No-one has volunteered yet :)

.. Catherine, if that's too early for you please let me know and I'll move the time forwards...?

Yes please to having a meet to look at The Ecocycle planning tool (

I am happy to organise the logistics and set up the call, so I'm going to proceed unless someone says 'No Ed!' :)

My sense is that the best approximate time is GMT afternoon and PDT morning so I'm going to start with 15:00GMT or 16:00GMT options on a few upcoming days. I'm using doodle, which says that it will show itself to you in your timezone. To add to the fun, The UK is moving from GMT to BST on Sunday!?

Proposed Steps:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Ed set up doodle to find time:?
2. Ed will close doodle Wed 25/3, 10:00 GMT ()
3. Ed will choose?optimal time (Catherine's availability a priority!)
4. Ed will set up zoom call
5. Ed will share time and zoom link on this thread

I hope that's OK. I'm deliberately over-engineering the steps to think it through.?

Here doodle link to find optimal time for meet:?
https://doodle.com/poll/txf2f274pckpi2xn

Here useful timezone link:?


best wishes
Ed

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Hi Paul,?

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Dear Hildy,

Thanks a lot for making time and responding in such detail. I really appreciate it

As I can see you had lots of flexibility at college. We don't have this here, our time and budget is a lot more constrained. I still like the idea of treating learners individually. I think your approach is what my learners would like to experience. What I have been asking myself is - what if students have bad reading skills (which in my case is often the case - millennials are not used to reading a lot, in general - there are always exceptions, of course), should we ignore this and serve them audio or video-based information because we want them to understand the materials?

I think this is my fundamental question - what skills should we teach/build/develop in students to best prepare them for their future (job) life. Is it relevant if they cannot read so well? Is it relevant if their writing skills are not that good because they might not need writing skills in their future job? What society are we creating through our education?

Hm... not sure if my questions make sense to you; they are fundamental questions, I think. I am struggling a bit because here we need to grade people on their writing/reading/listening/speaking skills in a balanced way. So if you have weaker reading skills you can compensate that with stronger speaking skills and still get a good enough grade. However, many students do not see the point in having to read or write. They say they will need speaking skills most in their future job and our curriculum is not up to date. If it's about their intention to learn, we should serve them the materials they can digest. Because what I observe is that students get frustrating when they have to read articles or papers and think they understand but when you really test their comprehension skills they get low scores.

Hm... I realise I still do not have an answer or solution.

Regards from Vienna,

Christina

Christina:
Sorry about the delay in responding. It's hard to keep up with all that is going on these days, and I am just now looking through the emails from this group. I will attempt to answer your questions in this email format, and will confess up front that it's not a straight-line answer, because we humans are not straight lines.

You asked how many people would take part in a class: When I taught in a college setting, we had approximately 20 students in the class. In our own classes at Creating the Future, we have had as few as 6 and as many as 75.

As to your questions re: assignments, I hope the following is helpful:
First, there is the assignment to absorb the content (in a college setting, usually reading). Many people absorb information better when they hear it vs. see it on a page. Others absorb information better when they are applying it, talking it through with others. Some think best in words, others think best in numbers. Everyone's brain works a little differently.

And so first, we have always used a flipped classroom, where people can absorb the information at their own pace before the class. Content is always provided both in video (which can be pre-recorded for re-use over and over) and in text, usually in a workbook format (not just a script of the video, but explained as one would write a book). Pretty much the same info is provided in both formats, and students are assigned BOTH. What that means is that they will read AND watch, and whichever sticks best for them sticks best. There is some info in one and not the other, but mostly it is the same content, presented in two different formats.

Then handouts include question prompts to help people reframe what they have read / watched in their own words (for those who do best when talking things through).

Classroom time is for discussion of the material - what stood out to you? What did you notice? What questions arose? If they think best by drawing, they can either talk us through something they are holding up to the screen, or use Zoom's tools to do so. During the class, they are encouraged to share their reflections from the handouts. We have often asked students what would help them learn the material. That simple step has always been enlightening, as we learn how to help them learn.

Assignments between classes: Online interaction... When teaching entirely online classes at the university level, the requirement to engage between classes is often ludicrous. People are often graded on whether they wrote 3 sentences, 3 times per week. Which really is coming at it from the POV of what people do vs. how they learn.

And so we would start the class by having an asynchronous conversation about what that engagement would make possible for the students. In those text-based conversations, they would discuss how participation between classes could help them learn. We asked them what that would look like, which led to them designing the structure for participation that they would then abide by. We asked them how they wanted us to grade that participation (their answers would not surprise seasoned teachers - they were FAR more strict than we ever would have been). But it also made clear that the HOW for them was about however they best communicated. For some it was numbers, for others audio or video, for others art with a few words of explanation, etc.

