INTRODUCTION TO ONLINE FACILITATION- DAY TWO Anna N Perry

Welcome Day Two: Mentoring Program for Mercy Organizational Learning Management and Evaluation Program for Online Facilitators Learning Management System (LMS) Overview Additional Technological Resources

Mentoring Program for Mercy General Mentoring is an important part of any development process. It is of particular importance to Mercy General as we grow and establish our online learning curriculum platform. Mentoring Program Goals Develop and support new instructors as they travel through the stages of development Develop a continuing education program for the online learning instructors Partner with Organizational Learning Leadership to develop a pipeline for new potential instructors

Identification of Mentors Mentor is not required to be an employee of Organizational Learning or Mercy General, although it is preferred. Mentors must have 2 years of successful online instructor experience or have obtained at least one degree online with 5 years of successful classroom facilitation/instructional design experience. References will be required. Successful experience will be determined by recommendations from previous employers, students, and evaluation of completion rates of courses (90% of students must be successful). Advanced technology skills (authoring tools, HTML, LMS administration, etc,) preferred. Social media experience required. Mentors who are not employees of Mercy General will be held by the same confidentiality and HIPAA guidelines that all employees are held. If confidentiality is breached, expulsion from the program and other repercussions may be incurred.

Mentor Program Overview Upon entry to the program, mentees will complete a skills/needs assessment. Scores will be used to match mentees with the appropriate mentors Program time frame is 1 year. Participation requirements include one hour minimum of contact for the first 12 weeks of the program, and then one hour bi-monthly or as needed for the continuation of the term. Contact may be via phone, Skype, WebEx, in person, or any variety of modes of communication. If a mentor or mentee cannot fulfil the time requirements, they will be released from the program. Mentees will agree that all the information provided by the mentor is solely advice for developmental purposes and would not be contractually binding or promissory in any way.

Management and Evaluation of Program An independent roundtable will be established to monitor the program through evaluation from mentors and mentees and though various other information venues (suggestion, reports from facilitators/mentors/students/supervisors/leadership). The roundtable will also set guidelines and enforce best practice standards for the online program for Mercy General. These standards will be continually evaluated and updated to maintain a current standard of evaluation. Evaluation strategies will include quantitative data from courses (passing rates, student evaluation rates, contact rates, etc.) as well as qualitative data such as class auditing and review, and “perception evaluation” through the Mercy General population. Continuing Education and advancement of skill is a monitored requirement for all distance learning staff. A minimum of 3 professional development opportunities per year must be documented by each instructor. Due to the possibility of new faculty joining the staff through tele-commuting options, employee engagement, communication, and technology issues must be proactively monitored. Monthly staff meetings via WebEx will be conducted, as well as a faculty newsletter, and a private Facebook page for the instructors and mentors. A quarterly, in person, staff development day is required of all members.

Learning Management System (LMS) Overview Mercy General’s online instruction will be conducted through a combination of s and through the LMS forums and its ‘ecourse’ functionality. Lectures, videos and other information can be delivered to the students through the Ecourse content systems in the LMS. Completion of these required items can be documented and monitored on the individual’s records as well as through the reporing system of the LMS. Class Discussions will be conducted through the LMS forum functionality. Posts and discussion can be monitored and observed through the fourms. Private messages, submission of assignments and feedback and course grades must be communicated via . The LMS does not have a private messaging function nor a submission function, however course grades can be assessed and documented on the students individual records, but would need to be communicated initially via .

Technology Hosting in the LMS Through the “ecourse” functionality of the LMS, we have the ability to deliver any audio, documents/infographics, video files and to link to external website for each individual user. The LMS allows us to leverage technology and deliver information in a secure format to our students in an environment that cultivates learning and will allow us to transform our current program to the needs of the future adult learners. These technologies and their engagement strategies were reviewed in Day 1. A recap of that information is available on the next page.

Technology for the Online (Review) Engagement is key, so how do we use technology to our advantage. Wikis, blogs, and videos are a wonderful element to engage a student. Wikis- a website that allows for content and structure editing by it’s users – is a great creation tool for students to demonstrate their understanding of concepts and processes. Wiki creation involves team collaboration which is critical to an online learning environment. Every student has information to share and can learn from other’s perspectives and experience. Blogs- a personal webpage used for personal reflection- is a place for students to document their own private thoughts and ideas regarding concepts and applied knowledge. This tool can be very beneficial for a facilitator to gauge the understanding of individual students for constructive feedback and redirection where needed. Blogs are also beneficial to students to show growth and application of knowledge, as well. Videos- videos are a wonderful way to present information that could be ‘hot topics’, difficult to understand or complex points. Youtube, educators, and vendor have free, sharable videos. The possibilities are endless.

Mentoring Program and Online Program Review As with any new program, we are in a continual state of improvement. Feedback is critical to the success of the program. In your daily assignments, you will have several required elements that discuss the development of a mentoring plan. Record your ideas for enhancement on our programs and submit them through the discussion thread of via message to me at or to any member of Organizational Learning