Running head: FACILITATOR TRAINING PROGRAM PART I

Facilitator Training Program Parts

Jaime Lozano
CUR/532 Facilitating Online Learning
February 2, 2015
Gregory Jackson

FACILITATOR TRAINING PROGRAM PART I

Table of Contents

Part I: Vital Information in the Facilitator Training.Page 3

Part II: Facilitator Skills and Instructional Materials...Page 6

Part III: Management and Technology Tools..Page 12

Part IV: Issues and Classroom Management...Page 15

Rubrics and Assessment Tool..Page 18-19

References...Page 20

FACILITATOR TRAINING PROGRAM PART I

Part I: Vital Information in the Facilitator Training

Audience

The training will be administered to higher education facilitators.

These facilitators have been teaching face-to-face or traditionally and

have no experience teaching online.

Experiences include teaching ground campus courses only, for at least

ten years.

The trainees have a deep understanding of pedagogy and andragogy

approaches in the classroom setting. These learners have at least a
Masters degree in a variety of fields.

Facilitators have experience using the internet and their universitys

computer systems for administrating and evaluating student learning.

Goals

Explain how to use online technologies to build competence and

confidence.

Objectives

Explain how to use effective online pedagogy or andragogy strategies.

Understand the personal aspect of online teaching strategies

Technology objectives
The faculty learners will be able use online systems or technologies to
communicate with other class members to mock online communication with
students. By working within a learning community focused on online
learning, learners or faculty can experience the benefits of online work and
can then translate those into their online teaching, (Palloff & Pratt 2011).
1. Learner will log to the online system independently using a
computer.
2. Explore and use the most essential online communication tools
in the system.
3. Communicate via online with the facilitator first, then other
classmates.
4. Describe the purpose of each online system tool.

FACILITATOR TRAINING PROGRAM PART I

5. Call tech support at least once during training with a mock or

real issue.
6. Explore other resources students will need in the site to be
successful.
Pedagogy objectives
The goal of the pedagogy or andragogy objectives is to build competencies of
the most effective online strategies.
1. Analyze pedagogy strategies that enhance high levels student
participation by reading journals or articles and experiencing
training presentations.
2. Discuss what good teaching in a classroom environment is.
3. Apply prior knowledge and new learnings on teaching in the
online platform to practice teaching with this modality.
4. Create an assignment and upload into the online platform for
trainees and trainers.
5. Generate questions on a course they have taught to be used for
a future online class.
Personal objectives
The goal of personal objectives is to build facultys teaching abilities,
confidence, and break down skepticism about online learning. According to
Palloff & Pratt (2011), experience needs to be honored and respected with
training experiences that match those levels.
1. Learners will analyze what it means to build presence in the
online learning environment to build a sense of community.
2. Participate in a group mentoring or a collaborative communityoriented approach using the online platform by answering
questions or posting new messages.
Summative
Assessment

Assessment of trainees success

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Pre and post assessments on knowledge, skill level, and trainees

attitude about online instruction.

Rubrics

Reflection journals

Multiple-choice tests

Create and upload assignments and a syllabus for a future course

Assessment of program success

Kirkpatricks Four Level Evaluation Model will be utilized to analyze and
measure the effectiveness of the training. For this training only the first three
levels will be used. Each of the levels provides questions to consider and
examples of evaluations after the training is completed.

Reaction- Did the trainees feel the training was worth their time?
Administer trainee satisfaction surveys or questionnaires

Learning- interviews or verbal assessments

Behavior- Did the trainees put any of their learning into use? Follow
up interviews and observations will be used.
Formative Assessment Tool (see below *)

FACILITATOR TRAINING PROGRAM PART I

Part II: Facilitator Skills and Instructional Materials

Skills needed for effective
distance learning
facilitators

Skills
Presence-there needs to be continuous interaction throughout the
week, (Pelletier, 2013). Model the type of behavior to be
expected from students. Teaching presence is the backbone of a
learning community, as it sets social climate and supports critical
thinking, (deNoyelles, Zydney, & Chen1, 2014).
Good communication-Organizations across the globe place this
skill as a top priority. Instructors must communicate with
learners within 24-hour period, (Pelletier, 2013). Effective online
teachers have frequent and active presence in the discussion
throughout the week.
Feedback- This could be another teachable moment or a form of
formative evaluation. Negative feedback needs to be embedded
with positive for maximum effect.
Confident with technology- According to Hitch & Hirsch (2001),
the objective is that at all times the instructor instructs, facilitates,
not overwhelmed or intimidated by technology.
Strategies
Individualize training-develop just in time mentoring
relationships and provide extra support to those who are
struggling, (Palloff & Pratt, 2011).
Create experiences that are fun-link training to learning
outcomes and include games, food, and other means to keep
audience engaged.
Social presence- high level of social presence supports the
necessary framework to build cognitive presence. Learners as a
result construct and confirm meaning through reflection and
discourse, (deNoyelles, Zydney, & Chen1, 2014).

