How did you get involved with this project?
I was very pleased to be invited by Greg Smith, Director, FLC, to join an Online Study Committee established to explore the viability of developing and offering on-line training for potential tutors and teachers. The team worked together and launched the pilot online training in July 2010. As the Literacy Coordinator for the Lake County Library System Adult Literacy Program I am constantly recruiting and training volunteer tutors and I was immediately sold on the opportunity to incorporate an online tutor training component into our program.
Why were you interested in facilitating the course?
Being part of the study committee, a program coordinator, and volunteer tutor trainer it was a natural transition to facilitate the pilot course! I was extremely excited to be able to participate in the online training – not only would I be able to see how it worked but I would be able to provide feedback, input, and guide the new volunteer tutors from Lake County as they traversed this new territory!
What was your interaction with course participants?
I was involved with the new volunteer tutors from the very beginning – recruiting, preparing and educating them on the online training program, providing support and guidance as they worked through the course content, participating in the discussion board topics, and transitioning them to our required face-to-face follow up meeting.
What would you suggest for other facilitators?
It is so very important to be engaged with the volunteer tutors throughout the process. For some individuals the ‘technology’ can be overwhelming and, at times, discouraging for them. If you are planning on facilitating your own online training be prepared to be busy! But the rewards far outweigh the work. You learn so much about your new potential volunteer tutors and they develop a strong relationship with you as they learn they can trust and depend on you to offer them assistance and support throughout the process.
How do you recruit course participants?
Recruiting volunteer tutors for the online training is similar to the traditional way I recruited tutors. The only difference is that I stress the need for new volunteers to be comfortable with technology – or at least willing to try and learn! As the LCLS Adult Literacy Program moves further into the 21st Century we, as a program, need tutors who use and/or are willing to be trained to use technology – hardware, software, the cloud, mobile aps, web-based learning, etc... The FLC online training is the first step in this process.
For more information on how you can be involved with FLC’s free online training course, please contact schmidta@floridaliteracy.org.
