I’ve been thinking about the online facilitation course and what I wanted to learn. There is so much I want to learn and experienced. As always, time is an issue. My first disappointment is that I am unable to make the first Elluminate discussion and meeting this coming Thursday. Sarah Stewart, our course facilitator, has reassured me that I can access the Elluminate room after the actual event as all the meetings etc will be recorded. Phew, that’s a relief.
As I reflected, I realised that I would benefit from creating a new blog, specifically for this course. Having looked at Therese La Porte’s blog, I thought I’d have fun working with WorkPress for a change.
This blog is now my official blog for the coursework.
Our course work includes the following:
Item 4 of what we have to do at the beginning of the course is:
Make a plan for what you want to learn and explore, and write it up (or present in another way eg mindmap, video recording) on your blog. Answer these questions.
- What do you want to learn to facilitate?
Answer: not sure – everything is the word that comes to mind 
- What are you doing now in terms of online facilitation?
Answer: that’s easy to answer, I’m teaching midwifery
- What would you like to achieve, change or do more of?
Answer: lots of things, but what specifically and exactly???
- What do you need to do or make happen to achieve your goal?
Answer: hmmm, this question is tricky…
I’m still pondering these questions and seeking inspiration to answer them!
In a way those questions are unfair because you may not be able to answer them until after the course…when you know what is possible to do. Having said that, as a teacher, I am assuming you may want to know how to teach online more effectively. A big bug bear for teachers is getting students to interact in asynchronous forums. Hopefully, we’ll get some ideas about that.
In the meantime..have fun…and get out of the course what you want…and don’t worry about time frames…just do what you can do.
If there is sufficient demand it may be possible to repeat the live meetings for those who miss them. And we will record them as well
Thanks Sarah! As always, you know the best thing to say to quell those anxious feelings. I have a good sense that this course will be lots of fun.
Hi Carolyn, I am just experimenting with making comments on blogs and thought I would make you my first port of call. I hope that you found WordPress to be ok. I only used it because I had some difficulty with Blogger, somehow I never got to create a site and got locked into a horrible cycle of verifying myself. In the end I gave up and moved on to another system. Sarah was very helpful and willing to talk me through it. I find that a real challenge with online work is just getting past the technological frustrations and time spent on acquiring and updating those skills. I can see that will be time consuming for me in the beginning. But I console myself with the idea that it is always important to walk in our students shoes, and it is a good idea to feel like a novice for a while.
Best wishes
Sarah is very clever and very humble. I’ve found her to be a fabulous resource. I love being a student.
I’ve made a habit of the ‘not knowing’ and open mind. I find life so fascinating that way. Saves a lot of arguments too. I never have to be ‘right’ – such a blessed relief
Good to see your questions have answers similar to mine (as in a lot of “don’t really know yet” responses). Good also to see Sarah’s comments and that it’s not unreasonable to be in this state at this stage.
Hope to learn lots alongside you!
You’re all right…It is very normal to feel like this at this stage of the course. This is why I have set up the activities like I have, so you get the chance to practice the tools as we go along. But ultimately (as Chris Woodhouse said on another blog) this course is about what you do with the tools and the outcomes
Hi Carolyn Nice new blog. Looking forward to growing into the process. After seeing all the great blog efforts I totally appreciate the hard work it takes. I am so busy with clients but am going to make a big effort to do the work. I have 2 past dates clients at the moment so am praying they don’t give birth on thursday.
Thanks Lisa! I took the photo of the spider’s web at Maggie Bank’s place in Hamiliton NZ when I went there for her midwifery course. I’m off to Port Macquarie tomorrow so won’t make the call unfortunately. I see Sarah’s having another call on Friday, but I will be in Taree on Friday so will miss that too! I look forward to hearing about them. I’m sure the women will be accommodating if you need to be on the call – they will feel that and stay quiescent.
Great to read your posting on this blog. I haven’t thought about my answers to the questions yet… but enjoyed reading yours.
It will be good to meet up with you virtually during the course.
Michael
I’m still struggling to answer the questions Michael. Good to see you and thanks for commenting.
Hi Carolyn… I made the leap!
Pleased to see another midwifery lecturer doing the course. I look forward to following your journey.
Good to see you too Rachel, but… I thought you had too much on! What about that PhD??? Just kidd’n
I actually think this online caper is addictive.
Hi Carolyn,
Finally getting around to getting through the blogs systematically, following our Tweet exchange at the weekend. Nice to see your structured attempt to answer the reflective questions. I think my attempt rambled more.
Looking forward to working with you.
Cheers.
Chris
Thanks for your kind comments Chris. We are going to have fun with a steep learning curve I suspect
Hi there Carolyn,
I’m a midwife in Palmerston North. I will be following your blog! I’m very new to this so please bare with me! Jade
Great to meet you Jade! Fabulous that you have joined this venture. Social media is crucial to getting important messages out ‘there’! I think you’ll find everyone will be very supportive and encouraging during this course. I look forward to learning together