Talk:Facilitating Online/course mini conference

Questions
Please feel free to ask questions about the 'hows' and 'wherefores' of the mini conference - let's get some useful discussion going :) Sarah

It seems to me that any topic is fair game as it is the facilitation that ios being the challenge rather than the content. Of course much of our content is actually about the process- quite an introverted way of working really. BUT we talk a lot about being connected and a community. Oh my. Willie--Williec 17:42, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

I agree with you, Willie - we'll also get more info from Leigh tonight about what he'd expecting. SarahStewart 03:38, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

Debra R-W's Eureka moment
Potential session

I am thinking of inviting two or three speakers to my session. One is the only accredited Wimba trainer in NZ and the other two work with teaching staff to develop their static resources into interactive online resources. So my list would look like this:
 * How do you get teachers to engage with elearning?
 * What can Wimba do for you
 * Supporting teachers in the transition from chalk and talk to etivities

I am very lucky as I have access to the members of MITs Learning Technology Centre. Like Stephen, I intend to run it as a live presentation followed by Q & A.

Concerns:
 * People may not turn up, there is a poll onmy blog in an attempt to meet most people’s availability.
 * It will run and be a little flat – nothing to facilitate
 * I will overstep the boundaries of facilitation and in to the realms of teaching

Any comments, suggestions gratefully received.

Debra

--Drobertsonwelsh 06:16, 22 October 2009 (UTC)

I'm liking the ideas about supporting teachers to move from chalk to Internet but be mindful a couple of course partcipants are not teachers - so think how you'll cater for their needs. The other thing I would say is that we don't want to turn a session into a sales talk for a particular propriatory tool, however I don't see any harm in focusing on an open source or free tool. SarahStewart 20:24, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

Stephen's ragbag of ideas
I’ve got too many ideas so I’d be interested in everyone’s feedback. Plus of course I don’t want to cover what others are doing. Subject to agreement of my guest speaker I’ll run it as a live presentation with Q&A.

Topics on my list include:
 * how to run a webinar, including benefits, practical steps, pitfalls - short presentation by ... main audience: not-for-profit organisations,
 * elements of success in the Bang the table discussion platform/ process focused on public policy - main audience: professionals and citizens interested in public participation
 * One of the co-authors of digital habitats: technology stewarding for communities. - audience - broad, electic audience, educators, facilitators, community managers

Also, I know one of the convenors of the Transition Towns social network website and the website site manager of CommunityCentral. I’m going to ask them if there is anything they think would be particular relevant to people involved in moderation/ organising roles. Subject to being a manageable topic I’ll try to find someone.

Sablyth 08:06, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

Gosh, any of those ideas would be great, Stephen. I think it will be really refreshing to hear from people outside education. No idea what to suggest as the topic to choose, though :)  Sarah

SarahStewart 03:37, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

I like the sound of digital habitats, as this is linked with whatever platfrom or style of electronic /digital you choose. How do we keep these connections functioning? What is the cost of highpowered opportunities such as Second Life?--Williec 07:02, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

And as Leigh always remionds us, you have to consider the 1/10% rule, so how do we facilitate true community engagement? SarahStewart 20:24, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback and encouragement. I've just secured agreement from my guest speaker to present a case study about taking a scientific planning process from the real world to an online environment. As well as the background, part of the story is about choosing tools and guiding community members to use them, and the other is about enticing people to be active. My involvement has been as a fairly distant mentor and technical resource person. I'll publish details when signed off (likely to be 23 November due to prior commitments of my guest speaker). Sablyth 02:02, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

Kylee's Ideas
HAVING ANOTHER GO!!!