I am recalling a time when the between-class conversations via BlackBoard became so engaged, with so many people sharing different types of examples (many of them drawings or charts - some people think best in numbers and columns), that we actually crashed BlackBoard for the whole university! That was over a decade ago, and I still love the image of people feeling they could express themselves as made sense to them, and doing that so excitedly that they overwhelmed the whole system.

As for assignments to be graded, that would not include our classes at Creating the Future, just our college experience. All those assignments were in writing. BUT, that being said, if people were not great at writing, and their papers might have gotten a C because of that, we invited them to a phone call, giving them the opportunity to show verbally that they actually understood. It was a bit more work, but our goal has always been that people learn. If someone is dyslexic but totally understands the material, do we want to penalize them because they can't write? So if we had to have 4 phone calls for a class of 20 students, and that led to those 4 students showing us that yes, they did understand the material, then we saw that as part of the job.

The bottom line is that none of this starts from the doing, but from the intention. If the intention is that students learn, then I've always seen it as my job as an instructor to create the conditions for them to do so. What that requires is understanding that not everyone is going to learn in the way I happen to want to teach them, and that that requires meeting people where they are, and not where I think they should be.

I'm not sure I've answered your questions fully. Like I said, it's not a simple answer, because we are talking about humans, and we humans are certainly not simple creatures!

Many thanks for your interest. And please let me know if this has not answered your questions, and I'll do my best to do so.

Hildy

Hildy Gottlieb (she/her/hers)
Creating the Future
Change the Questions, Change the World!

1-520-349-7061 cell
* Creating the Future is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization

On 3/20/2020 9:55 AM, Christina Merl wrote:

Hildy -

I very much enjoy the idea of encouraging everyone to express themselves as makes sense to them. I am struggling a bit with picturing what this looks like in the context of a class. How many individuals would take part in this, how would you make meaning, are all assignments (whatever the definition of an assignment may be, I am just using this word to express the idea of a shared task) suited to serve the needs of these individuals? Or would assignments have to be tailored to their needs, etc.

I would love to understand better what you are describing as I find your ideas really fascinating. So if you have a moment, I would very much appreciate it if you could give an example (of a topic being dealt with in such mode).

Thanks!

Christina

Am 19.03.2020 um 16:50 schrieb Hildy Gottlieb:

Christina, Bill, et al,

When we have taught online at the college level, as well as in our own courses, we have encouraged people to express themselves as makes sense to them. If people are more comfortable recording their response in video, awesome. If they could provide a YouTube link AND summarize it briefly in writing, also awesome. Slide-share is also a great way to capture essence, and then video and/or text to explain more deeply.

Whether IRL or online, the key for us has always been to present people with as many options as possible for the different ways that people learn. Online almost helps do that even better than F2F. And as Nancy pointed out, context is key - things will be different if this is a one-time meeting, an ongoing meeting, a class (and depending there on whether it is a college class, an ongoing learning class, etc.).

The important thing is to let the context and purpose guide the decision re: tools, rather than focusing on the tools. When we move online, we have a tendency to look at all the tools and wonder which to use / how to use them. Having purpose guide that decision helps immensely.

I hope that's helpful.

Hildy

Hildy Gottlieb (she/her/hers)
Creating the Future
Change the Questions, Change the World!

1-520-349-7061 cell
* Creating the Future is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization

On 3/19/2020 8:40 AM, Christina Merl wrote:

Dear Bill -

Very much to the point - the length of our traditional writing. Especially the younger generations cannot handle that. With discussion forums and threads we are transferring this challenge online. Any thoughts on how to solve this, anyone?

Regards from 22°C spring-like, blue-skies Vienna and everyone should stay indoors...

Christina

Am 19.03.2020 um 15:26 schrieb Bill Withers:

I love the idea of adding asynchronous content, maybe even in the middle of a live session. In the best f2f settings, we add time to reflect. We are trained somewhat to use online tools to quickly jump, file, delete, forward, share, and keep moving. Getting everyone to take a breath and think and return to the conversation at some set time is golden.

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I’ll admit that when I saw the length of the exchange below, I thought, “I gotta go. There’s no time for this.” So glad that I slowed down for all of 2 minutes to read and think about this.

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Many thanks – Bill

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Bill Withers
Breakthrough Coach

Phillips Corporation 7390 Coca Cola Drive Ste.200 Hanover, MD 21076 TEL: +1.410.564.2933 FAX: +1.410.564.2949 WEB:

?

?

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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Christina Merl via Groups.Io
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2020 10:09 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [f4c-response] The New/Old Blend: Synchronous and Asynchronous #facilitation #meetingdesign

?

