Running head: FACILITATOR TRAINING MANUAL

Facilitator Training Manual

Kendra Keen
CUR 532
December 6, 2014
Melinda Medina

FACILITATOR TRAINING MANUAL

Facilitator Training Manual

Training Program Audience
The participants attending the distance learning train the trainer session are corporate
trainers who are responsible for training new hires for our company. The company has decided
to start making training classes virtual instead of in house. Participants will be required to enroll
in this 3 day training session via a webex session. Each participant will attend all at the same
time as the facilitator each day. All the trainers have a background of general facilitation skills.
They can facilitate a face to face training with ease. They have a solid understanding of how
learners learn and the importance of teaching to all learning styles. The trainers have outstanding
verbal and non-verbal communication skills. They command presence and are fair and
consistent. The facilitators are not as comfortable training virtually. After attending this training
session the goal is to have effective online facilitators.
Training Program Goals
According to The Excellent Online Instructor an effective online instructor is visible,
organized, compassionate, analytical, and leads by example. (Palloff & Pratt, 2011,). The goal
of this training is to help the trainers that are working with company ABC gain new skills to add
to their toolkit in order to provide effective online facilitation. Some of the skills that will be
focused on in these particular training sessions are visibility in the online learning environment,
organization, and compassion.
Training Program Objectives

By the end to the training, trainers will be able to describe the skills needed to be
an effective online facilitator.

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By the end of the training, trainers will be able to demonstrate strategies used to
lead an online class.

By the end of the training, trainers will be able to demonstrate the use of web
tools.

By the end of the training, trainers will be able to demonstrate leading an effective
online module.

By the end of the training, trainers will be able to describe the different distance
learners.

By the end of the training, trainers will be able to differentiate between

synchronous and asynchronous facilitation skills.

By the end of the training, trainers will be able to describe how to handle giving
and receiving feedback and managing difficult behaviors.

Summative Assessment of Trainee Learning

The success of the trainees will be measured by an assessment that will be given
at the end of training. It will comprise of multiple choice, true/false, and fill in the blank
questions. The purpose of this is to see how much information the trainee retained during the
training. Along with the written assessment, the trainee will then have to facilitate an online
module using the class as their learners. A rubric will be used to determine if the trainee is an
effective online facilitator by using the ratings of not effective to effective. The success of the
program will be measured by a learning environment survey. The survey will allow the trainees
to express their feedback in regards to the training that was done. This will allow the program to
be tweaked for the next time it is given.

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Training Materials
Effective online facilitators must be visible, compassionate, have great
communication, commitment, and organization. (Palloff & Pratt, 2011). Strategies are going to
be discussed on each of these skills. For being visible in the classroom, online facilitators are
going to learn when the best time it will be to be in the virtual classroom. Compassion is a skill
that cannot be taught. A strategy to help with compassion is learning how to use empathy.
Communication strategies include learning how to have open communication and providing
feedback. Commitment is something that an online facilitator must have in order to attend this
training. Organization strategies will be teaching online facilitators how to manage time both in
the classroom and outside the classroom.
There are five phases of development that an online facilitator must go through in
order to be effective. Those phases are visitor, novice, apprentice, insider, and master. An
example of how the phases blend together are as follows. A visitor would be an instructor who
is not very technological savvy but has occasionally posted something to their online classroom
page. The novice, is a little more technical and they post regularly. An apprentice, is one who
has taught one or more online courses and is beginning to understand how the online world
works. The insider is one who has been facilitating online courses and is comfortable with the
integration of the skills needed to be successful. A master online facilitator is one who is fluent
in online training. They are very knowledgeable and are willing to share their experience for the
good of those online facilitators who havent reached that phase yet.
Theories of distant learning include: communal constructivism, effect of
community, and learning as the effects of the community. In communal constructivism, the
learner contributes and benefits from a community that has repository learning. An example of