My meeting is resceduled for Friday 20th November at 1pm, in Eluminate. I am a tiger for punishment. I hope you can make it..--user:ktindall17:06, 11 November 2009

Topics I would like to look at are:
 * How to implement e learning tools into a course for students that have never experienced this type of learning. Advantages and disadvantages
 * How to use Skype in education and e learning. Advantages and disadvantages

I prefer the first topic as this is something I would like to do for a course I currently facilitate. It would be great to have others experiences about what has worked for them.

user:ktindall13:27,07 october 2009

If you're looking for a speaker, I can suggest David McQuillan - he's done quite a lot of work using open access tools for his teaching: DavidM@tekotago.ac.nz           Sarah

I can endorse David- very innovative and in an un likely subject- Massage!!!!!!--Williec 09:34, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for your thoughts and the name of a speaker.--user:ktindall21:38, 26 October 2009

Looking forward to attending tomorrow the 10th @10.Cheers Meena 09 Nov 2009

Kylee- can you confirm the time for your presentation tommorrow 10 am or 1pm? thanks DebraMaddocks 00:38, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Who has more time can also look around at Wikiversity for

 * Education in virtual worlds
 * Skype
 * use the search button: Search

DebraM's Ideas
I am thinking about a topic involving a discussion on the use of Twitter for social networking and how it can be used in Education. I have a guest expert in eLearning in mind, at present, but I have not contacted them. My initial ideas would be to have an open space forum/wiki/ for people to comment on prior to the event, where comments and questions can be raised with the speaker, and ultimately included in the presentation. I am considering an online debate- on the pros and cons, which would need to involve another speaker....I need to work on these ideas obviously, but if anyone has any feedback or comments, I would love to hear them. thanks DebraMaddocks 02:47, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

Sounds a fabulous idea. My main question is: why make it a debate...what do you want to achieve from it? How does a debate format fit with the question/answer format that you're planning to use with a wiki? Sarah

The debate idea came from the meeting with Leigh- but I think the q/a format with a wiki prior to the event is more productive. I have two guests in mind- both with good ideas on twitter but possibly slightly different aspects. I need to get organised more, thanks Sarah. RE: a debate- of course the result would depend on how the proposal was worded!!! DebraMaddocks 08:11, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

I guess I was trying to say...don't make things too complicated. Knowing how difficult it can be to 'make' people participate, will having a wiki and a live session be too much? SarahStewart 20:28, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

Update: I have 'secured' my presenter, Kevin Brennan, eLearning Advisor here at UCOL. I am working on the theme of Twitter- How can it work in education/ All you need to know By the end of the weekend (1 Nov) I hope to have written on my Blog the details of the event, how to connect, plus put a poll for dates/times. Kevin is available on either 16th, 19th or 20th of November. Thanks, Debra DebraMaddocks 19:22, 30 October 2009 (UTC) Don't forget to put details on the conference on the main 'mini-conference' page SarahStewart 21:03, 2 November 2009 (UTC)

I am having trouble getting Access to Elluminate (again) at UCOL. I am really hoping that the technical people will come through by the end of the week. Will post details as needed.DebraMaddocks 06:08, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

What's your plan B going to be if Elluminate doesn't work? SarahStewart 23:33, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

Rosanne's topic
I am planning to run my online conference on DimDim. My guest speaker is Anton Pienaar, an instructional designer from South Africa who I work with and who has run and facilitated classes online. He and I are both exploring how learning can occur in forums and I am thinking of something along these lines for the online conference. I think it will interest other participants in the course as we will look at forums and how you can use them to improve the learning experience for students. I haven't had a chance to discuss this properly with Anton so things may change.--125.239.106.104 00:39, 10 October 2009 (UTC)

Actually we are now thinking of doing something around PLN. It seems more relevant to the course and also was a topic presented at the eFest conference. I would like to use Skype instead but I believe this limits the conferece to 5 people. Would these numbers be acceptable given that my guest speaker and myself take up 2 spaces? That means I could only have 3 people as attnedees. What do you think??--203.97.94.156 21:35, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

Ummmm...you could run it on Skype using text only...why do you want to use Skype? Why not Elluminate? Sarah

