Best TV Satellite

Company Facilitator
Training Program
Ryan Guzman
CUR 532
Professor Medina
4 April 2016

Introduction
At BestTv, we constantly strive to be the best

satellite TV provider in the country. Because

of this goal, we have decided to revamp our
training program for our satellite customer
experience technicians. Before we launch
that training program, we have to train the
facilitators who will be conducting that
course.
The following is an overview of the

synchronous training program for our

Technicians Training Program (TTP) Facilitator
Trainees

Training Audience
Audience:
Facilitator trainees from the Technician

trainers program (TTP)

Every TTP facilitator trainee will be required to

complete the course, since we are moving our

field technicians training 100% online by this
time next year.

Training Audience
Assumed Current Skill Sets:
From our needs analysis, we have determined

that the current skill sets of our trainees fall

under two categories defined by Palloff & Pratt
in their book The Excellent Online Instructor,
2011:
Stage 1 The teacher as learner
Visitor/Novice/Beginner Stage

Both of these stages are intended for

facilitator trainees with very little to zero

experience facilitating an online class.

Training Audience
Assumed Experience/Level of Current

Knowledge :
Again, based on our needs assessment, we

gathered the following data about familiarity

with online modules:
65% - Some kind of experience with online

modules (Have taken 1 or more online classes

before)
35% - Have never taken an online class before

100% of the respondents, however, also said

they had never facilitated or assisted with

facilitating an online class.

Program Goals
We have outlined two goals for Besttvs

facilitator training program:

Goal#1 Our facilitator trainees will be

master online instructors

Goal #2 Our facilitator trainees will be able

to train others to be master online instructors

Goal #3 We will have the best technicians

training program in the Satellite TV business

Program
Objectives

Our TTP will have the following objectives:

95% 1st time pass rate on course material final

exam
100% completion of the course
85% satisfaction rate from their students
An increase from 76% to 82% (6% increase) in

customer satisfaction (in regards to

experience with their own tech trainees)

Summative
Assessment

Measuring success of Trainees/Program:

We will measure the success of our trainees

two ways:
1.

2.

A comprehensive final exam which will consist

of
1.

a project and

2.

a traditional exam

A comprehensive rating/survey from their

teammates

To measure the success of our program, we

will actively monitor the results of our

trainees evaluations

Training Materials
Skills needed to create effective distance learning
Technology every effective trainee is going to

need to be familiar with basic technology as well

as the technology specific to this class. Among this
technology are:
Apple MacBook proficient (which all of our facilitators

already use on a daily basis)

Basic Microsoft Office skills (Word, PowerPoint, Excel,

etc.)
iPad proficient (facilitators already use this

technology daily)
Canvas for our online courses, we are utilizing

Canvas online software to host our classes. Each

trainee will receive basic Canvas LMS training

Training Materials
Skills needed to create effective distance

learning
Soft Skills
Communication
Social Graces
Language
Interpersonal Skills
Managing People
Leadership
Online Presence

Training Materials
Strategies to teach Skills needed to create

effective distance learning

Collaborative teams: every trainee will be

placed into a strategic collaborative team

Project Based a part of the final summative

assessment will be a Canvas project where

each collaborative team will design a one-day
sample training course using the Canvas
software
Learner Centered because the training will

be asynchronous, learners will be the ones to

take charge for their learning

Phases of
Development

Over the course of our TTP, we hope to take every

facilitator through the phases of development.

