FAQs

Q1 Who will be teaching me?

A1 Core Education UK staff but we prefer not to call it teaching. We model facilitation behaviour and demonstrate how collaborative learning can take place which involves everyone. One of us is never as smart as all of us. You will be bringing your experiences and contributing to the collective learning more than you realize!

Q2 What experience do my facilitators have?

A2 Many years of experience in teaching and facilitation - please don't ask how many we blush easily! We have experience at secondary and tertiary level including facilitating an innovative online degree using this approach. That experience also includes establishing the online communities (over 30,000 members when we handed over) which formed the basis of 'Talk2Learn' at the National College for School Leadership as well as involvement with the Improvement and Development Agency's Communities of Practice platform, which is  growing rapidly and currently has over 10,000 members.

Q3 How do I describe this programme to my employer?

A3 Email this website address to them or drop it into an existing online community or forum -  www.core-ed.org.uk/know-how

We have also produced a flyer which you can print-off and pass on or pin to a notice board. You may wish to offer some quotes to explain from the management today website which help explain why online community is considered so important  :

“Your company is more likely to attract the brightest and keep them if its own internal communications reflect the slick, collaborative informality of Web 2.0, with its blogs, wikis and social-networking sites. So there's a good case for going with the techno-flow rather than clamping down on personal e-mail and internet use, says RON CONDON.”

“…Part of the solution lies in developing communications, he says. 'What we have today is unprecedented in history - the instantaneous access of individuals to each other, at nominal cost. Now we're looking at what will happen when people begin to band together as a group who have a common view of something.”

…” This is how Gartner defines it: 'A high-performance workplace combines technologies, processes and management so workers can create more value. This area integrates multiple technology perspectives, including collaboration, information access, content and knowledge management, messaging, portals, e-learning and productivity tools.'

….”We already see many of those components in action - from e-mail and spreadsheets to business intelligence tools and intranets. But bring them together and mix in some Web 2.0, so the thinking goes, and you can really start to show dramatic improvements in productivity.”

Source: http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/search/article/771021/wiki-work/ accessed May 17 2008

Q4 What will I get out of this?

A4 Five weeks of hands on learning, which we hope will provide many answers but more importantly set you up to continue learning and creating solutions independently. It would be great and we encourage this, for you to establish a network of contacts with course peers, with whom you can continue to share challenges, ideas and solutions.

Q5 What previous qualifications or experience do I need?

A5 You are qualified if you have found this page. You require ready access to the internet and a commitment to actively participate in the learning process. For the Online Facilitation Course, it's desirable that you are currently taking part and preferably facilitating in an online collaborative environment, but equally if you are not you can still take part in the course. You have to start somewhere. If you already involved in an online collaborative environment it will help you to relate the learning journey to a real context, which is key for your learnign to make sense.

Q6 What does the programme cover?

A6 In the Online Facilitation Course, the weeks are as follows:

• Week One - An Introduction into the Key Concepts Associated with Online Collaborative Software
• Week Two - Communities, Networks and Groups
• Week Three - Facilitation
• Week Four -  Participants and Participation
• Week Five - Technology and Architecture

It is important to stress that you can influence the direction and content of these modules by introducing examples and ideas and challenges from your own context. You will be on a learning journey introducing your interests and experiences with us acting as your guides.

Q7 Will I need to complete lots of background reading?

A7  No, we only include written resources and references to create a stimulus for learning. Our aim is stimulate your curiosity and capacity to objectively analyse materials and activities and to reflect on your own practice.