Dear Nancy,

Thank you for writing this. I find it refreshing and a positive sign in all the current "covid-19 mania". I get the impression that "everyone" is literally trying to redesign f2f settings and be online to not miss out on anything or anyone. It's paradox - while the virus forces us to slow down and shut everything down, the craziness continues online. We transform our structures and patterns to a virtual world.

So I appreciate your thoughts very much. Mixing asynchronous and synchronous as well as using different media sounds like a very effective plan.

I am hosting a group of students this coming Saturday. We would have met f2f. The university is open-minded and encourages teachers to make the most of the situation and continue with their sessions, either via distance learning or live online.

So I have decided to do a blended format. I am currently designing the agenda and I have realised that all the tech craziness and the lack of crisis management in some organisations prevent me (I can only talk about myself here) from thinking creatively. I need to really get rid of all the noise and distraction created online and focus on my group's needs, their learning goals, my goals, the topics we are dealing with etc. While tech savviness is super important - which is why I am so thankful that you initiated this exchange and that so many people share webinars, links, etc. - all of this is so absolutely helpful and provides so much support right now - I think the overall challenge for everyone, for society, is to focus on what we really need and want (to change).? I think that's the challenge for society, no matter where.

So I'd be happy to learn along here with you. As said, I am currently designing my agenda for my group of students and I will use zoom for their presentations, I have designed some quiz material with moodle, and I have set up some materials that I find helpful for them, plus some prompts that they need to work out asynchronously but in collaborative teams. For this, we use google docs, mentimeter, and probably some 365 video presentations.

I deliberately want to keep it simple technology-wise but make it complex challenge-wise. And I am curious to get students' feedback. They are currently also under pressure as everything has changed. BTW, in that case these students all have a job, they are learning workers.

Regards from Vienna,

Christina

Am 19.03.2020 um 14:48 schrieb Nancy White:

This post is part "thinking out loud" and part action/question. So if you are interested in both, please read till the end.

One of the things that is showing up for me is people writing/calling/texting asking "how do I convert this F2F meeting to online?" (More on that in a separate message.)?

Well, last night I made the mistake of looking at FB before bed so I slept very poorly AND I had a lot of ideas swirling around in my head. One was a flashback of the online events many of us designed and hosted back in the "olden days" when most online events were primarily text based and asynchronous. There would be discussion threads rolled out over a period of days and people would generally have a 24-48 time period to read, post, and respond to others before we moved on to the next "agenda item." When we got really fancy we would add periodic telephone conference calls (yes, telephone!) and things really broke open when we could start to embed media like visuals, audio and video.?

The ideas behind this work was that we could include many more people than could fly to a meeting, and when we had to support access to local connectivity, it was very often FAR FAR FAR more economical than bringing people to a physical gathering. While those who were used to F2F meetings pooh-poohed us, those who never got to go to those meetings were deeply engaged, appreciative and brilliant contributors.?

Arrival to March 19 (it is March 19th, isn't it? How many days have we been quarantined in each of our corners of the world??) After 10-14 days of super intense Zoom meetings, my brain and body was not happy. The intensity (yes, of course, jacked up by the pandemic) was showing on our faces as we stared into our cameras, still wearing the same sweatshirt from ... how many days ago?

It hit me, we DO HAVE the ability to use asynchronous tools with our lovely synchronous tools. Many of us do it every day (yes, email, basecamp, trello, teams, slack) but those uses have been for tasking, small message exchange, and not really deeper conversation. (Yes, JonL - the ?conversation!) Set up a discussion board, parse out the things that can go slower, that don't need video, that focus on information exchange or slower, calmer (and deeper) conversations. Let people figure out how to take care of the kids and work by making some of the meeting time a slower, asynchronous time.?

Today I have two calls about meeting design and I wondered, how would I convert those meetings? What are some of those great approaches and techniques that worked so well 15-20 years ago??

So what I'd love to discuss - yes asynchronously for now on this email list - is our ideas for rethinking F2F longer form meetings (3 day strategic planning, 2 day training, 5 day intense team consultation) into synch/asynch online meetings. How do we rethink of time (believe me, we aren't going to sustain all day online meetings and raise the kids etc, folks. Get real quick!) What rhythm works well? How does this enhance cross time zone work.?

I have a lot of ideas, but they are all a-jumble. Please join in this thread and think with me. I'd like to bring together our best thinking over 3-5 days and then write it up (we can do that collaboratively too if folks are interested.)

AND THEN, I propose we do a series of redesign-shops where one org brings their old meeting agenda, and we offer redesign ideas. What do you think?

Chime in!

-- 



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It is!?

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Meeting has reached 100 participants! No one else can participate ?

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The link I show is?

count me in !
christine koehler

I would like to participate. Would someone please send me the link?

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Hi all,