This document outlines a 3-day training manual for facilitators of online education. The training will cover establishing an online presence, managing an online classroom, engaging learners, and using various technologies and platforms. Trainees will learn communication strategies, create rules and expectations, design instruction, and provide feedback. The training will assess facilitation skills and evaluate effectiveness. Mentoring, faculty development, and resolving technology issues are also addressed.

1. Facilitator Training Manual
By Claudette Ragland
Professor Gregory Jackson
Cur 532

2. Audience
• New York City Department of Education Teacher
Facilitators, Literacy Coaches, Professional
Development Trainers and Unit Teachers.

3. Overview
• This 3 day course is designed to empower you to
become effective distance learning facilitators.

4. Unit 1 Day1
• Part I – Vital Information in the Facilitator
Training
• Audience
• Goals
• Objectives
• Assessments

5. Audience
• The audience for Distance Learner Facilitator
Training are New York City Department of Education
employees that consist of Teachers, Trainers,
Professional Development Facilitators, and
Coaches. These selected individuals are certified
elementary and non elementary school teachers that
have expressed an interest in distance learning
facilitation.

6. Audience
• The facilitators all have difference skill levels and
years of experience but no online facilitation
experience.

7. Goals Unit 1
• Key skills needed to become an effective facilitator:
• Visibility
• Communication
• Organization

8. Visibility
• An effective online facilitators establish a presence
in their online environment by designing instruction
and giving direct instructions to your audience.

9. Communication
• An effective online facilitator communicates with
students frequently, provides feedback, and
communicates well using technology. (Palloff&Pratt)
•

10. Organization
• Organization is essential to good facilitation. In an
distance learning environment time management is
crucial.

11. Goals of Facilitation
Program
• Program Goals:
• Participants will learn how to deliver instruction in a distance learning environment.
• Participants will be able to create a positive classroom presence
• Participants will be able to manage an online classroom
• Participants will be able to navigate technologies used in online learning
environment.
• Participants will understand how adults learn
• Participants will be able to design instruction
• Participants will be able to engage the learners
• Participants will understand the importance of cultural sensitivity
• Participants will be able to assess for student learning.

12. Objectives of Facilitation
Program
• By the end of the three day training facilitators will be able to:
• Explain the importance of establishing a presence in a distance
learning environment.
• Demostrate effective engagement of learners.
• Explain and give examples of how to create a learning community
that fosters learning
• Design effective instruction
• Effectively utilize technological software designed for program.
• Identify skills needed to be an effective facilitator.
•

13. Summative Assessment
• By the end of the three day training participants will
be able to pass a multiple choice assessment with a
minimum score of 80%.
• Assessment will assess participants ability to
facilitate effectively.

14. Course Evaluation
At the end of the 3 day training participants will take a
course evaluation survey to rate the effectiveness of
the facilitation program.

15. Facilitator Skills and instructional materials Day 2
• Communication
• Create an Active Learning Environment
• Engage the Learner
• Encourage Collaboration
• Tie Course into Real Life Situations
• Set Clear Rules and Expectations
• Be a Guide instead of a Instructor
• Give and Accept Feedback

16. Communication
• An effective online facilitator communicates with
students frequently, provides substansive feedback,
and communicates well using technology.
• Palloff & Pratt (2009)

17. Active Learning
Environment
• An effective facilitator will make the online learning
environment relaxing and engaging.

18. Set Clear Rules and
Expectations
• One of the key prerequisites for becoming an online
facilitator is setting rules and goals beforehand, so
that you can structure the eLearning course to
achieve the desired outcome. You should also set
expectations, in order to provide the learners with a
clear sense of what they will be receiving from the
eLearning course. This will help everything and
everyone to stay on track and will allow you to
effectively facilitate your learners’ eLearning
experience.
• http://elearningindustry.com/from-instructor-to-
effective-online-facilitator

19. Collaboration
• Group Work: Groups will problem solve and create
conversation that evoke learning. It’s good to
encourage learners to become facilitators of the
group.
• Discussion Boards: Introductions and group
feedback and discussions on topics at hand.
• Social Cafés: A place to talk about off topic
discussions.

20. Phases of Development
• According to Palloff and Pratt facilitators go through
five phases of development.
• Visitor
• Novice
• Apprentice
• Insider
• Master

21. Vistor
• A facilitator that has toyed with the idea of
integrating technology into the class by posting
assignments on line.

22. Novice
• A facilitator who has never taught an online course
and have maybe posted a syllabus and have used
online technologies to supplement their traditional
teaching. Palloff & Pratt(2009)

23. Apprentice
• Facilitators that have taught a corse or two online.
Apprentice facilitators are developing an
understanding of online instruction.

24. Insider
• Taught two or more semesters online these
facilitators feel comfortable teaching in an online
environment.

25. Master
• These facilitators have taught several online courses
and have designed courses for instruction. The have
also mastered the technology associated with
distance learning.

