Facilitator Training Program

Christine Fulton
CUR/532
May 4, 2015
Dr. Melinda Medina

Facilitator Training Program

Part I Vital Information in the Facilitator Training

Teaching face-to-face and teaching online are both teaching, but they are qualitatively
different.(Bernard Bull, 2013)
We are tasked with creating a training program for adult corporate trainers without
previous experience in distance education. The training program will include the key elements
for developing distance learning facilitator skills.
The training audience (trainees) will consist of corporate trainers. The audience is 18
trainers here at CVS/CAREMARK. They each have bachelor degrees in teaching but lack the
knowledge of distance learning. Their training experience majorly comes from the corporate
world with just one coming from early child education. They average 2 to 15 years training
experience. With the company pushing towards this type of training to save money we will have
a three day training session on Learning to become a great Distance Educator.
The group of trainers has never had a chance to use distance learning and this will be a new way
for them to teach, prior to the 3 day training they each have been handed a text on Distance
learning and must read the book to come to training a bit prepared rather than cold.
Following the ABCD model the following are the Objectives for this training session. As a
result of participating in the Distance Learning classes the trainees will be able to use many of
the new technologies, including Wikis, Ted-Ed, and Prezi to name a few, for training purposes.
The training will concentrate on Co-learner and Learning Coach; because they are in our
opinion the best in making sure that the student walks away with the knowledge they need to be
a success in their career path.

It is important to have great if not excellent communication skills when teaching distance
learning. If the facilitator is not good at communication then so much can be lost. The students
will feel left out and misunderstood. A distance facilitator needs to form a community among
his/her students so the student even feels comfortable about reaching out to each other. It is a
never ending learning experience and the facilitator should be open to always learning new
things that can help their students learning.

Co-Learner
o It develops a deeper learning experience
o Develops belonging
o Reduces learner seclusion
o Enhances learning outcomes
o Creates shared goals for learning

Learning Coacho It establishes that the instructor is paying attention to learner needs
o It provides students their own sense of presence
o It communicates that the instructor is attending to the learner tasks
o It shows instructor excellence online
o It shows learners who the teacher is
o It provides social connections with others
Online instruction is not as hard as it sounds and is just as rewarding as teaching in front

of a group of people. It can sometimes be challenging but so can face to face teaching. To
become an excellent facilitator a distance learning facilitator will need to learn how to
communicate well. And we dont mean just in speaking but in writing as well. There is so much

that can be lost in writing, that a facilitator needs to know how to write responses and questions
clearly and precisely so that everyone understands. It is imperative to notice who is responding
and who is not. Reach out to the ones not responding and ask them why.
Goals must be set in the beginning of the class with a clear and precise syllabus that sets
the weekly goals along with checking of the class goals this gives the student a place to measure
where they should be at any given time. Another good thing the instructor needs to have is great
knowledge of the subject of which they are teaching in order to be able to answer any questions
that arise. We cannot say this enough, responding to student is important. This makes them feel
as though they are not alone in the learning experience. It should be as quickly as possible and
then followed by making sure the student understands and maybe even giving the student other
avenues for learning more about their question.
Our list of goals is as follows:
At the end of this training session the trainers:

Will be able to address a distance learning classroom

Will be able to use a multitude of different technologies that were new to them

Will be able to keep conversations moving in a positive nature

Will research learners and communicate in their language

Will measure each learners commitment level and increase

Will communicate learner outcomes

Will establish clear and precise goals

Will establish that they are paying attention to learner needs

Will Provides students their own sense of presence (very important)

