Facilitator FAQS
1. Getting Set Up and Ready to Go
Well in advance of the start of the workshops, you will be provided with the things that you need to check (and with easy instructions on how to do so). Zoom is fairly straightforward and it is not likely that you will have issues. But the Tech Team can provide assistance if necessary.
Getting Zoom on to your device is a very straight-forward process. You will be provided with simple instructions on how to do so and assistance is available to help if needed.
All of the Zoom sessions for your workshop(s) will be booked centrally, in advance, and you will be supplied with the email details that you need to provide to the participants in your workshop(s).
2. Starting Each Workshop
Details on the specific steps will be provided closer to our September start date, but the process is straightforward and involves 'opening' the meeting using the link provided, and letting participants into the meeting as they arrive in the waiting room.
The role of co-facilitators will be no different than usual, but things may be done slightly differently during the COVID-19 restrictions. One of you will be set up as the Zoom 'host' for the session. Zoom also allows you to have a small number of 'co-hosts'. Your co-facilitators will be assigned as co-hosts and will have 'permissions' to do whatever is needed. More details will be provided later in the summer.
Being able to chat with fellow workshop members as we arrive and get settled is part of what makes the Academy special. The Zoom licenses that we have purchased give us plenty of time for each workshop so that we can chat before workshops begin and during the break.
There are a few ways to share the screen in a Zoom workshop. During the summer the Tech Team will select the best of these and will provide you with everything you need to know.
Until the workshops begin in September, you can send questions to OurAcademy2021@gmail.com.
Once the Academy year begins, there will be a special 'help' email address up and running. All of the documentation and tip sheets prepared by the Tech Team will also be easily accessible on the Academy 2020/21 - Information & Updates section of our website.
3. Running the workshop
You should let the participants know what is coming up at the Academy, just like you did at Knox.
You will be supplied with the same attendance form that is used each year. You or a co-facilitator can use the participant list on the Zoom screen to mark off attendees. Participants can use the Zoom chat feature to let you know about upcoming absences. Over the summer you will get clear instructions on how to do both of these things.
Rather than raising your hand in the air as we do in the classroom, Zoom has a 'raise hand' button which will show the facilitator / co-facilitators who wishes to speak and in what order. This is just one of the options open to you.
The Tech Team will provide you with everything you need to make a choice of the best method for your workshop(s).
This is always possible - even in the in-person classroom environment.
In a Zoom workshop participants mute themselves during the presentations and until they have been recognized to speak. There are a number of ways that you can manage whose turn it is to speak. The Tech Team will provide you with everything you need to make a choice of the best method for your workshop(s).
Dealing with your workshop members on a personal level is done no differently on Zoom.
Before workshops begin, participants will be provided with some tips on Zoom etiquette.
Until the workshops begin in September, you can send questions to OurAcademy2021@gmail.com.
Once the Academy year begins, there will be a special 'help' email address up and running. All of the documentation and tip sheets prepared by the Tech Team will also be easily accessible on the Academy 2020/21 - Information & Updates section of our website.
3. After the workshop
Closing the workshop once the session is finished is as straightforward as clicking on an 'End Meeting' button. This will be covered in more detail in the instructions that you will receive later in the summer.
Until the workshops begin in September, you can send questions to OurAcademy2021@gmail.com.
Once the Academy year begins, there will be a special 'help' email up and running. All of the documentation and tip sheets prepared by the Tech Team will also be easily accessible on the Academy 2020/21 - Information & Updates section of our website.
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