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Keeping open communication with learners- ice breakers

strategies should be utilized to encourage learner/faculty to learn
about each other. Anxieties will be reduced with open
communication as students learn in a supportive online climate.
Phases for development
for distance learning
facilitators

Phases of Development
Visitor- has an idea about the idea of teaching online. Learners at
this phase might have used email for assignment completion.
This faculty is curious about what is possible in this learning
modality. Also, they may be skeptical and might need
convincing to move forward, (Palloff & Pratt, 2011).
Novice- in this phase faculty are still curious about teaching
online, but began teaching in this format with some levels of fear
and anxiety. They benefit from training experiences as a learner
and then transitioning to the instructor role by preparing and
presenting within the training experience and receiving feedback
for improvement, (Palloff & Pratt, 2011).
Apprentice- faculty in this stage have one or two years of
teaching online. They know how to navigate and facilitate an
online course at basic level. According to Palloff & Pratt (2011),
their next step is on increasing learner participation and
incorporate teaching techniques beyond read and discuss. In this
phase faculty benefit from training where they are able to share
experiences and receive feedback and suggestions from peers.
Insider- Faculty at this phase have taught online for several years
and may need reinforcing skills. They may need more advanced
skills such as adjunct media in the design and delivery, reliance
on collaborative methods in online teaching, and engagement
with more advanced assessment techniques, (Palloff & Pratt,
2011).

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Master- at this phase, faculty have a great deal of experience with

online teaching. They may be called for support of colleagues at
earlier stages. These instructors continue to pursue best practices.
Faculty may also conduct research, present at conferences, and
publish their work to support the discipline of online, (Palloff &
Pratt, 2011).
Transition Between Stages
Within each phase there are four categories (personal, content,
pedagogy, and technology). At any phase faculty can be at
different levels in any of these four categories. For example,
novice faculty members are likely to have higher needs in the
personal and pedagogical areas. On the other hand, older master
faculty might need training with technological skills to advance
their craft of teaching online, (Palloff & Pratt, 2011). At every
stage faculty can be at different levels and their needs need to be
individualized.
Theories of distance
learning

Transactional Distance- involves a set of three variables

(dialogue, program structure, and learner autonomy) that operate
in relation to the degree of transactional distance between the
instructors and learners, (Haythornthwaite, & Andrews, 2011).
E-learning transforms relationships, facilitators cede more control
and leadership to students. This as a result creates a new form of
andragogy.
Multimodality- two ideas are included in this theory,
transformation- a key concept in meaning-making and refers
how learners re-shape their meaning according to resources
available and transduction- the modal of shift from one set of
resources to another (e.g. print paper to online publications),
(Haythornthwaite, & Andrews, 2011). Learning can take place in

FACILITATOR TRAINING PROGRAM PART I

a multimodal form, such as using a laptop, desktop, tablet, or any

handheld device with access to the internet.

Intrinsic Motivation- this is particularly important in E-learning

because students spend many hours a week isolated from other
learners. Consequently, students have to make an extra effort to
contribute to the online learning community. Learning requires
engagement, it may be little, and some learners may feed off the
contributions of others, still, it requires some degree of awareness
and engagement, (Haythornthwaite, & Andrews, 2011). For the
most part adult learners are motivated intrinsically for various
reasons, for example, job satisfaction and quality of life,
(Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2011).

Theory scenarios
Transactional Distance
This theory applies to an online learning. First, there is dialogue
between learners and between learner and instructor. Second, the
way the program is structure, co-presence is replaced and
compensated by more extensive electronic networking,
(Haythornthwaite, & Andrews, 2011). Third, this modality gives
the learner some degree of autonomy. Like stated before, the role
of the facilitator changes in an online learning environment, the
teacher cedes more leadership and control learning to the
students, (Haythornthwaite, & Andrews, 2011). Here discussions
are facilitated by the teacher who participates as equal. Students
are involved and the teacher facilitates the learning, (Knowles,
Holton, & Swanson, 2011, pg. 185).

Multimodality

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With a multimodal approach leaners experience learning from

different learning styles. Some of these include visual, audio,
and linguistic. Websites such as Capzles, Dipity, Myhistro, and
Glogster allow learners to create timelines, posters, canvases, and
a various other projects. In addition, all these websites permit
students to work together to complete their projects in a distance
learning or face-to-face learning environment. The mode of
communication addresses the language like speech, writing,
image, and audio skills, (Haythornthwaite & Andrews, 2011).
Theories for engaging
distance learning

Constructivist learning theory (Transformation)-learners

construct new ideas based on their current or past knowledge.
The student selects, transforms information, makes hypothesis,
and makes decisions. Transformation is at the heart of the
learning, (Haythornthwaite & Andrews, 2011).

