What Makes A Successful Online Facilitator?
By the University of Illinois

I found this article on the University of Illinois website under their Online Education Resources that discuss Pedagogy and Learning about what makes a successful online facilitator. This article correlates to our reading in Palloff and Pratt because the University discusses the need for online instructors to “possess a unique set of tools to perform effectively.” Palloff and Pratt discussed the need to have “practical considerations” such as, time, size, cost, software, and security, when creating an online community that will last.

The list the University of Illinois prepared discusses the importance of time that a facilitator should spend online; they mentioned a facilitator should be “online everyday and a minimum of 5 of 7 days.” Palloff and Pratt mentioned the importance of time and setting up boundaries for office time as well. Palloff and Pratt said the facilitator should log on just about every day and have one scheduled day off. Both the students and the facilitator need to be able to manage their time wisely in an online learning environment and be able to communicate with one another on a consistent basis. The list mentions 13 items participants of the online learning experience should expect from the facilitator, which range from timely feedback, a purpose to the learning environment, and little or no lecturing, which Palloff and Pratt mentioned as well because it does not work well online. Another tool a facilitator must possess is the ability to create social presence and demonstrate “openness, concern, flexibility, and sincerity, which is not an option but a requirement.” Other tools facilitators should possess are good communication skills, time management, appropriate credentials, experience teaching online, and the ability to introduce critical thinking into the learning process. The main point of the list the University created is to stress that an online learning environment is not the same as a traditional classroom for both the facilitator and the students; rather it is its own unique environment.