We are now at a stage where I am sure that all the participants feel welcome and they are actively participating and reflecting on their own learning experience of online facilitation.

We have touched on the subject of summarising and weaving which are elements/techniques of e-moderating (as per Prof Gilly Salmon) and we have a good foundational knowledge of the concepts of e-moderating / online facilitation. I think the proof will be in actually experiencing it from the facilitation side and not just as participants. This is why I like the structure of this workshop - because we get to experience from the participant's view and also as a facilitator we can identify all the possible barriers that our students may experience and also have useful tips and good practices to follow.

Online facilitation is a very interesting topic and it is important to keep certain things in mind. For this, I like this blog by Tony Bates.   

The principles of this model correspond with the Gilly Salmon 5-stage model (more on that model here). I want to comment on the excellent guidance by the facilitators of this course, on helping us to stay on track with the necessary guidance and prompts to keep us engaged and to facilitate a collaborative learning community. As with any online course, the role of the facilitator is to gradually guide the student from a novice to an expert in the discipline. It is thus a key role of the facilitator or e-moderator in keeping students engaged and building the confidence to contribute and apply what he or she have learned.