This page originally authored by Tatiana Petrova (2008)

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Constructivist [1] Learning Environments are built on an assumption that knowledge is being aquired by learners in active, socially distributed, experiential process rather than results from mere trasmittion of information from teachers to learners (Jonassen D, 1999).

This assumption ultimately changes the role of a teacher calling for facilitation skills. Facilitation is a pedagogical term that applies to student-centered approaches to learning as opposed to teacher-driven - the teacher's role is moving from "sage on the stage" to "guide on the side" (Kempe A, 2001).

Recent economic and technological developments (Globalization, Workplace Changes, Web 2.0 etc) led learning on-line to reach global audiences where and when learning matters. Thus new angle and new set of skills was added to the facilitation domain.

Online facilitation, in broad terms can be described as an act of managing learners and learning through an online medium (Backroad Connections Pty Ltd, 2002). Teachers need to have much more than just technical competence if they are to be successful online. They need an understanding of the dynamics of online communication and interactions and need to learn effective ways of facilitating online.

This article focuses on requirements, challenges and resources for on-line facilitator within Constructivist Learning Environments.

How constructivist framework translates into facilitation skills?

Features of CLE	Requirements for a facilitator
Centered around an authentic problem	Select an appropriate problem Establish links between individual situation, context and problem to foster learners’ motivation and ownership Manage cognitive uncertainty to capitalize on ill-defined problem Induce diversity of opinions, tap into learners’ prior knowledge Establish network that spreads beyond the course environment (experts from a field, professional communities, etc)
Experiential	Provide problem-related cases / work examples Provide structured yet flexible manipulation space Manage complexity of perspectives, themes, interpretations and implicit issues Provide with model of desired performance Provoke reflection-on-action, provide with challenge and feedback
Learner-selectable information just-in-time	Evaluate relevance of information Set up easy navigation through different resources Link information to learner’s tasks
Scaffolded with cognitive and collaboration tools	Model cognitive and social processes required for problem-solving and select tools that can enhance it Develop explicit and engaging instructions on how to use the tools, provide ad hoc advice where necessary Set up and maintain technology-supported learning communities (discourse, knowledge-building, communities of learners) Build teams
Personalized	Build relationship Diagnose individual learning needs Adjust tasks and feedback depending on learner’s level of competence Coach Keep individual learners engaged

Challenges specific to on-line delivery

Source: Backroad Connections Pty Ltd, (2002). Effective Online Facilitation

Designing the right mix of online and off-line activities
Designing solid and self-explanatory instructions
Dealing with the pragmatics of teaching online - e.g. administrative and support requirements, and issues of time
Dealing with technical issues
Facilitating online communications:
- Establishing social connections in the environment where people do not meet in person
- Avoiding the dangers of misinterpretation of text (Sherry et al. 2001)
- Dealing with online silences and getting students to actively participate (Benfield 2000)
- Finding the optimal balance between private email and public discussion (Collison et al. 2000)
- Standing back, and allowing students to discover the power and potential of the medium for self and group learning and not purposely or inadvertently dominating or stifling discussion.

Apparantly the role of online facilitator in constructivist learning environment requires for a broad range of pedagogical, social, managerial and technical competences (Berge Z.L, 1995). Below is the list of useful resources for development of those competences. It is not extensive and hopefully will grow with the next reiterations of the wiki.

Resources

References

Backroad Connections Pty Ltd, (2002). Effective Online Facilitation
Benfield, G. (2000). Teaching on the Web - Exploring the Meanings of Silence, UltiBase Online Journal, Melbourne
Berge, Z.L (1995). Facilitating Computer Conferencing: Recommendations From the Field. Educational Technology. 35(1) 22-30.
Collison, G, Erlbaum, B, Haavind, S & Tinker, R (Eds), (2000). Facilitating On-line Learning: Effective Strategies for Moderators, Atwood Publishing, Madison. ISBN 1 89 1859 33 1
Jonassen, D. (1999). Designing constructivist learning environments. In C. Reigeluth (Ed.) Instructional design theories and models: Volume II. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Kempe, A et al (2001). Putting the Teacher Online - TEC's Learnscope Project, paper presented at NET*Working 2001 Conference
Papert, S. (2003). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. In N. Waldrip-Fruin & N. Monfort (Eds.), The new media reader (414-431), Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Sherry, L, Tavalin, F & Billig, SH (2001). Good Online Conversation: Building on Research to Inform Practice, Journal of Interactive Learning Research. Vol 11 (1)