We have identified five phases of development,

according to Palloff and Pratt:

Visitor have toyed with the idea of an online course

component

Novice never taught online but have posted a syllabus

online and have used online communication to supplement
face-to-face course

Apprentice have taught online one or two terms at most

Insider taught more than one term online, feel

comfortable in the online environment and with the online

technology
Master - have taught and designed several online courses

Phases of
Development

For our TTP course, we have identified

facilitators who are all at Visitor or Novice

phase simply because at BestTv, we have
never utilized an online component before.
By the end of the TTP course, our hope is that

our facilitators achieve at least the

Apprentice phase

Theories of
Distance Learning
At BestTv, our development team has kept in mind several theories

surrounding e-learning when designing our TTP (as well as the

technicians class that our trainers will facilitate):
Communal Constructivism the student contributes to and benefits from a

community of learning
Transactional Distance the way a student interacts with the e-learning

community is affected by the distance they have to digitally travel in order

to communicate with other students
Multimodality the way a student communicates with other students is

affected by the multimodal nature of communicating; even when only using

the computer interface
Intrinsic Motivation a students accommodation of existing learning

patterns and configurations to new learning

Social Informatics the design and use of information & communication

technologies from a social, institutional and cultural context

Digital Media Theory emphasizes the power of visual learning in the e-

learning classroom

Theories for
Engaging Distance
Learners
Transformation
changes of understanding

along personal, social and political

dimensions

Personal learning assisting students in

organizing their own information

Social Aspects of learning engagement of

learners with their environment and with

others in the environment
Political aspects of learning the facilitators

concepts of how connections are made in a

topic or context are influential to the students

Theories for
Engaging Distance
Learners
Framing the
way students and facilitators

use certain rules and experiences as frames

for action

Emergence through active engagement and

observation with the learning environment,

students experience expansive learning
leading to a host of new understandings of
topics of interest

Faculty Mentoring
Program
For the initial launch of the TTP, four of BestTvs

senior training staff members were invited to be

the initial faculty trainee mentors.
These four staff members spent several months

attending both face-to-face courses and online

courses designed to assist them in designing
the TTP for BestTv
They will serve as the initial mentors for each

collaborative team, with the hope of developing

those from the initial training class into mentors
for future classes around the entire company

Faculty Mentoring
Program
IDENTIFICATION CRITERIA:
A survey was conducted to identify who would

be the initial faculty mentors for the TTP. Here

is what we identified as the criteria:
Previous experience facilitating online
Previous experience with Blackboard and/or

another online course facilitation

software/module
Previous experience as a student in an

online/distance course
Previous experience mentoring employees

inside and outside of BestTv

Management and evaluation

programs for facilitators
Learning Community Approach and

Management
At BestTv, we will utilize learning teams in our

TTP to fulfill our goal of utilizing a learning

community approach
Every team will choose a representative to

speak on behalf of the team. These

representatives will be responsible for
updating management on the progress of the
TTP.

Management and evaluation

programs for facilitators
Managing Adjunct Faculty from a distance
Among the different technologies we will use

is Skype. Skype allows us to video conference

with all of our training sites.
We will Skype with all the team

representatives once a week to evaluate

remote sites progress.
In addition, we have the ability to monitor

online progress from our headquarters, as

administrators of the online TTP course.

Management and evaluation

programs for facilitators
Evaluation Strategies
Once our facilitators complete the TTP course,

they will be closely monitored in their first year of

the first field technicians training program course
they facilitate.
We will use the following evaluation strategies:
Course Surveys we will survey their students to

ensure the facilitators are effective

Customer Satisfaction Surveys we will also look at

what the customers say about the technicians our

facilitators train
Online Presence we will monitor the facilitators

online engagement and presence to ensure they are

being virtually visible in the e-learning classroom

Learning Platform
For our BestTv TTP, we will utilize an LMS

which stands for Learning Management

System.
Instructor Features of a Learning

Management System:
Create and deliver content
Monitor Student Participation
Assess student participation

Learning Platform
Student Features of a Learning Management

System:
Use of interactive features
Participate in threaded discussions
Video conferencing
Discussion forums
Uploading assignments
Online assessments

Learning Platform
The Learning Management System we will utilize in

our TTP is a software known as Canvas.

