Snacking and Reflecting.....

We were presented with two discussion options this week. I participated in the role playing discussion option. We were to practice responding to participants having problems in an eLearning context. Problems not unlike the problems, the attendees to our web conferences might have. I had so much fun role playing that I consciously limited the number of my responses. I could have posted a response to each of the six fictional participants. But, I didn’t want to be a discussion hog.

I enjoyed this activity for several reasons. First, I respond to people in crisis not infrequently at my job, so I’m comfortable listening and trying to redirect people to what can be done to help them out. Second, I could work on each participant’s question with a short burst of energy at my computer. I’ve been told my Internet usage fits the profile of a “snacker.” The time period it took me to think about one participant’s comment and formulate a response fit comfortably into my “snacker” attention span. The activity provided a nice change of pace compared to some of the discussion weeks where the time requirements were greater and there was a need for a sustained focus on one topic. Finally, I liked making suggestions for the fictional facilitator because I've grown to like the process of editing over the years. Perhaps because I have to heavily edit my own writings!

My best comment was probably one that I’m still wondering about. In responding to one unhappy participant about the work load which was too heavy, I identified with the fictional participant’s feelings of frustration and then asked what was causing the most frustration for them. Nothing too profound in that response, but it got me thinking that maybe there should be a section in our web conference shell (per each group) wherein an attendee can seek help. I noted that Joni and Dave have structured two places in the web shell for our class to get help (weekly and under the “course home” heading). But, in Joni’s response she liked my second idea, which was to bring the discussion between the participant and facilitator out to other attendees to start a larger dialogue on how others were handling the work load. While I like this idea, I had flashbacks to my first year teaching wherein as a teacher I felt overwhelmed when something didn’t work well. I recognized I'm going to be in a new environment again (like my first year teaching) where not everything is going to work. It was just one of those moments when I realized that as I'm creating learning experiences I am as much a learner as my students will be. It was a little scary and very humbling.