A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners
A facilitation program involves moving a group of individuals through various activities, including planning sessions, meetings, or training to achieve a specific goal. A facilitator plans, manages, and guides a group event to ensure that objectives are achieved effectively. Some of the primary duties of a program facilitator are scheduling events, contacting instructors, and supervising activities. This paper will focus on a facilitation program for adult learners that took place on 4th and 5th December, 2020. Specifically, the paper will include the selected modality and the design of the program. A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
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The Selected Modality: Face-to-Face Training
Reasons for Selecting Face-to-Face Training
In this facilitation program, I target adult learners. The program was Introduction to Google and Google Classroom. Multiple factors triggered me to use face-to-face training in my workshop, Professional Development (PD) for teachers on Introduction to Google and Google Classroom. These factors include adult learning theories, fostering critical thinking, and boosting physical and social interactions.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
Adult Learning Theories
First, I selected face-to-face training due to its multiple benefits to adult learners as indicated in adult learning theories. According to Herod (2012), although online interaction during a course is associated with some major benefits such as being cost and time-effective and easily manageable, a degree of face-to-face interaction is recommended. Face-to-face interaction facilitates the learning process among adult learners. The interaction allows the learners to share their views and ideas, which enhances their knowledge and skills. The use of face-to-face programs such as numerous regular meetings should be scheduled throughout the course based on available resources.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
Moreover, face- to -face training supports self-directed learning. Specifically, face- to -face training supports learner-centeredness or facilitated learning through collaboration between the trainers and the learners (Herod, 2012). This learning approach is effective since it adjusts to the learners’ needs and wants, thus equipping them with significant knowledge and skills. A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.During the workshop, face-to-face training supported the implementation of learner-centeredness, thus equipping the learners with knowledge about the introduction to google and google classroom,
Also, face-to-face training can support the properties of the process of learning. According to Mackeracher (2006), learning is a natural and dialectical process, which is characterized by an interactive dimension, transformative dimension, and constructive dimension. Face-to-face training supports these qualities effectively, thus facilitating the process of learning about the introduction to google and google classroom.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
Furthermore, face-to-face training supports the unique nature of adult learning. Unlike children, adults understand why they are learning a particular program, which boosts their motivation levels. According to Mackeracher (2006), learning is affected by strong emotions. Multiple cognitive processes in humans such as learning, perception, memory, attention, learning, problem-solving, and reasoning are affected by emotions. A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.In particular, attention is significantly influenced by emotion. Therefore, the attention of adult learners during the workshop was affected by their emotions. On the other hand, face-to-face interaction between the trainer and the learners boost the emotions of the learners. Thus, face-to-face interaction during the program boosted the emotions of the learners, which, in turn, facilitated their level of attention making them understand the introduction to google and google classroom.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
Finally, face-to-face training supports Project-Based Learning (PBL). Unlike children, adult learners are always interested in understanding how they will benefit from a particular training program. Adult learners are usually interested in the program with immediate application and benefits. For this reason, adult programs and courses should include as many real-world examples as possible. An effective sharing of these examples involves face-to-face communication. Consequently, face -to-face activities are blended in online learning (Kjærgaard, 2017). Similarly, I decided to use face-to-face training to explain to the adult learners the application and the benefits of the introduction to google and google classroom in their personal and professional lives.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
Fostering Critical Thinking
Secondly, I choose face-to-face training due to its ability to foster critical thinking among the learners. Studies indicate that the concept of guided practice and scaffolding are effective in boosting critical thinking skills. The trainers assess the current thinking level of the learners and use it to guide them through the thinking process. One’s level of thinking is evaluated by initiating a dialogue with the individual through face-to-face communication (Guiller, Durndell & Ross, 2008).A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners. Similarly, I used face-to-face interaction to assess the participant’s level of thinking. I initiated a dialogue in which I asked the learners questions and evaluated their answers. I guided them on how to improve their critical thinking skills based on their responses. Additionally, I introduced peer interaction into critical thinking tasks. Sharing ideas with colleagues improved learners’ cognitive skills. The participants then used the acquired critical thinking skills throughout the learning program, making the training process easier and effective.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
Boosting Physical and Social Interactions
My choice for face-to-face training was triggered by the urge to boost physical and social environments. Social elements involve the discussion and articulation of ideas with one’s colleagues who are involved in a collaborative process of building knowledge and skills (Guiller, Durndell & Ross, 2008). Learning is effective if it occurs within a social context. Thus, collaboration with peers enables learners to acquire new knowledge. Additionally, collaboration among colleagues makes the process of learning enjoyable and interesting. Therefore, face-to-face training facilitated collaborative learning, which, in turn, benefited all the participants.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
Facilitation Strategies
I utilized active listening and effective communication to facilitate the program. A good facilitator should be an effective communicator and a good listener. I communicated to the learners verbally and non-verbally. In verbal communication, I spoke to the participants using English Language since all participants could understand it well. In addition to verbal communication, I utilized different nonverbal cues to communicate with the learners. Specifically, I communicated to the participants via gestures, body posture, facial expression, and eye contact. According to Eunson (2015), the components of non-verbal communication can either reinforce or contradict the message that had been communicating orally. The nonverbal cues reinforced the message that I had communicated verbally, thus enhancing learners’ understanding of google and google classroom.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
Also, I listened attentively to facilitate face-to-face training during the program. Two-way communication enhances the effectiveness of a communication process since it allows both parties to air their views. Thus, it is recommendable to give the audiences a chance to speak and listen to them attentively as they give their opinions and ideas. For this reason, I allowed the participants to give their ideas about google and google classroom during the workshop. This action facilitated face-to-face training, which, in turn, enhanced the success of the entire program.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