After my experience with DimDim this week, I'd love to see how it works in a formal session - at least you can get 20 people as opposed to 3-5. SarahStewart 04:07, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

OK I have discussed this with Anton and we think we will try using DimDim as we originally planned. Are you OK with the PLN theme? What does the group think? I was quite impressed with Joyce Seitzinger's talk about it at eFest and what a PLN means to different people is really very interesting. It also fits in nicely with facilitating online. --203.97.94.156 02:43, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

Sounds great...as I have said to others, just remember that not all partucpants of this course are educators, so try to make it as relevant as you can to appeal to all comers SarahStewart 20:26, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

I agree- I too enjoyed the talk that Joyce gave at the eFest/T&L conference recently. She was gathering some feedback on what a PLN means to people, I have not looked for awhile but the links are there on the eFest site. thanks.DebraMaddocks 19:14, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

Sounds good.The incentive prize is even more tempting.See you Rosanne. Meena 14.43, 11 Nov 09

Hilary's Topic
Due to the restrictions at my place of work - technologically, I think an Elluminate Conference would be a good starting point as the platform for a topic.

I was wondering what people's thoughts were around a topic of Google Reader versus PageFlakes or ... seeking out a brief YouTube video or slideshare before moving on to colleague experiences and discussions on the subject. If there are other examples of organising oneself online, I would be interested in these.

Plan B as ever would be a verbal introduction and using Skype as the platform.

I think an exploration of how you make sense of the chaos of information overload in an online community or course sounds a great idea - maybe with an end point of recommendations for next years students :) SarahStewart 04:10, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

This is a great topic- do allow plenty of time as there seems to be lots off opportunity for chaos of information overload(that's my feeling anyway)- how to keep up !!! DebraMaddocks 19:22, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

Rachel's Ideas
This is where I will be posting some ideas with regards to the mini conference. I would like to try something in Second Life as I see that noone has chosen that. Apart from Sarah, I do not know of anyone that I can contact as yet, and I think that I will wait until my experience in SL tonight, if that is the way to go! Otherwise, I am thinking about looking at the use of wikis in educational settings and how students may be encouraged to collaborate. I have a someone in mind to contact, maybe interview them first of all and then have an open discussion in elluminate which would be facilitated. Please feel free to make any comments.--Rbyars 00:33, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Just wondering how you're feeling about SL now? Why don't you contact Carolyn McIntosh in the school of midwifery - she used SL for her assignment a couple of years ago - the meeting was fabulous and we had very, very basic skills in SL. Otherwise, I would strongly recommend you contact Clare Atkins who is the NZ SL guru: clare.atkins@nmit.ac.nz. There is also Jo Kay (http://jokaydia.com) - she is very busy but usually helps if she can. SarahStewart 04:18, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

Adrienne's Idea
I plan to run an Elluminate session with Beverly Kay from Manaia View Kindergarten. Beverly has been using blogging to build online community and enhance children's learning. She is currently undertaking an action research project and will share her findings so far.

If you want to look at the blog it is http://manaiakindergarten.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html and http://ictece.blogspot.com/#

Please email me with questions for the discussion (to adrienne_moyle@yahoo.com).

Very interesting...look forward to it. SarahStewart 20:27, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

Meena's ideas
Hi Everybody

I am planning a asynchronous event on BLOGGING Italic text

Blogging is something i never attempted before joing f.o.c course,was very apprehensive about sharing my thoughts,let alone be learning.

When i see some blogs of participants from our course, am totally dazzled.Amazing..

There will be a short presentation, where my guest speaker will be sharing his perspective on blogs. The 2 aspects that will be discussed will be:


 * blogging world overview
 * Social aspect on blogging

The plan is to do a Youtube video and embed the link in my blog.The forum will be opened from my blog.Was planng on doing it throught youtube itself, but then again you need to be signed up to be able to post comments.

