

Grade B is achieved by those students who do the following:

a) achieve a good standard in all assessments; b) demonstrate substantial reflection and learning in the blog; c) contribute actively to the course wiki;. d) exhibit above average skills in facilitating an online discussion

Grade A is achieved by those students who do the following:

a) produce an excellent standard in all assessments; b) demonstrate critical reflection and substantial learning in the blog; c) contribute very actively to the course wiki; d) exhibit exemplary skills in facilitating an online discussion; e) make a substantial contribution to the learning of others.

=Assessment One - Reflecting on your learning=

This assessment is worth 25% of the total marks for this course and is due for submission at the end of week 17. It is an ongoing and iterative assessment, carried out with a buddy.

This assessment asks you to critically reflect on your learning experiences during the course in an Internet based weblog, otherwise know as a blog. You will work with and add to the blog throughout the course.

Your task

 * Part One

You need to make entries on the following four topics during the course:

A. Discuss the characteristics of an online learning community and the implications for learning and teaching online.

B. Evaluate online communication tools in given learning contexts e.g. in your own discipline.

C. Articulate the skills required for maintaining a successful online learning community.

D. Summarise the ideas, experiences and understanding of at least three other participants in the course and whether you agree with their postings - perceptions and beliefs about facilitation.


 * Part Two

Use the Three-stage reflective framework

For each topic (A, B, C, D) you will follow a three-stage reflective framework - a diagram and template of the three stages is provided to help you with this. Word lengths are a guide only. Click on the link to Hegarty Reflective Framework and Template to go to the printable template and diagram. Clicking on the image will enlarge it.

In each stage you will do the following:

Stage 1 - Take notice and describe the experience.


 * 1.1. What did you do, know, feel, think, need?
 * 1.2 What decisions did you make?

Record responses to these questions in relation to the three topics (A, B, C, D) either directly in your blog, or in the template and then transfer them to the blog. Use the prompts in the template and include examples from your own life and work experience and references to the literature to illustrate, where appropriate (250 words).

Stage 2 - Analyse the experience.


 * 2.1 Why these decisions?
 * 2.2. What was your reaction?

Stage 3 - Take action.


 * 3.1 What did you learn?
 * 3.2 How will you use this learning?

This process should include several iterations as you discuss the issues with your blog buddy. Here is a template for you to use as a guide.

You must complete all four topics to pass Assessment 1. Your facilitators will look at your blog from time to time and comment during the course and mark it at the end of the course.

NOTE:It would be helpful to the other participants if your comments on their blogs are more indepth than "I agree, great blog!". It would be good if you tried to discuss some of the main points they have made and offered an opinion and suggestions. Extra information from information sources would be great as well.

Marking schedule for Assessment 1
Assessment 1 is worth 25% of the total mark allocation for this course.

=Assessment Two - Contribute to a wiki=

In this assessment you will collaborate as part of a wiki community in a "barn building" activity. You will set up information relevant for facilitation in your discipline and also help develop content for this course. This assessment is due in Week 17, and is worth 25% of your total course marks.

Note: The emphasis in this assessment is on how actively you contribute to the wiki and participate in the wiki community.

Your task

 * Part 1

Join as many of the weekly synchronous "barn building" sessions as you can to work in the wiki as part of a collaborative community. You will be working together to develop content for use both in your discipline and for future facilitating communities courses in this programme.


 * Part 2

i. Develop at least one page on the wiki relevant to your discipline.

ii. Contribute to the wiki discussion to inform others what you have been doing on the wiki, and to give feedback to at least two other participants - this needs to be a reasonably indepth critique with rationale and suggestions.

iii. Contribute to general content on the wiki for future courses - add at least two resources.

iv. Add a link in your blog to your wiki page.

v. Write a summary on your blog about your impressions of wikis and their use in building communities.

Marking schedule for Assessment 2
Assessment 2 is worth 25% of the total mark allocation for this course.

=Assessment Three - Plan how you will facilitate a discussion=

In this assessment you will create a facilitation plan for an online discussion (one hour synchronous or one week asynchronous) on a topic of your choice. This assessment is due in Week 10 (now extended - see Course blog), and is worth 25% of your total course marks.

Note: The emphasis in this assessment is on how the discussion will be facilitated, not on the topic. Use the Facilitation template to prepare your facilitation plan.

Your task

 * Part 1

Choose a group to facilitate. You can choose to facilitate either of the following type of group:

A. Members of this class.

or

B. Professional - this can include colleagues or students.

or

C. Interest.

This group could be a class, a work group or an interest group, for example, you may choose to facilitate a meeting using computer conferencing software or present a short presentation with discussion to colleagues or students.

You will need to discuss your options with a facilitator and the class. Whichever medium you select, it is important that you are able to obtain a complete electronic record of all interactions, so you can analyse the discussion after its completion. Logging/recording is an automatic feature of most electronic media.


 * Part 2

After your discussion with your lecturer, use the facilitation template to create a plan of how you will facilitate this discussion. (Scroll down for the link to this). Remember that this plan concentrates on how you will facilitate, rather the topic of discussion.

Marking schedule for Assessment 3
Assessment 3 is worth 25% of the total mark allocation for this course. Please note:There was a miscalculation of marks in the original table - they did not add up to 25. The original marks are in brackets and they have been altered to better reflect the type of facilitation which most people in this class were taking part in. For example, we felt it was unfair to have such a heavy weighting on pre-determined messages (sample messages and subsequent messages). If you feel you have been disadvantaged by the change in marking criteria, please notify the course facilitators.

=Assessment Four - Reflection on your facilitation of a discussion=

This assessment is worth 25% of the total marks for this course and is due for submission in Week 17.

Even when you pre-plan the facilitation of a discussion it is likely that the result will be different each time, simply because of the different mix of personalities in the group and their understanding of the topic. The result is likely to be more variable with an adult group than with younger groups, due to the greater range of experience.

It is essential that after each facilitation you note down your observations on the success or otherwise of the process. It is also advisable to set aside some time to reflect upon what went on and how it might have been improved upon. Your thoughts and feelings at this time will be crucial, as later reflection will be based upon increasingly vague memories of what went on!

Your task

 * Part 1

Facilitate a discussion using the plan you created in Assessment 3. Your discussion should include the following:


 * Involve at least three participants
 * Show sufficient interactions to allow an in depth analysis.

Note:Record all discussion interactions electronically. Your records should include a time and date stamp. This will allow you to note the average times for responses in the medium you have chosen. Most media have this facility. Please check this before using the medium.


 * Part 2

Reflect (using the three-step framework) on your facilitation. Include the following:


 * A one-paragraph summary of the discussion.
 * Points of success: what went right?
 * Points of failure: what went wrong?
 * How will these successes and failures influence how you facilitate a similar discussion in the future?
 * Reflect on an event that shaped the discussion or a strategy that you used as facilitator.

The description of the event or strategy will need to be around 250 words. You will need to critically analyse the effect this event or strategy had on the discussion, with reference to education theory. Discuss why the event or strategy was important and how this will influence the way you will facilitate in the future (up to 750 words).

Marking schedule for Assessment 4
Assessment 4 is worth 25% of the total mark allocation for this course.

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