Will communicate that the instructor is attending to learner tasks

Will provide social connections with others

Assessments are essential and designed for a purpose. They are designed to correct

curriculum and help students learn. But what are instructors assessing, are they assessing
curriculum, students, or the school. Assessments are used for accountability, its purpose is for
improving education. Assessments need to help instructor/teachers help students, instructors
need to first understand how to use assessments in order to see the benefits. Instructors need to
have their assessments meet the goals and standards. Once this is understand the benefits of
assessments are limitless. Teachers who use classroom assessments as part of the instructional
process help all of their students do what the most successful students have learned to do for
themselves (Guskey, 2003).
Summative assessments are given after a long block of learning or at the end of a project,
etc. Summative assessment of trainee learning will be used to assess how the program is
working and how it affects the facilitators teaching. It is used to be compared with a standard or
beginning. The trainees were given a survey at the beginning of this project and will be
compared to a survey/questionnaire at the end of the training program. We will ask the same
questions after training and compare the answers to show what was learned and if they
understand how to use the techniques they were given.
In the end, the purpose of assessments is for students to grow, develop, and learn, and for
teachers to plan curriculum and teach effectively. This paper discussed comparing and
contrasting traditional and authentic assessments, and how these assessments improve
instructional practices and improve student learning. Assessments should be a part of teaching
and learning for the teacher and student.

Part II Facilitator Skills and Instructional Materials

Online learning programs must pay as much attention to quality of instructors as they do
to the technology. This article reminds us some critical online instructor skills. (Have & Burns,
2014)
The skills needed for effective distance learning facilitators are:

Research learners and communicate in their language

Measure each learners commitment level and increase

Communicate learner outcomes

Establish goals

Establish that you are paying attention to learner needs

Provides students their own sense of presence (very important)

Communicate that the instructor is attending to learner tasks

Provide social connections with others

How to develop ice breaker activities

How to monitor the discussions

How to ask thought provoking questions

How to provide prompt feedback to students

How to make sure the discussion is clear and regular

How to make sure you are visible

How to provide feedback on postings and assignments

The phases of development outlined as:

There are stages the instructor goes through

o Teacher as Learner

o Teacher as Adopter
o Teacher as Co-learner
o Teacher as reaffirmed or rejecter
o Teacher as leader

Establishing a long-term faculty development effort

o Matheson (2006) states the following about strategic planning for online
education: A strategic plan should emphasize not only the immediate
institutional needs and prioritiessuch as developing and updating programs,
implementing a curriculum or curricular changes, marketing programs, and
preparing for accreditation. It also should acknowledge and help educators plan
for changes within the larger outside world of online education (Strategic
Planning and Trends in Online Education, para. 3). (Models of Faculty
Development, PALLOFF, 2010)

The learning community approach to online faculty development

o Since the online facilitators are from all around the country or world it is hard to
build camaraderie among them. They are looking to be hired on as permanent
hires.

Working with adjuncts at a distance

o Adjunct means someone working at a college without having permanent status.

Training efficiently
o There are two roads here the faculty developed courses and the prewritten
courses. The faculty developed courses are the longest between training for being
an online facilitator and the facilitators developing their courses this could take

upwards to 4-6 months. Whereas prewritten is much faster. The facilitator that
has experience can jump right in and start a course but the one that has no training
or experience has to go through 4-6 week long training then can jump in to the
course.

Key points regarding models of online faculty development

o Training for online teaching should be developed to correspond to the phases in
which faculty find themselvesin other words, training experiences should be
developed that span the continuum from little to no online experience to those
who are master instructors online.
o Topics for training should respond to faculty interest and needs. Surveying faculty
to determine how much experience they have and what their training needs might
be is a good way to start.
o Use a learning community approach to training to model the development of a
learning community in an online course and to sustain faculty development
efforts.
o Include adjuncts in training and in the faculty teaching community to increase
levels of adjunct faculty loyalty and connection, as well as increasing their
performance.
o Plan, plan, plan faculty development efforts well in advance!
o Train efficiently by charting the flow of training from orientation to the point of
course delivery and be flexible in moving faculty through the process. (Palloff &
Pratt, 2011)

Theory is a coherent and systematic ordering of ideas, concepts and models with the
purpose of constructing meaning to explain, interpret and shape practice (Garrison, 2000, p.
3).Most adult learning theories have been based on the work of Malcolm Knowles. He theorized
that adult learners have distinct and unique characteristics.
The andragogical process consists of seven elements:

The establishment of a climate conducive to adult learning, that includes a physical

environment which is conducive to the comfort of the adult learner, and a psychological
environment that provides for a feeling of mutual respect, trust, openness, and
authenticity.

