Online module completed. This week, I finished reading the last assignments and forum posts in the online Team Leader Orientation module I had been facilitating in February and March. The second edition of this course is now history, and I am very pleased to see that 12 more team or area leaders have completed all the assignments and have “graduated” from this 5-week course. During those five weeks, each of the course participants identified their key areas of responsibility as a team leader, and what outcomes they desired to achieve in each of those key result areas by God’s grace. They sought to describe how they would know whether they had achieved these outcomes. These different components were assembled in an outcome-based job description for themselves, which they then submitted to their classmates for comments and critique. The job descriptions were very well done, and I know several of the students are still revising and improving them as they discuss them with their teams and area directors. For those interested in seeing the template for developing the job description, you can find it on the SEND U wiki.
Dealing with the drop-out phenomena. Facilitating a leadership training course through the Internet presents some significant challenges. The dropout rate for distance education is generally much higher than for classroom educational settings. It is really hard to remain motivated to complete a course consisting of a series of lectures, if you have no support from fellow classmates, and instead are surrounded by all the distractions of family and work. I believe that a good part of the reason we endure lectures in a classroom setting is because we know we are not alone, and we can also commiserate together about our tired brains and sore backsides over coffee after class.