26. Theories of Distance
Learning
• Transactional Distance
• Multimodality
• Intrinsic Motivation
• Digital Media

27. Transactional Distance
• Transactional distance involves a set of 3 varibles
that operate in relation to the degree of transactional
distance between the teachers and
learners.(dialogue, program structure, and
autonomy)
Haythornthwaite &Andrews (2011)

28. Multimodality
• Multiple delivery methods of instruction

29. Intrinsic Motivation
• Success in distance learning requires intrinsic
motivation.

30. Digital Media
• Computers
• Hand held devices
• Social Networking
• Many different forms of media are used to deliver
online instruction

31. Theories for Engaging
Distance Learners
• Establish a presence
• Collaboration
• Create instruction around real world situations

32. Management and Technology Tools
Unit 3 Day 3
• Mentoring Programs for Faculty
• Management and Evaluation Programs
• Learning platform (LMS/CMS) used by the distance
learning faculty for facilitating their classes

33. Faculty Development
• Teacher as a learner: Information gathering stage,
instructors are seeking to develop the skills they
need in order to perform instructional task using
technology.
• Teacher as an adopter: Experimental stage in which
instructors try out different forms of technology and
share their experiences with focus on task
management.
• Teacher as a co-learner: A clear relationship
between technology and the delivery of curriculum is
formed at this stage.

34. Faculty Development con’t
• Teacher as a reaffirmer or rejector: Awareness of
learning outcomes and determining the impact of
various technological approaches on student
learning.
• Teacher as a leader: Experienced instructors are
encouraged to expand their roles to become active
researchers and teach new members.
• Palloff & Pratt (2010)

35. Mentoring Programs
Providing Visions for
Technology Use
Individualizing Technical
Support
Breaking Down
Hierarchical Structure
Establishing Open
Dialogue and
Collaborative
Relationships
Mentoring

36. Mentoring Con’t
Providing Mutual
Benefits for Mentors
and Mentees
Emphasizing the
Creation of a
Learning Community
Colleague Personal
Support
Master Faculty
Pedagogical support
Mentoring

37. Faculty Evaluation and
Management
• Connection
to the
institution
• Managing
Faculty
• Peer
Evaluation
• Clear
Expectations
Faculty
Evaluation
Evaluation
Mentoring
Programs
Faculty
Evaluation
Online
Teacher

38. Mentor Program Format
Mentor Training
Create Mentor Directory
Faculty Learning
Community
Emerges
One to One
Mentoring
Mentors train
novice and
beginner faculty
Peer Mentoring
Group

39. LMS/CMS Learning
Platform
• LMS: Commonly used in corporate training and
higher education settings, learning management
systems are software platforms that store and
deliver training content and then track participation
in training.
• CMS: Content management systems create the
framework in which content is stored and displayed
on a website. These systems manage various
content forms, including files, images, electronic
documents, audio files, and many more.

40. Why Use LMS
• LMS allows companies to assign training to their
employees, track their participation, and produce
documentation of employee training activity and
results. LMS enables companies to create different
tracks of training courses to deliver to different
groups of employees in order to fulfill their specific
training objectives—creating a customized learning
program for each employee, as needed. In addition
to delivering and tracking online training courses,
many LMS enable training managers to keep track
of employees’ participation in other types of training
programs, such as in-person classes. Dubowy
(2013)

41. Course Technology
• Audio: Such as NPR, and Audioboom application.
• Video: Youtube and other video sites
• Pintrest
• Livetext
• Discussion Boards
• Chat rooms

42. Issues and Classroom Management
Day 3
• Technology for Student Collaboration
• Different Distant Learners
• Difference Between Sychronous vs. Asynchronous
Facilitation
• Technology Issues and Resolutions
• Classroom Management Issues and Resolutions

43. Technologies Used for Student
Collaboration
• Pintrest
• Livetext
• Video sharing
• Blogs
• Facetime
• Chat rooms

44. Asynchronous vs.
Synchronous
• Asynchronous:
• Reflect on complex issues
• Students have more time to reflect because the sender
does not expect an immediate answer
• Emails, Discussions, and Blogs
• Students expected to reflect individually on course topics
and maintain a blog
• Students expected to share reflection regarding course
topics.

45. Asynchronous vs.
Synchronous con’t
• Synchronous:
• Discuss less complex issues
• Getting aquainted
• Planning Task
• Student becomes more committed and motivasted
because immediate response is expected
• Synchronous means chatting, video conferences,
instant messaging and face to face meetings.

46. Technology Issues and Resolutions
• Inability to download text Tech Support
• Virus Tech Support
• Software not compatible Tech Support

47. Classroom Management
• Clear rules and expectations
• Establish classroom Presence
• Give timely feedback

48. Different Learners
• Cultural Differences
• Age and gender differences
• Life experiences

49. References
• Hornthwaite, C., & Andrews, R. (2011). E-learning
theory and practice. Thousand Oaks California:
SAGE.
• Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2010). The excellent online
instructor. San Francisco California: Jossey Bass.
• http://elearningindustry.com/from-instructor-to-
effective-online-facilitator
• https://www.opensesame.com/blog/lms-vs-lcms-vs-
cmschanging-one-letter-makes-big-difference
• https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm0848.pdf