Canvas LMS allows us the following features for

instructors:
Data Collection (Stats, Polls, Real time tracking)
Multimedia integrations (Audio, video, text, images,

etc.)
Collaborative E-workspace
Web Conferencing
Mobile access
Discussion forums
Social Media Integration

Learning Platform
Within the Canvas LMS, our facilitators will use the following

processes to facilitate their technician training course:

Lesson video introductions: each trainee will view lesson

introduction videos at the beginning of each lesson (3-5 mins)

Class Discussions: each trainee will utilize the discussion

boards on each lesson to interact with other students (minimum

of 3 posts per lesson; combination of original posts and post
responses)
Private Messaging: trainees will have the option of private

messaging the facilitator if the conversation needs to be oneon-one

Receiving Assignments: facilitators will receive assignments

as trainees upload them into the assignments tab in Canvas

Assignment Feedback and Grades: facilitators will upload

assignment grading with feedback on the grades tab in Canvas

(trainees will also receive their assignment feedback through
email for their records)

Learning Platform
Sample of the Canvas LMS homepage for students:

Learning Platform
Technology/Media tools that will be used to enhance

student learning:
Audio/Video: in addition to readings, the course will

give trainees many opportunities to hear and see

material via audio and video, which will assist any
trainees who might be ESL, deaf or hard of hearing
(Long, Mallory, Rappold, Vignare, 2007) ; in addition,
trainees will have the opportunity to interact via web
conferencing and conference calling
Infographics: trainees will be required to create

infographics in the course, which they will be able to

utilize when they begin facilitating their technicians
training course at their home office
Simulations: trainees will view role playing

scenarios in the training class in order to problem

solve any real-world situations that might come up

Issues and Classroom

Management
Technology tools for trainee collaboration:
Google Drive: trainees will utilize Google

drive, where they can share and upload

documents and edit them in real time with
each other; additionally, Drive is compatible
on Windows and Mac and also with Microsoft
Office Suite
Skype: for our web and tele conferencing, we

will be utilizing Skype so students can

video/audio chat with one another and with
trainees in other parts of the country as well

Issues and Classroom

Management
Technology tools for trainee collaboration

(Cont.):
Google Calendar: trainees will utilize

another Google technology known as Google

calendar; with Google calendar, trainee groups
can create class-specific calendars and
share/edit it with only each other; students will
upload important dates and deadlines with
each other on one master calendar

Issues and Classroom

Management
Types of distance learners:
Cultural:
learning styles and preferences are affected by a number of

factors, including gender, socio-economic status, character and

genetic wiring as well as national and cultural differences.
(Haythornthwaite, 2011).
Cultural issues will be addressed in the BestTv e-learning

classroom. We will make sure that every trainee can be

successful despite any cultural differences or barriers;
We believe students appear to be happiest when there is a

range of learning approaches available and they can choose

when to deploy such different learning approaches according
to their own learning needs and rhythms (Haythornthwaite,
2011).

Issues and Classroom

Management
Types of distance learners:
Experiential: Many students learn best when they learn

through experience; While it seems difficult to incorporate

experiential learning online, we will incorporate this learning
in the following ways:
Problem-Based learning: students identify and define

problems and find solutions to those role-specific problems

Case-based learning: students will read and discuss complex,

real-world scenarios
Project-based learning: students will work on collaborative

projects based to unpack and present course material

Inquiry-based learning: students choose topics of research,

develops plan for research and comes to conclusion based on

research

Issues and Classroom

Management
Types of distance learners:
Non-Traditional Students:
In addition to training at BestTv, many of our employees

are concurrently taking online college courses

(undergrad and grad) because of our companys tuition
assistance program. We value their input in the design of
this course and understand that many of them embody
the characteristics of many non-traditional online
students.