Framing- the way students use certain kinds of rules and

experiences as interpretative frames for action. Here the student
adapts to the learning setting. If the learning is face-to-face
students need to apply themselves different than distance learning
environments where the learner learns primarily in isolation.
According to Haythornthwaite & Andrews (2011) when we
learn, we make further sense of and discover meaning in our
surroundings, whether that sense is psychological, scientific,
social and whether the learning is explicit or tacit, (p. 36).

Emergence- through observation and active engagement with

environmental elements, students can experience expansive
learning leading to ongoing emerging new understandings,
(Haythornthwaite & Andrews, 2011). Emerging learning also
means learning by and with a community.

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Engagement theories examples

Establishing presence, especially early in the course or training is
vitally important because it sends the message of who the
facilitator is and making social connections. According to Palloff
& Pratt (2011), presence is associated with effective instruction
online, greater depth of learning, and learner satisfaction.
Continues interaction throughout the training is critical.

The instructor needs to create a sense of community among

faculty early on. Therefore, injecting fun activities like showing
a video or pictures to put a face on introductions. Any type of
activity to get learners motivated to learn.

Constructive feedback is another example that will aid in keeping

learners engage. They need to know when they are doing a great
job and when they need guidance or redirection with a concepts.
Pelletier (2013) recommends sandwiching negative feedback
between positive for maximum effect. One of the most important
things about engagement is for faculty to see the value and know
they have the support to get them to achieve learning goals.

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Part III: Management and Technology

Mentoring Program for
Faculty

The mentor is a master facilitator who has been teaching

university courses both at the local campus and online for over
fifteen years. The last five years have been primarily online
teaching. This mentor has facilitated between over fifty courses
online with a 95% student satisfaction rating and recognition
from the university as a dedicated, qualified individual who has
students at the forefront of learning. This is the third year this
mentor has volunteered to facilitate this type of faculty training.

Management and
Evolution

Faculty learning community approach on management

The learning community approach will help solve challenges and
enhance learning. Using spontaneous mentoring, including
faculty at all phases of development, and using the same
technologies employed for delivering online or hybrid classes are
effective methods to manage these learners, (Palloff & Pratt,
2011).
Challenges and strategies to manage adjunct faculty
Possibly two of the biggest challenges with this particular group
will be resistance and the fear of the unknown, in this case
technology. Including master faculty members in the training
will be valuable because they add a credible element based on
their experience. Also, providing adequate software and
technical support, such as a help desk for both faculty trainers and
learners, (Palloff & Pratt, 2011). The use of web conferencing
and web casting may greatly help adjunct faculty from a distance.
Evaluation strategies
Training will need to be individualized to address the phases
(visitor, novice, apprentice, insider, and master) and expertise in
the categories (personal, pedagogy, and technology) with each

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faculty member. Content will not be a focus for training

purposes. The use of rubrics to measure quality learning
opportunities, learner-instructor interaction, and course
achievement of learning objectives.
Evaluation and management strategies alignment with faculty
skills and behaviors
Learning Platforms

Learning Management System (LMS) is an e-learning software

application used for administration, documentation, tracking, and
delivery of educational and training programs.
Present Information
Facilitators will use demonstrations, videos, tutorials, and
PowerPoints to present information both face-to-face and with
distance students.
Conduct Class Discussions
Students will have the ability to discuss information both face-toface and using video conferencing for distance learners. In
addition, the use of blogs (Twitter), and the LMS platform to
share thoughts and new learnings.
Conduct Private Messages
Within the LMS platform, there will be a section specifically for
private messages between trainer/s and faculty learners.
Receiving Messages
All faculty trainees will receive messages in the form of email,
blogs, private messages, whole training messages, and chats.
Provide Assignment Feedback and Grades
The LMS application will have a section where students can view
feedback and grades. Learners will be guided on how to use this
and most LMS features.

Technologies
Technology/Media Uses

Tutorials/Video/Conferencing (webinars)- Learners will be able

to view and listen to information presented in real time in front of

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their computers or their smart TV. In addition, these types of

technologies will be recorded for access at any time to maintain
student engagement.
Visuals and Infographics- the learning modality will be
synchronous, as a result visuals to present information from the
trainers will be important. These visuals may include, posters,
PowerPoint or Prezi presentations, videos on certain topics from
different sources, like Utube, and the schools multimedia library.