The creation of an organizational structure for contributing learning that includes

planning groups where learners provide input about what is to be learned, and options
regarding learning activities.

The diagnosis of needs for learning that includes differentiating between felt needs and
ascribed needs.

The formulation of directions for learning that includes objectives with the end behaviors
to be achieved and directions for improvement of abilities.

The development of a design for activities that clarifies resources and strategies to
accomplish objectives.

The development of a plan that provides evidence when objectives are accomplished.

The use of quantitative and qualitative evaluation that provides a re-diagnosis of needs
for learning.

Part III Management and Technology Tools

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The mentors will be sitting in classes after the training program has finished up and will
use a standard survey that touches all that was taught to make sure the newly trained trainers are
utilizing the new information.
When the mentors will sit with the trainers and go over the information that was gathered,
this is only to improve on training and not to be judgmental of the trainers.
LMS means Learning Management Systems. (Rouse 2005), "A learning management
system (LMS) is a software application or Web-based technology used to plan, implement, and
assess a specific learning process. Typically, a learning management system provides an
instructor with a way to create and deliver content, monitor student participation, and assess
student performance." (para. 1)
LMSs allow content creators to build courses based on more than just text content.
Students become engaged when they can watch videos about what they are learning.
Engagement can build as students can pick how and when they want to learn the content.
Learning Management Systems like those in use by UOPX, allows learners from
anywhere in the world to learn and interact with their classmates. The program used by UOPX
was design just for UOPX. Other programs are available, like Blackboard. As distance learning
becomes more common place, more programs will be developed to give companies and schools
a choice.
Facilitators will present lectures and or videos to the forum for each type of learning
material. Example there will be a forum for HIPPA and this will be broken down to into folders
where learners can view the materials and read lectures or listen to them. There will be a forum
for discussion in real time for each class is set up throughout time management group. Several
questions will be provided by the facilitator to the learners from discussions. There are small

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tests that will be held in a forum and then the final test will be in another forum. The learners
have to reach a certain percentage of correct answers in order to pass. The percentage is based
on the different subjects of learning. Some are very important and they need to get 10 percent
and others can be as low as 85 percent. There are time when the learner will have ample
opportunity to retake the tests in order to get the required results.
Electronic learning has forced students to interact and this is hard for most students but
with technology and social media it has lessened the awkwardness that some students have with
interaction from fears of saying the wrong thing or some social wrongness. The main goal is to
see the students put to use their knowledge and using the skills they have learned during class to
use by using the practice of web based tools into the classroom. The students will want to get
involved in other students opinions and want to hear what they say. In fact, it might actually be
true that some members of the classroom like to hear what others have say about an assignment
to maybe gain a better understanding of the material presented.

Tutors Class is an online tutoring platform where students can sign up for tutoring in a
subject of their need. There can also be an interactive classroom designed using this
platform. TutorClass can complement classroom activities or completely substitute
offline classes for students who opted for home-based education. (Edudemic-Continuing
Education and Technology, 2015) With TutorClass the online educational experience can
be enhanced and this might make it easier for some to adapt to the new environment.

Audioboo which is not known as AUDIOBOOM as of 09/2014.

It is a voice over app

that allows a person to tell the story behind pictures or other visual content. It is mainly
used for educational purposes. It is a free app and is used to enhance the media used for

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class projects. It can be used with other apps or programs such as Powtoon to give the
slide show a personal touch.

VoiceThread is an app that allows people to post media for feedback. Highly used for
education K-12 where teachers can use it as visual oral histories and as the student moves
through grades teachers can add to it. This can also be used on any grade level where the
instructor can leave comments to help the student in their path of a working project. It
can be shared and edited.

