6 Things Stanford Uni Taught Me About Facilitating Online

If you are an educator, a teacher, or working from home, facilitating online is something that you have been doing for some time now. And, although we have had a lot of practice over the past couple of years, there are still times when facilitating online can be daunting. After participating in four days of online workshops with Stanford University, there were some key strategies that I learned from these facilitators that I will implement moving forward.

1. Technical support matters

We've all been in a meeting, training, or presentation where the facilitator has said, I can't share the screen, or there seems to be something wrong with my Zoom and there has been silence. From a participant's perspective, how does that feel? From the facilitators' perspective, how does that feel? In the four-day Stanford workshop, we were lucky enough to have four experienced facilitators online; one of which was always there for any technical support. This made me think about when we are facilitating online, looking at chat, having a conversation, and trying to engage learners. We need support. I know it can be hard with budgets and the old 'do more with less' comment, but, if you have the opportunity to have someone support you, then take it!

2. Show feedback matters

At the end of each day, we were asked to complete a survey in the final five minutes of the workshop. On the following day, then we were shown what improvements were made to that workshop based on the previous day's feedback. Whilst I've always sought feedback and iterated the design of sessions, I hadn't been explicit with the groups about what improvements were made. From a participant's perspective, I felt like my feedback mattered. Although I might not do multi-day workshops, I can still inform participants of feedback that I have received and how I have improved the workshops.

3. Active learning strategies only last so long

There is a lot of information out there about how to actively engage students online; how to keep them on task. I can tell you, that we had some of the best facilitators going around, there were four of them; and still, although there were multiple activities, the days were just too long online. I have always been conscious of the timing of workshops, but this reiterated, that just because they have always been a certain time, it doesn't mean you have to keep it that way.

4. Music is underutilised

Have you considered a Spotify playlist for the sessions you are facilitating? When students enter and there is often silence; an option can be to add some music in the background with a message on the screen to indicate that you will be starting soon. I know, as a participant, I welcomed the music as it indicated that we weren't started just yet and then it tapered off as we were about to begin. Each morning, it lifted my mood and really got me ready to engage.

5. It’s okay not to have your camera on

I know this is contentious and there are many perspectives on why you should/n't have your camera on during workshops. But, it's okay if you don't have your camera on - because, if the session is active, meaning all participants are going to be doing something at particular points in time, then, they will get involved. Whether that be with or without the camera. When we went into breakout rooms of four people everyone had their camera turned on. So, when you are facilitating a larger workshop next time, does it really matter if the cameras are on or off?

6. Accessible formats

We've all seen it before, a PDF document circulated or an activity where you can't add your answer directly to the document. When participating online, regardless of the workshop, you should be able to access and edit everything online. Whether that be information in digital notebooks or editable documents, having an expectation of participants having a 'hard copy' because it's usually 'face to face' is not okay. Even if you believe a hard copy is okay, have the option to participate digitally also.

Summary

These are just some tips I picked up from being a participant in four days of workshops. If you haven't been a participant in an online workshop and are facilitating regularly, I highly recommend engaging as a participant in other workshops. What other tips have you gained from participating in other workshops?