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Part IV: Issues and Classroom Management

Technology Tools

Blogs- this type of tool allows for interaction during and after
class time. Learners will have support and guidance from the
learning community, including trainers.
Skype/Apple FaceTime- these types of technologies bring people
together face-to-face at any time and will use during group work
to enhance collaboration.
Classroom Learning Platform (LMS)-learners will have access to
the classroom platform to communicate during and after the
synchronous time allotted. They will have access to assignments,
syllabus, materials, electronic library tools and resources, and
read any announcements from the trainers.

Description of Learners

The course consists of about 20 learners, twelve men and 8

women, 7 of the men faculty are White, 2 Black, 2 Hispanic, and
one Asian. Female faculty learners include 3 White, 2 Black, a
Hispanic, Middle Easter, and Asian individuals. With the
exception of the Asian male and the Black female faculty
learners, all the other trainees were born and raised in the U.S.
They all have similar experience using technology to teach
ground campus courses. Individualism and collectivism will
need to be acknowledged and implemented with this group.

Synchronous and
Asynchronous

Synchronous

Facilitation Skills

Visuals like

Asynchronous
o Implement activities

PowerPoints

that allow for

Provide visuals

collaboration

through webcasts or
webinars

o Provides deadlines to
promote participation
o Facilitators must build
an online learning

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Trainers voice

community and

activates auditory

presence

learners

16

o Open ended questions

Get immediate
feedback from learners

Assess facilitation in
real time

Trainer observations to
adapt learning

Technology

Issue: Faculty unawareness of the resources available within their

Management

university to teach online courses.

Issues/Resolutions

Resolution: schedule time each day to present, explain, and allow

for practice during training time on tools to facilitate teaching
online.
Issue: Technical issues during and after training.
Resolution: Use blogs, and technical support that is available
around the clock if possible.
Issue:
Resolution:

Classroom Management

Issue: If faculty do not see the value in the training

Issues/Resolutions

Resolution: individualize training, use sound education theory

and principles to support development, (Palloff & Pratt, 2011).
Issue: Lack of motivation
Resolution: create training experiences that are fun, scavenger
hunts activities, games, food, and other means to engage learners.

Learner Feedback

Learners will be able to provide comments and messages through

the LMS private setting, end of the course rubrics (see below**),
email, immediate formative evaluation feedback, and use of
phone if necessary.

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Challenging Behaviors

17

With all online communication it is critical that trainers keep a

close watch on the discussions taking place as cyber-bullying and
inappropriate comments may happen at any time. Also, learners
need to be aware of expected behaviors by having access to
academic policies. Clear expectations and rules need to be
clearly established at the early stages of the training.

ADA Learners and

The 1990 Act protects individuals against discrimination on the

Strategies

basis of disabilities in public and private settings, including

academic institutions. The faculty learners in this training do not
require any special assistance tools.

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Formative Assessment Tool *

Write notes, new learnings, and how you plan to apply the information in the graphic organizer
below.
Information Gained

Actions to Apply Information Learned

Write questions or concepts you might need extra clarification in the box below.

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Evaluation Sheet for the Training/Trainer **

Participant Evaluation.
Strongly agree

Agree

Neutral
3

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

_____ I discovered new content and resources related to the training.

_____ The information was relevant to my profession
_____ The facilitator modeled relevant instructional strategies such as modeling and
discussion.
_____The information was useful and practical
_____The facilitator was professional and the training was of high quality.
_____I was able to ask questions and participate in group discussions.
_____I was able to contribute ideas and perspectives to the discussion.
Additional information.
My favorite part/tool/strategy of the training was

What topics would you like in future trainings?

Share any comments, feedback or suggestions on the topics, and logistics of the training.

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References

Haythornthwaite, C., & Andrews, R. (2011). E-learning theory and practice. Los Angeles, CA:
Sage.

deNoyelles, A. a., Mannheimer Zydney, J. j., & Baiyun Chen1, b. (2014). Strategies for Creating
a Community of Inquiry through Online Asynchronous Discussions. Journal Of Online
Learning & Teaching, 10(1), 153-165.

Hitch, L. P., & Hirsch, D. (2001). Model Training. Journal Of Academic Librarianship, 27(1), 1

Knowles, M., Holton, E., & Swanson R. (2011). The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in
Adult Education and Human Resource Development. (7th ed.). Burlington, MA: Elevier
Inc.

Palloff, R.M., & Pratt, K. (2011). The excellent online instructor: Strategies for professional
development. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Pelletier, P. (2013, June). What Online Teachers Need to Know. Faculty Focus, (), 1-4.
Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/what-onlineteachers-need-to-know/