Issues and Classroom

Management
Types of distance learners:
Non-Traditional Students:
Characteristics of the non-traditional students that work at

BestTv:
Did not continue their education after either high school or after

finishing their undergraduate degree

Attending courses part-time
Work full time (35+ hours per week)
Are financially independent
Have children and/or other dependents (excluding souse)
Single Parents
Have GED, not a high school diploma

(www.youcandealwithit.com)

Issues and Classroom

Management
Synchronous/Asynchronous Facilitation
At BestTv, our training department decided

that all of our training would be synchronous

(able to be accessed whenever there is a
training class in session) as opposed to
asynchronous (course available anywhere,
anytime).
On the following slide, we have listed what

the facilitators of each of the options need

Issues and Classroom

Management
Asynchronous
Facilitation Skills

Organization

Attention to detail

Quick response times

Ability to effectively
monitor and direct online
discussion

Ability to read between

the lines of comments,
posts and assignments (

Synchronous
Facilitation Skills

Tech Savvy (main

communication with
students will be through
some form of technology)

Quick response to learner

inquiries and posts

Ability to work past and

handle limits in technology
as well

Issues and Classroom

Management
Technology
Management Issues
1.
2.
3.

Connectivity Issues

Technology Management
Resolution
1.

Ensure that wifi/LAN internet

connection is operable prior
to beginning coursework

2.

Check the site software

minimum requirements
against your equipment to
ensure proper compatibility

3.

Save your work continuously

on drives outside of the
computer;

Software Compatibility
Loss of digital work

Ex. Cloud drive, Flash

Drive, etc.

Issues and Classroom

Management
Learner Feedback
At BestTv, we ask all our trainees to submit questions,

comments and general feedback one of three ways

Private Message a private message outside of the public

discussion forums to the facilitator is the preferred

method of contact; either through the Canvas LMS private
message feature or instructor provided email
Discussion Board Comments if the nature of the

feedback can be shared publicly, then a quick comment to

a discussion post or in the class messages tab will get the
attention of the facilitator
Video A third option would be to upload a quick video

with your question; students choose this option if they

need to show the professor something that would be
difficult to demonstrate via e-messaging

Issues and Classroom

Management
Challenging Behaviors
At BestTv, we ask all our trainees to refrain from certain

behaviors that are deemed unacceptable by our

acceptable use policy; among those are:
Cyber Bullying when another student is threatened via

any means of digital communication by another student,

then we immediately open a cyber bullying investigation
Inappropriate Comments comments on any

message/discussion board that are crude, rude, racist,

sexist or discriminatory towards anyone will also be
investigated immediately
Lack of Participation any student who does not meet the

minimum requirements will be immediately locked out of

the course and will have to appeal to the facilitator to be

Issues and Classroom

Management
ADA Learners
At BestTv, we are in compliance of the requirements of

the Americans with Disabilities Act. We have several

trainees that are considered deaf or hard-of-hearing.
We have adapted our course for these students in the
following ways:
Captioning aside from the text, any audio portions of our

course content will be equipped with accurate captioning

Elimination of third party in a traditional classroom, deaf

or hard of hearing students require the use of a third party

(interpreter); however, with our online content being
readable and our online audio content having captions,
we have eliminated the use of the interpreter so these
students can have a direct contact with the course
material

References

Haythornthwaite, C. (2011).E-Learning Theory and Practice. : Sage Publications.\

Long, G. L., Vignare, K., Rappold, R. P., & Mallory, J. (2007). Access to Communication
for Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing and ESL Students in Blended Learning Courses. International
Review Of Research In Open And Distance Learning, 8(3), 1-13.

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2011).The Excellent Online Instructor. : John Wiley & Sons
Inc..

Canvas.(2016).Retrieved from https://www.canvaslms.com.hk/features/higher-ed/

Differences in Synchronous and Asynchronous Facilitator Skills.(2014).Retrieved

fromhttp://facilitatedistancelearning.weebly.com/uploads/2/7/6/1/27617549/s
ynchronous_vs._asynchronous.pdf

E-Learning Industry - Learning Management Systems Comparison Checklist of

Features.(2011-2016).Retrieved from http://elearningindustry.com/learningmanagement-systems-comparison-checklist-of-features

Online learning and distance education resources.(2014).Retrieved from

http://www.tonybates.ca/2014/12/01/can-you-do-experiential-learning-online-assessingdesign-models-for-experiential-learning/