This document provides tips and recommendations for organizing and facilitating online workshops based on a 10-year experience running the Becoming a Webhead workshop. Key recommendations include: starting planning weeks in advance; having a team of coordinators and moderators with clearly defined roles; providing clear instructions and content; offering both synchronous activities like webinars and asynchronous activities like discussions on a wiki; and emphasizing community-building through communication tools. While time-consuming, the workshops advantage include flexible, self-paced, hands-on learning and forming connections with an international community of peers.

1. Some tips based on the BaW experience
Teresa Almeida d’Eça
Moodle MOOC (Jun 2013)

2. http://baw2013.pbworks.com/

3. Tips based on experience
the suggestions given are based on a 10-year experience
of co-coordinating and co-moderating a 5-week online
workshop, Becoming a Webhead, for learning about Web
communication tools for EFL/ESL
main tools used
 Yahoo Groups and its email feature as the main communication
mode
 a wiki as the content repository and collaborative site to promote
participant collaboration
 numerous Web communication tools (text, audio, video,
vclassroom)

4. Planning
start weeks in advance
consider every little detail
try to make everything clear and logical
write clear and to the point instructions (a ‘must’
element in online teaching)
create content during this phase

5. Team & team roles
coordinators (two of them are co-founders of the group)
moderators are all former BaW participants
mods volunteer for the week/s they prefer
prepare the corresponding page, add tools, links &
suggested readings to those pages
are given flexibility by the coords.
moderate their week, reply to email and moderate the
live session

6. First steps
on registering, participants receive a welcome message
that includes the main content & tools in the workshop
moderators reply to emails in a timely way, either
individually or in groups (always write the names of each
recipient)
give help as soon as possible (it may make the difference
between ‘making it’ or ‘breaking it’)

7. Workshop organization
• motivating syllabus, clearly laid out
• content organized by weeks, each week based on a different
topic
• different sections in the ToC in bold to call attention to
different categories
• course pages
• weekly activities
• forums
• participants’ pages (only editable by participants)
• useful sites (includes a Help page and a Glossary)
• ToC should appear in all pages to help participants keep track
of everything

8. Synchronous activities
live weekly webinars with a guest speaker, who is an
expert in the topic of the week
 all sessions are recorded for those not able to make it (there are
people from most time zones and not everyone can attend)
two reminders are sent out in advance
regular online hours (in Skype, for ex.) to give help in real
time, or mods. take turns in being available in Skype to
help individually or in groups

9. Asynchronous activities
mostly email, which helps build a sense of community
wiki where participants post their intro & photo, the
artifacts produced during BaW, comments on the live
sessions, final reflections and their gifts for the
Graduation party (all this content goes into different
pages)

10. Advantages
self-paced learning
no need to carry out all the activities
totally hands-on: need to “do” in order to learn
communicate , collaborate and learn with a worldwide
community of peers
be among like-minded people who share the same
curiosities, needs and interests

11. More advantages
project partnerships are generated
bonds and friendships are made for life
voluntary professional development
Yahoo Group and wiki are kept online indefinitely
a fun and pleasant way to advance professionally

12. Disadvantages
time consuming (if you wish to carry out all activities &
participate in all live sessions)
work overload
 difficult to follow and carry all activities due to problems in
compromising work, family and professional development
hard to keep up with immense message flow, esp. in
week 1 (then it reduces gradually)

13. This was a brief overview of an online professional
development “recipe” that has worked for 10 years.
Many other things could be said, but not in a short
presentation as this one.
Thank you!

14. -- Becoming a Webhead (http://baw2013.pbworks.com/)
-- Becoming a Webhead: First Steps in Blended and
Online EFL/ESL Teaching (http://www.tewtjournal.org/ :
search for this title)
-- Becoming a Webhead: Bridging the Gap from
Classroom to Blended and Online Teaching
(http://bit.ly/107n4Ok)