Online Workshops 

Definition

• a training event with specific learning outcomes, prepared resources and activities where there are significant amounts of participant activity and interaction. The workshop takes place synchronously for a fixed amount of time, usually short (2 hours), with pre-registered participants.

Structure

• Before session:
  • Invited moderator to assist workshop facilitator as guest subject "expert"  < this might be an option?
  • Participants read/review resources/case studies
  • One discussion thread per case study or focussed resource created
• During session:
  • Structure of workshop is displayed clearly and is a tight set of co-ordinated "activities"
  • Socialisation activity completed first
  • directed activities engage participants
  • Open/unstructured question and answer in forum. Moderator/trainer/presenter responds in forum (but encourages peer support).
  • Other activities completed
• After session:
  • Collation/summary of main points of discussion
  • Participant evaluation

Activities

• Resources available in advance for reading and review (case studies, links, video/audio documents etc)
• Students invited to post an introduction about themselves in forum (socialisation activity)
• Students invited to chat in chat room (socialisation activity)
• Students invited to post open unstructured questions to forum. Moderator/trainer/presenter responds in forum.
  • Student responds to student, and/or
  • Faciliatator responds to student, and/or
  • Expert reponds to student
• Students requested to participate in online activity (glossary, wiki, or survey etc)
• Students invited to create and post summary of main points
• Student experience evaluation via survey or poll

Evaluation ?

• open and closed questions
• quantitive & qualitative feedback
• collated survey

Platform

• A VLE
• A suite of linked web tools?  eg. a forum , wiki, surveymonkey, youtube, googlescholar, ning, twitter, MSN - for example.