Jason Lee, my guest speaker will be talking for roughly 10 minutes(hopefully it doesnt get extended)

Jason blogs in Chinese and has been a blogger for 6 years.

The discussion forum will open on 10th Nov 09 and last 2 weeks, so say 24 th nov 09.

Jason will be opening the forum and i will be facilitating once its opened.

So there will be no synchronous event as i have chosen this activity.

Hopefully we achieve our outcomes and share great learning experiences.

See you there...

P.S Thanks for your tips Sarah

Meena updated 09 Nov 09 1.33 p.m

Hi Meena, looking forward to this asynchronous event. Let us know as soon as it starts. I would keep the event open for a fortnight from the time you start. As you know I am away in 2 weeks but because your event is asynchronous, that will have no effect on your time line. cheers Sarah SarahStewart 22:21, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks Sarah,there were some hiccups with guest speaker's recording,should be fixed by tomorrow. Sorry for the delay. Meena updated 11 Nov 09 12/30 p.m

Unfortunately i had to replace my guest speaker as originally planned due to "not enough content" in the previous presentation.My current Guest speaker Jagadish Ghimire is a blogger and is very technical and curious in learning new technologies. He follows up on blogs re-latest trends in web technology.He developed special interest in online learning after undergoing a paper run by a professor from finaland, while doing his Master in Information technology in Thailand. Topic i have chosen is blogs as effective tool in imparting online education. Link to the youtube presentation is embedded in my blog, and would encourage all to participate with posting comments under my blog.The event will run from today 16th Nov to 30th Nov, and conclusion/reflection will be carried on the 1st Dec :-) Thanks Meena updated 16 Nov 10 p.m

I really enjoyed Jagadish's clip. I will comment on your blog. thanks Rosanne--203.97.94.156 21:20, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

Krishan's Mini Conference Ideas
I am thinking of running the mini conference about Online Discussion Forums. I have used a lot of different online application as a student and as well as a staff. I have discovered that there is a very less usage of discusion boards /Forums.

I have used Blackboard discussion Board- and i think it is a very useful tool in elearning. I would like to see why people arent using the discussion Board - or discussion forums. I am not sure what should I call my conference - Discussion Board is specific to black board. but is simliar to any online forum or blog - where people are able to discuss ideas, projects etc and get feedback from others. Should I generalise it to any online discussion forum, or make it a specific application like Blackboard - Discussion bord and stick to it. Just trying not to make the topic too broad.

These are me ideas... Please feel free to give me soem comments.

Regards Krishan Mani

Hello Krishan, I don't think you should talk about BlackBoard because some people may not have access to it or know what it is. I think you should think in more general terms...about how to facilitate asynchronus discussion in communities...try to keep it as broad as possible because not all the course participants are in education. Don't forget that you are facilitating this...you are not providing content. With that in mind, who are you going to get as your speaker or how will you facilitate this topic if you organise an asynchronous event? 202.49.0.2 03:08, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

HI Sara,

I think thats a good idea of keeping the topic broad to allow many participants to participate. I am thinking of using a discusion forum like my blog for this course and get people to participate in this asynchronous event.

Thanks Krishan

That sounds fine, Krishan. You just need to think about what forum you use - preferably an open onw that we can all access easily :)  SarahStewart 00:05, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Online Discussion Forums

Interaction has always been a major issue while dealing with elearning. How can learners interact with peers and facilitators, share ideas and thoughts and get feedback from the rest of the participants. The best way is by having online discussion forums available for any online course, whether it needs a lot of discussion or not, it is always good to have peers interacting with each other regarding the course. For my Mini Conference I would like to discuss the following issues:


 * Importance of Online interaction
 * Online Discussions Forums
 * Asynchronous communication – text based
 * Pros and cons of Online Discussions Forums
 * Examples of online Discussion

There are different online applications that you can use for Online Discussions Forums, in this mini conference will discuss the benefits of using online discussion forums rather than analysing any specific discussion forum.

