This topic got off to to a slow start for me, as I was on exchange at a partner university during the first week, thus missing out on the meeting held then, and thus finding it difficult to allocate time to contribute much during that week. Additionally, our group had by now shrunk to three or four participants (and two facilitators), and this was not conducive for the learning experience. More’s the pity really, since I will have to develop blended learning courses with mostly online activities, and this topic seemed to have the potential to support that. As it turned out, I didn’t feel we got as much of the PBL group work as we did in previous topics. The scenario also seemed a bit backward considering the situation here, where it is not a matter of convincing the heads of department of the idea, but rather the other way round.
Thankfully, the resources provided in the topic, in particular City University London’s concise webpage on facilitation techniques (2016), were useful. The page also applies Salmon’s (2013) five-stage model, which does seem to have merits to it. The model will require some further thought on my part, but it seems that we have gone through and discussed many of these stages during the course.
Access and motivation
If this step does not meet its objective, there may well be little point in doing anything else. We need to make certain that all participants are able to use the resources we intend to use in the course and have access to the material. The technical support aspect of the step in my opinion takes precedence over the moderation aspect.
Online socialisation
Considering that the learning environment will be partially or fully online, there are several aspects of communication that function differently than they might do in person. We should keep this in mind, and for example agree on certain rules of conduct when communicating online.
Information exchange
The participants should at this stage already have access and ability to use the necessary channels, as they here should be able to focus on building up a relevant bank of information. It is of importance that all members attend and are involved in the process here, as the next step of collaboration depends on it.
Knowledge construction
Based on the information dealt with previously, the group can e.g. analyse it, relate it to their own reality, develop theories and hypotheses etc. depending on the objective that has been set or agreed upon. Again, all members need to commit to participating, lest the collaboration suffer from it, which negatively affects the results.
Development
This to me is a more independent step where the goal should be to implement the knowledge acquired over the course of the collaboration. There should still be some collaboration mainly for feedback and commentary, but the focus should be on applying the learning to an actual situation.
Sources:
City University London (2016). Online Facilitation Techniques. [Webpage] Available: https://sleguidance.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/BL/pages/36962474/Online+facilitation+techniques#app-switcher (Accessed: December 10 2019).
Salmon, G. (2013). The Five Stage Model. [Homepage] Available: https://www.gillysalmon.com/five-stage-model.html# (Accessed: December 10 2019).
Vaughan, N. D., Cleveland-Innes, M. & Garrison, D. R. (2013). Teaching in blended learning environments: Creating and sustaining communities of inquiry. Edmonton: AU Press. Available: http://www.aupress.ca/books/120229/ebook/01_Vaughan_et_al_2013-Teaching_in_Blended_Learning_Environments.pdf (Accessed: December 6 2019).