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this would be someone who teaches someone a certain skill and in return learns something new
from someone else. Effects of the community allows the learner to learn from their
surroundings. In this example, a person becomes a product of their environment. They are who
they are because of where they come from. Learning as the effects of the community means that
learners take what they learn from their community and then spread it to other communities
around. This allows others to share their learning experiences.
Mentoring Program for the Training Program
The idea of the mentoring program for the training program is to allow those instructors
who are well versed in online facilitation to take those trainers that are completely this training
under their wings. They are to share best practices, provide feedback, and demonstrate how a
successful online instructor should facilitate. The mentors for the training program must have
been facilitating online courses for at least 2 years. They must have effective or highly effective
in their instructor evaluations, and must possess qualities of a strong leader.
Management and evaluation programs for facilitators
The faculty learning community will not affect management that much. It is encouraged
that facilitators use their surroundings to help them. There is a philosophy that states, work
smarter not harder. We want online facilitators to model good effective online facilitators as
well as add their own flavor. One of the big challenges that a trainer will have to overcome is
resistance. Most trainers are set in their own ways. They have a specific way of doing things
and are not fond of change. Requiring trainers to broaden their horizon and move out of their
comfort zone is sometimes easier said than done. Some strategies that will be used to combat
resistance will be that of buy in. It is important for facilitators to understand why they are doing
what they are doing. Setting expectations about class size and material. The unknown of how

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many learners are going to be in the class and if there will be enough material to use. It is
important for a facilitator to remember that the only thing that they can change is what they have
control of.
The Learning Platform
The platform that is going to be used is CMS. This platform is one of the easiest
to operate. It only requires the basic knowledge of technology. Facilitators will deliver
information via a web ex classroom. It will be done in power point with a pre assessment, post
assessment, and survey built into the course. Learners will have to complete a pre-assessment to
see what they know about the information. The information will be presented and then a post
assessment will be given to see if information was retained. After the module learners will be
able to complete a survey to provide feedback of the course. Class discussions will be handled
on the blackboard portion of the classroom. This is where private discussion will be held as
well. The assignments will be given through the web ex session that is going on. Feedback and
assignment submission will be turned in directly to the facilitator through their email. Tools
used to keep learners engaged will be that of games/simulations, and visual aids. Games and
simulations will allow learners to practice their newly learned skills in a way that makes learning
fun. They will be used for review of material before an assessment. Visual aids will break up
the information presented. It will allow learners to do some independent critical thinking as
well. Learners will use a variety of different web tools in order to communicate with each other.
Some of the tools that they will use is the classroom chat attached to the web ex, skype, and
blogs.

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Different Distant Learners

There are different types of distance learners that the effective online facilitator
must learn to teach to. Those would be cultural, experimental, and those with prior learning
experiences. A cultural learner is one who learns by their surroundings. They are taught things
that are specific to their culture and then spread it throughout other cultures as well. An
experimental learner is one who learns in many different ways. They are not sure which way is
the best so they try different routes and avenues until they find one that fits the best. Lastly, are
those learners with prior online experience, which are probably the easiest of all to teach. They
know the expectations that are required and have committed to making the sacrifice needed to
make online learning a success for themselves.
Synchronous and asynchronous skills are not that different from each other. They both
require the facilitator to be well organized, compassionate, and visible. Synchronous facilitation
is that that happens back to back. Asynchronous happens when the information is provided and
the learner works on it at their convenience. Synchronous facilitation requires more dedication
and focus due to the short time frame in between classes and the amount of work that has to be
done. The facilitator has to be skilled at providing feedback almost instantaneously with this
type of learning. The biggest challenge that an online facilitator will face is that of controversy.
Learners are very sensitive to what is said and how it is said. When dealing with online learning
and participation in discussions it is important to remember to stick to the facts and take personal
feelings away. One cannot dispute facts or misinterpret their meaning. A way to avoid
controversy is to set clear expectations at the beginning of the class and to stay active and visible.
The online learner can nip the beginning of this behavior early if they are on the lookout for it.
Technological issues sometimes happen as well so it is important to stay calm. Always try and

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have a backup plan. Lastly, an instructor may not have all the necessary tools to do their job
effectively. It is important to test links and credentials before the class to ensure that they work.
If they do not it is good to have something for everyone to work on while the issue is looked
into. Not only will technical issues arise but behavior issues will as well. Some of those issues
include cyber bullying, inappropriate posts, and lack of participation. Again, a way to avoid that
is visibility in the discussion rooms. Making yourself available for students gives them a sense
of security. They are less likely to misbehave if they know that the instructor is watching. Set
clear expectations and always provide feedback. Make sure to get to know the learners so that
those with special needs can be accommodated. It is the goal of this manual to make sure that
once a corporate trainer has attended this session they are able to become effective online
instructors.

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References
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2011). The Excellent Online Instructor. Retrieved from The
University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.