Date and Time: Friday 13th at (4pm or 7:30pm) or Monday 16th at 7:30pm There is a poll in my [blog] (http://facilitationonlinekrishan.blogspot.com/) – please vote to let me know what times are more suitable to everyone.

Venue:Elluminate

I have included this on my Blog, please feel free to go there and post some comments of what you think about the above topics.

Kind Regards Krishan --Kmani 00:31, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Hi Krishan, how are you going to facilitate the meeting, in other words, are you having one speaker or more of a discussion panel? Don;t forget: you are the facilitator...not the speaker..it is not your job to provide the content?

If you have any queries about this, please feel free to get in touch. SarahStewart 00:49, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Hervé's idea
At last we have lift off! I could not believe that it was so difficult for people to commit themselves for a small (timewise) event such as this! Did you have a similar experience? A guest speaker from Cisco systems will talk about the use of Webex for online conferencing or about moderating an online community. I should be able to talk to him today or tomorrow. My speaker is based in Hong Kong. The mini conference session will be likely to happen during one evening (NZ time)to cater for the time difference. I will advertise the session as soon as I have more detailed information. Yes, I have had similar experiences, Herve. What upsets me more is when people comment to doing a session then they let you down right at the last minute. They wouldn't do it for a F2F conference so why do they do it online!!?? urgh! Right....rant over...good luck with your planning. Look forward to seeing your arrangements when they are firmed up. SarahStewart 22:18, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Update: After a long conversation with Eric this afternoon, things are falling into place:

Title: Using the Webex on-line conference tool

Date and time: Monday 23rd November, 20:00

what will be covered: -Description of the usefulness and capabilities of the WEBEX conference tool. -Experience of using an online meeting tool

The presenter will be Eric Kwok, Technical Manager, AsiaPac, Cisco System. Eric is Based in Hong Kong and has been working for Cisco System for 8 years. He is Technical Manager for the Cisco Networking Academy Program. Eric is using Webex daily.

I will post further info as soon as possible

Just to remind you that Catherine has a session at 8pm. I know we've talked about an alternative time...3pm on that Monday certainly suits me.SarahStewart 03:40, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

Catherine's Mini Conference Plans
I am a bit late in getting some information on this page, but, better late than never. My mini conference plans have now become firmer this week, since having a synchronous meeting in WiZiQ with my presenters Nellie Deutsch and Gladys Gahona, to discuss various details regarding my planned event. Although this meeting took a bit of time to organise due to the fact that there was three different time zones to negotiate, it certainly was easier to discuss various issues in this way, as opposed to asynchronously via email!

Details of my event are outlined on the course wiki mini conference page, and on my blog. I am really looking forward to hearing how both of these presenters combine WiZiQ, WikiEducator, Twitter, Ning and FaceBook to organise, share, promote/advertise and facilitate online instruction to - enhance online learning. Although I have a feeling I will possibly be too preoccupied to absorb any information from the session, and will have to view to the recording :)

Some questions that I would like to discuss either on this discussion page, and/or on my blog are:

How do you/which tools do you use to organise and facilitate online learning?

Which tools would you/do you use to share/promote/advertise online learning/workshops e.t.c?

Thanks

Rosceli Valdrez Mini Conference ePortfolio : 3 step reflective framework
==Title:  How can a three-step framework entice professionals to prepare evidence for an electronic portfolio? Date:   8:00 PM NZ time, Monday 30th November Venue:   DimDim, Back-up Elluminate Guest Speaker: Bronwyn Hegarty Description: Bronwyn will be sharing to us one of her master piece on her Doctorate paper. The presentation will include: · A description of the Three-step Reflective framework; · Initial findings from my Doctorate research; · Examples of how the framework is being used in teaching and research. Facilitator: Rosceli Valdrez (rosceli.valdrez@gmail.com or vald9@manukau.ac.nz)