You can do it.

We are just starting the second week of our facilitating online course.  We have to think about why we want to do the course, join the emails group and answer these questions

• What do you want to learn to facilitate?
• What are you doing now in terms of online facilitation?
• What would you like to achieve, change or do more of?
• What do you need to do or make happen to achieve your goal?

Well I would really like to learn how to facilitate an online campain properly.  I tend to rely on friends and supporters which always appears to be getting the word out there.  However it is really more like preaching to the converted and I’m sure there is a way to reach an untouched audience.

I have attended 4 births this week but in between have been quite excited about reading everyone’s blogs and thinking of my goals.  I have no idea about wiki so hope to at least understand the point of it by the end of the course.  Twitter is also an enigma to me although I try hard

What I have found it difficult to add a comment to some of the blogs as they are self explanatory but create no questions for me.  I would like to comment more as I myself love comments, so am trying to be more inspirational and less reactive.  There was a fantastic discussion on  Gullivers musings in the comments section about your online persona.

I also gave consideration to becoming an official participant by paying the course fee and getting one on one tuition.  It’s not that I’m particularly internet naive but I have lots of specific questions that could be boring for people and I find it easy to dominate a conversation (a failing but at least I know myself well).  However I think it is a lot more for international students.

I have to answer the above questions this week but it needs more thought.

We had the first online chat of the course last night and I’ve just logged into the end of the extra meeting to have another listen.

It was nice to have an introduction to some of the other participants.  I was hoping that it would give me some direction but I’m still not sure where it will take me.  We have to organise an online workshop,  I am quite looking forward to that.    Blogging progress is a requirement but is actually more difficult than you would think.  I normally have such a lot of say.  I’m just not used to floundering around wondering what’s next.

I feel refreshed blogging about something other than birth. (although attended an amazing birth this morning).  I started the online course and tried to comment on the other participants blogs.  Lots of them are newly set up.  I fogot to add an rss feed to each as I was commenting so now go back and do that.  In my typical fashion I’ve been trying to think of ways around it like maybe adding all the blogs to my book marks and checking them.  All this, to try and save myself time and effort.    Any suggestions for a short cut?   Oh well, I suppose I’ll just have to bite the bullet and start adding the blogs one by one.

I’ve been thinking about what I want to get out of the course and I’m still not really sure but I am attracted by the fact that lots of the participants are not birth related, maybe I’ll be able to switch of my mind and get a bit more rounded in my thinking.