Learning Activities
I selected critical thinking, group discussion, and lecture as the learning activities to enhance the success of face-to-face training during the program. First, I preferred group discussions due to their capacity to facilitate the sharing of knowledge. According to Agnihotri and Ngorosha (2018), group discussion complements other learning activities since they allow learners to share knowledge and ideas amongst themselves. During the program, group discussions facilitated the sharing of knowledge about google and google classes among the learners, thus enhancing learners’ understanding of the topic of study. A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.Also, I utilized critical thinking during the program to enhances learners’ understanding. Critical thinking facilitates learners’ understanding capacity (Uribe-Enciso et al., 2017). I utilized questions and answers to assess learners’ thinking capacity. I ensured that individual participants were taught depending on their thinking capacity, thus boosting their understanding of google and google classes. Finally, I utilized a lecture to equip learners with knowledge during the program. According to Afurobi et al. (2015), a lecture allows the trainer to address a large group of audience. Similarly, I preferred to use lectures since they allowed me to present large amounts of information to large audiences. Additionally, lecturers allowed me to have maximum control of the entire learning process.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
The Design of the Program
My program was on the Introduction to Google and Google Classroom. I choose the face-to-face modality due to its benefits to adult learners as stated in adult learning theories. The two-day program was scheduled for December 4th and 5th, 2020. I sub-divided the teachers into two categories: Beginners and more advanced. The beginners were all the teachers who were new to google. Their training was scheduled on the first day from 9:30 to 3:30 pm. More advanced were teachers who were familiar with google but they were not well informed about it. I taught this group on the second day of training between 9:30 and 3:30 pm. I conducted some activities before the workshop to facilitate the success of the training program.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
Preceding Activities
I conducted various activities before the actual workshop to facilitate the success of the training program. First, I conducted a survey to decide the groups where I would place the teachers. I decided to categorize the teachers as either beginner or more advance based on their knowledge about google. The beginners were all the teachers who were new to google while the more advanced were teachers who were familiar with google but they were not well informed about it. Secondly, I opened google emails for the participants and sent the links to their individual email informing them to reset their passwords. A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.I also prepared a list of all the participants, indicating their names and the respective group of each participant. Thirdly, I prepared the sub-topic to be taught to each of the groups during the training. Finally, I gathered all the resources and materials required for the program. I selected a classroom where the training was to be conducted. The preferred class had proper lighting and ventilation to create a conducive environment for the learning process. Additionally, I ensured that the selected class had WIFI to allow the learners to access the internet during the training. I also sourced projections and extension cords to be used during the training. Lastly, I sourced support staff to assist the participants with technical issues during the training. All these activities prepared me for the actual training.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
Actual Training
I started the training program with the beginners where five major topics associated with the introduction to google and google classroom were discussed on the first day from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. I started the training with a provocation video on Math, which lasted for one hour from 9.30 to 10.30 am. This program triggered the learners in thinking critically throughout the training. A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.Secondly, I trained the beginners in introductory activities between 10.30 and 11.30 am. Particularly, I educated the participants on how to use google form. I provided them with google forms, which they filled and handed them over to me. We discussed the answers that were submitted by various learners to enhance their understanding of the google forms. After completing the introductory activities, I instructed the learners to take a 15-minutes break from 11.30 to 11.45 am. After the break, I taught the learners about logging on to Gmail for a period of one hour from 11.45 am to 12.45 pm. I instructed the participants to use the links that I had sent them earlier to gain access to their Gmail accounts. After this topic, I instructed the class to take a one-hour lunch break from 12.45 to 1.45 pm. I introduced google essential after the lunch break and taught the topic for one hour from 1.45 to 2.45 pm.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners. This topic included various sub-topics such accessing google drive, creating a google document, emailing google document to Ms. Smith, collaborating on a google document, creating a google sheet, creating a google form, access responses from google form, and transferring the responses from the google form to google sheets. The final session lasted between 2.45 and 3.30 pm in which I educated the learners about google classroom. I started by training the learners about accessing a google classroom using the provided classroom code. I then trained them on how to participate in a google classroom, create a google classroom, and post in google classroom.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
I educated the advanced group on the second day of the training program from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm. I started the training by presenting a problem base project to the participants and guided them on how to solve it using critical thinking skills. This activity was meant to prepare the learners for the entire training program. A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.The learners solved the problem within the first hour. I instructed the learners to take a 15-minutes break after the first session. The second session, which involved questions and answers started at 10. 45 and ended at 12.45. I provided the participants with various questions and answers during this session. I instructed the learners to take a one-hour lunch break and come back to the classroom at 1.45 pm for the last session. In this session, I engaged the participants in various advanced topics, including the use of google meet, the use of google slides, and the use of Google sites.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
Overall, my program was Introduction to Google and Google Classroom. I targeted adult learners and grouped them into beginners and more advanced groups. I taught the beginners during the first day of the training and a more advanced group during the second. The training for both groups lasted from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm with two breaks; a 15-minutes break and a one-hour lunch break. I taught various sub-topics that are related to Introduction to Google and Google Classroom during the workshop. I selected the face-to-face modality due to its benefits to the learners as indicated in adult learning theories. Additionally, I selected this modality due to its capacity to fosters critical thinking and boost physical and social interactions among the learners. I utilized the effective communication and listening attentively to facilitate face-to-face training.A Facilitation Program for Adult Learners.
