{"id":730,"date":"2020-04-01T15:28:05","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T15:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/flofacilitatorguide\/chapter\/flo_family\/"},"modified":"2020-04-01T15:28:05","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T15:28:05","slug":"flo_family","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/flofacilitatorguide\/chapter\/flo_family\/","title":{"raw":"FLO Family of Courses","rendered":"FLO Family of Courses"},"content":{"raw":"\n

Overview<\/h1>\nFacilitating Learning Online (FLO) is a growing collection of one- to five-week online courses that are intended to enhance the skills required to confidently and effectively facilitate learning online. Affectionately referred to as a family of courses, the program is a supportive community of educators taking facilitation of learning online to the next level\u2014practicing, improving, and reaching out to motivate colleagues to do the same.<\/a>\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_659\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"569\"]\"FLO Figure 2.1 [Long Description]<\/a>[\/caption]\n

The courses<\/h1>\nListed below are the five courses in the FLO collection along with brief descriptions; we describe them more fully in subsequent chapters in this guide.\n

FLO Fundamentals<\/h2>\n[caption id=\"attachment_57\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"220\"]\"FLO .<\/span>[\/caption]\n\nFLO Fundamentals is a five-week introduction to research-based adult and online learning concepts, principles, and strategies to make learning engaging and effective. You develop the skills you need to effectively facilitate learning in online environments by alternating between learner and facilitator roles to implement a series of short learning activities each week. The course includes opportunities for peer feedback and emphasizes reflection on your own experiences.\n

FLO Design<\/h2>\n[caption id=\"attachment_58\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"157\"]\"FLO .<\/span>[\/caption]\n\nThe four-week FLO Design course begins with a review of theories of learning, approaches to instructional and learning design, and different quality and accessibility frameworks for online course design. You can bring your own design project or work with others, sharing evolving designs and receiving constructive feedback in weekly studio forums.\n

FLO Synchronous<\/h2>\n[caption id=\"attachment_64\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"202\"]\"FLO .<\/span>[\/caption]\n\nFLO Synchronous is a three-week immersion into planning and facilitating synchronous online learning sessions. We introduce you to best practice strategies, you\u2019ll learn from examples of synchronous online facilitation, and will practice in a safe environment. There are two role choices (tracks) in this workshop \u2014 Reviewing Participant and Practicing Facilitator<\/em> \u2014 allowing for flexibility in learning outcomes.\n

FLO MicroCourses<\/h2>\n[caption id=\"attachment_66\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"181\"]\"FLO .<\/span>[\/caption]\n\nMicroCourses are short, single-topic, hands-on and practical. In one week, you will dip into the FLO experience and leave with something practical and useful for your own teaching practice. Topics are emergent and relate to designing and facilitating learning online.\n

The FLO story (the short version!)<\/h1>\nThe first Facilitating Learning Online course was called Instructional Skills Workshop Online (ISWO) and was developed by Royal Roads University in 2008 through the BCcampus Online Program Development [https:\/\/bccampus.ca\/open-education\/] fund. This course was based on the well-known Instructional Skills Workshop, but focused on facilitating online, rather than in person.\n\nIn 2013, BCcampus began offering what is now called FLO Fundamentals. It is an adaptation of the original ISWO, and was subsequently revised several times. In 2015, the name of the workshop changed from Instructional Skills Workshop Online (ISWO) to Facilitating Learning Online (FLO), more closely reflecting the focus on online facilitation.\n\nFrom the beginning, our goal was to prepare educators across the BC post-secondary system to effectively facilitate learning online- first by hosting, refining and growing the collection of courses, then by supporting the adoption and expansion process in a way that maintains a high quality and consistent experience for faculty and staff across institutions. All FLO courses are open educational resources (OER) and available for institutions to implement in-house.\n
The term Open Educational Resources (OER) was first defined by UNESCO in 2002<\/a> as \u201cany type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license\u201d and can \u201crange from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation.\u201d<\/div>\n
\n\nOver the years, participant feedback has informed our curriculum revisions and development, resulting in the redesign of FLO Fundamentals and the addition of two other courses: FLO Design and FLO Synchronous. Later, we recognized a need to appeal to faculty and staff who were unable to commit to a course spanning several weeks, and we introduced the one-week MicroCourse. We expect to grow the FLO family of MicroCourses. Suggestions for MicroCourse topics continue to emerge, such as assessing learning, multimedia development, open pedagogy, and digital literacy.\n\n<\/div>\n

Who are the FLO learners?<\/h1>\nWe have attracted a range of learners to FLO courses: very experienced educators, experienced online instructors, new-to-online instructors, and even those new to both instruction and online learning. The courses have also been popular in teaching and learning centres and with other post-secondary institution staff, as well as with individuals from private and non-profit organizations.\n

What makes FLO unique?<\/h1>\nFLO courses provide you with a participatory and learner-centred experience to enhance the skills you need to facilitate your own online courses and activities. The FLO experience is very different from an independent and self-directed study. In addition, the courses provide an ideal environment to mentor future FLO facilitators.\n\nThe following list captures our philosophy and approach:\n\nDesign and Development\n