Part IV Issues and Classroom Management

Education and technology are pretty much hand in hand and will only increase as time
goes on. With this technology it will bring the world together in education. There are many
tools to aid in learning and everyday there is other several introduced to the technology world.
We have chosen three different technology tools for student collaboration Prezi, Capzles,
and TED-Ed to concentrate our training on but not limiting it to these three.
1) Prezi- is an outstanding form of making great presentations. The program can be used as
introductions or for the student to use for presenting their work.
2) Capzles- Capzles makes it simple to gather media like photos, videos, documents, and
even blog posts into one place, making it perfect for teaching, learning, or online
projects. (Guest, 2012) it is a great little program full of so much that can be used in
teaching and presentations.
3) TED-Ed- is a great source of short videos that not only offer general information but has
become a great learning tool. It is searchable and there are numerous videos on
educational materials.

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Distance learners come from all walks of life with all types of backgrounds. They can
range from having no online learning experience to finishing up their Masters through an online
program. These learners generally have a full time job and family. They have the ability to be
self-starters and very well self-disciplined. They are well organized and great at time
management. During the training sessions we will enhance on these traits or characteristics in
making sure our trainers understand that the persons they are teaching are more than just students
and employees of the same company but they have a life outside work and that they might need
the to learn some of these characteristics such as time management.
Synchronous and asynchronous learning technologies are the two most common online
learning types. In an asynchronous learning environment students are able to actively participate
in their own learning, giving them the opportunity to interact with their peers, provide peer
feedback, and reflect on the status of their personal learning goals and outcomes. A synchronous
online classroom learning environment is an environment where many of the learning activities
and expectations are similar to those found in a traditional classroom. These learning
environments offer meaningful interactions in a face-to-face setting and are most commonly
referred to as synchronous learning activities; such as lectures, discussions, so forth
On the topic of classroom management and resolutions this will be derived from
observation and letting the discussions go until they need to be headed back on track.
Consequently with any group of people there will be a difference of opinion. When this occurs it
is better to allow the heated discussion to continue for a while to see if the trainees will be able
to come to any type of agreement. Sometimes the trainers will need to step in and interject
information that might allow the trainees to come to a formidable conclusion that suits everyone.

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Learner feedback will be instant mainly because of a time restraint of three days, Overall
feedback will be given no more than two days after training has completed. This final feedback
will be shared with management who will in turn share with the trainers. But during training
feedback and pen communication will remain a top priority.
There will be an email for private concerns and this will be check frequently throughout
the day as training is progressing. Just as when they will be training there will be email set up
for private conversations between the trainer and trainee.
Training the trainees on how to overcome the many issues of facilitating during such
issues as cyber-bullying, inappropriate posts and lack of participation or engagement is
important. The facilitator needs to be highly aware of the posts and discussions in order to be on
top of any potential issues that might arise. The facilitator needs to be able to steer conversations
into another direction or give insight that will help open the minds and accept the differentness in
opinions. When there is lack of participation or engagement the facilitator needs to question the
student privately. There might be a reason such as lack of internet or some higher cause that
might be need to be taken into consideration.
Technical issues will be addressed as well such as if the site is down how can students get
ahold of the instructor; private emails and text messaging might be a way to be able to stay in
contact if the site goes down and if the e-book is not downloading; being able to direct the
students to IT to help them in getting the materials needed for class. Also, sometimes links to
pages used in training will go down it is smart for the facilitators to keep a hard copy or a
document handy to email or post in such instances. There are many other technical issues that
might arise and it is important to understand these issues and be flexible in when assignments
need to be turned in and so forth.

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Attached to this paper is an informal schedule that of the training session. We have
broken it down as it appears in this document and also shows how we will be demonstrating the
material to the trainees.
In conclusion, the training will be over three days with all 18 trainers from the
CVS/CAREMARK Corporation. They have no experience with online training and will need to
have a complete understanding at the end of the training period. We have used a survey that
was given to them a month ago that has determined this information and we will use this same
survey again while mentoring the group during their first several training sessions they conduct.
Results will be given to management and we will go from that point in determining if further
more in-depth training needs to be done. At this current point we do not see further training
needed as this session will be very through and precise. We may conduct a reskilling or
refresher at a years end but this is to be seen.

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