Online Collaborative Tools

 Online Collaborative Tools

I have had many experiences that involve the use of online collaborative tools. I have used them as a student, an employee, and a teacher. Below, I will share my experience of using various online collaborative tools. 

Slack 

My first experience using this tool was as a freelance employee of a home help company known as Brainly. Slack was used as the main communication and collaborative tool for work as our instructions and tasks were given here. I have also used Slack in the capacity of a student. Last year I was accepted to pursue a course hosted by the Oxford Climate School. There were many students from around the world and we were placed in groups according to time zones. Slack was used as the main communication tool for the cohort while Google Docs was used to collaborate for our main assignment. The image below is a screenshot of the main platform. 

https://venturefizz.com/insights/most-popular-and-favorite-slack-channels-tech-companies

Evaluation of Online Resources: Education Sector Analysis and Data Literacy

 

Effectiveness of Online Tools and Resources

I often tell anyone who is willing to listen that I absolutely dislike my job. I surmise that no one believes me because I am constantly doing courses related to teaching and learning! The truth is, I love to learn more than I dislike my job. The business of education is a serious one; I have to be good at it no matter what. 

I was rather pleased when I found out that I had to take a course as part of an assignment; one more certificate to add to my collection! I came across this course and thought that it would be relevant to my work as an educator. I must say I was rather impressed and will definitely recommend it to others. 

The first thing I noticed about the course was its relevance to my job as an educator. Positive changes to our current education system can only be made if we use data to drive policymaking. The course was self-paced and offered by UNICEF, a credible organization on the global stage. The image below shows the course outline and modules. 

If you pace yourself correctly, the course is easy to manage. I took a module or two at a time and that worked for me. Although it was self-paced, each slide was narrated and this gave the impression that an instructor was present. This was good for me as it meant that I could listen to some parts instead of having to read all the materials myself. 

Within each module, there are points where your knowledge is checked. It could be matching items of a few simple multiple choices. The overall presentation and layout were appealing and engaging to me so I learned from taking part in the course. It also helped that the topic was relevant to my job as an educator. 

The best part of the course for me was the fact that your certificate is generated immediately after satisfying all course requirements and completing the course evaluation. I would definitely recommend it to persons seeking professional development opportunities in the field of education. 

https://agora.unicef.org/c/Education+Data+Analysis

Online Facilitation Charter

Online Facilitation Charter 

This one is rather hard to define. Running a quick search in Google or deeper still, on Google Scholar; has not turned up a definition. In my research, I have found that an 'online facilitation charter' is quite similar to what a project charter should be. In this short piece, I will define the term project charter and apply this meaning to 'online facilitation charter'. I will also provide a sample facilitation charter created for my upcoming webinar.

Having completed a project management course some years ago, I realized that any task worth doing should be approached as a project. Planning a webinar is no different. I first need a basic ‘sketch’ of what my intended project should be. McKeever (2006) describes a project charter as both a quick reference guide and an executive summary of what the project is about, why it is being done, who is involved, roles, responsibilities, and general approach.

The diagram below is a preliminary sketch or concept map of a facilitation charter. This will guide the presenter in developing a more detailed plan of action for the course/webinar. 

References

McKeever, C. (2006). The project charter–blueprint for success. CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering, 19(1), 6-9.

 

Online Facilitation Models and Facilitation Tools

 Online Facilitation Models 

Arguable the most important role of an online instructor is modelling effective teaching, contributing insights and maintaining group cohesion. Berge (1995) categories four conditions necessary for successful online tutoring. The four areas are: pedagogical, social, manegerial and technical. The diagram below is a summary of these areas. 

Online Facilitation Tools 

Online facilitation tools or digital facilitation tools are used to accommodate worksops, webinars or lessons in the online space. The use of these tools have grown eponentially in the last decade and bascically eploded with the advent of the global pandemic. 

Skype was one of the first widely known video-conferencing tool. Its popularity has since shifted to zoom. The following images show zoom being used to facilitate virtual events. 

I previously mentioned that classes were thrust into the online space as a result of the global pandemic. Most schools in Jamaica used Google Suite while some schools utilied Microsoft Teams. My school used Google; mainly Google Classroom and Google Meets. Google Meets is very similar to zoom. It allowed me to have synchronous communication with my students. 

References

Berge, Z. L. (1995). The role of the online instructor/facilitator. Educational technology, 35(1), 22-30.