Brad Poorman Pepperdine University |
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Cycle 2 Review -rtf version
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Online Lay Leadership Training Cycle 2 Review Brad Poorman
Action Research Question: How can the use of on-line tools provide educational training and support for the development of a learning community to help meet the need for trained lay leaders in the United Methodist church and establish a community of practice for those lay leaders to support their continued growth and development of expertise in effective lay leadership? Purpose: The purpose of my Action Research Project is to develop an online Lay Leader training program to be administered by McMurry University . Lay leaders share the core values of Christian Faith, Personal Relationships, Learning, Excellence, and Service with McMurry University . The program would consist of two learning tracks, the Certified Lay Minister track and the General Lay Leadership track. Common characteristics for both tracks would be to present lay leaders with practical knowledge and resources. Both tracks would also attempt to develop communities of practice where lay leaders can continue to learn how to better serve from each other.
My search for how I could use online tools to provide educational training and support for lay leaders began with discussions with Dr. John Russell , President of McMurry University. He was searching for ways McMurry could strengthen its ties to the Methodist church. He had also mentioned that some sort of lay leader training was needed because when he served on church committees at times he didn't feel qualified or prepared. My cycle 2 question is how can I use what I learned from my cycle 1 to make my site more supportive of the goals of the committee and how can I gain their support for a site that concentrates on building a post conference, ongoing, online support community?
My search for how I could use online tools to provide educational training and support for lay leaders began with discussions with Dr. John Russell , President of McMurry University. He was searching for ways McMurry could strengthen its ties to the Methodist church. He had also mentioned that some sort of lay leader training was needed because when he served on church committees at times he didn't feel qualified or prepared. My cycle 2 question is how can I use what I learned from my cycle 1 to make my site more supportive of the goals of the committee and how can I gain their support for a site that concentrates on building a post conference, ongoing, online support community?
Evidence and data for the second cycle was collected during additional meetings where the program was refined and the role of online tools within the program was further defined. I gathered initial impressions from a few committee members before the meeting and then during the meeting I laid out my ideas for the Academy's support site and listened to the committee's feedback and suggestions. During the consultation meetings I gathered input on the best development option for the support site.
Evidence/Data Collected Before the third committee meeting I visited with a couple of the members individually to ask their thoughts on the role the online component should play. We had some good conversations and their ideas were pretty much in line with what I had planned. The group facilitators had been invited to the third meeting and much of the discussion centered on what they were expected to do. However during the meeting one of the members I had met with commented on how important she felt the ongoing support was to the success of the program and asked me to brief them on possible ways to offer that support. I laid out some ideas such as discussion boards, chat rooms, personal blogs, and resource areas. There was considerable discussion on the support topic. The committee members discussed the various tools and whether they saw them as useful in this particular application. Many on the committee had never used any of the communication tools so they were unsure how they worked. The committee members that had experience with similar tools were generally supportive. There were a couple of comments that led you to believe there were still concerns that this form of communication was somewhat impersonal. We also discussed the role the facilitators were going to play in post conference online support. They understood the importance of having an active site where people were contributing on a regular basis to ongoing discussions. Therefore they were willing to help get the conversations going and facilitate until the group becomes self-generating. It was also decided that the official name of the conference will be the Academy for Faithful Ministry.
I was very encouraged because I came out of the meeting with a clearer understanding of what the committee was willing to support and I better understood my role in making this event successful. I felt the committee now comprehended and was fully supportive of the online component of the program. The online component would be restricted to those who attended the Academy for Faithful Membership. Upon their return home it will be a place where they can go to ask questions, share ideas, and generally maintain contact with their peers. ne new item that developed from the discussions was the need for a pre-conference web presence. They felt there needed to be a web site where people could get more information on the Academy and sign up to attend. I needed to find a way to incorporate that into the design.
Evidence/Data Collected I met with some knowledgeable colleagues about the objectives and parameters that had been developed over the three committee meetings. I wanted their opinions on what development option would best meet those objectives. After discussing the options and considering the audience we will be dealing with they felt it was important to have a single interface. It would be confusing if the attendees had to go to three different web sites to access all the features. Therefore a best of breed methodology did not seem to be the logical approach and therefore some trade-offs would have to be made. After considering the needs, cost, and flexibility the consensus was that Moodle seemed to offer the best overall solution. This will be stepping out a little because I am committing to use software I have never used to develop a unique application. While I have used Moodle as a student, I have never set up a site or course in Moodle. The instance used by the University was set up with certain restrictions that wouldn't be compatible with this application. Therefore we will need to install another instance of Moodle on a different server. I will need to become competent in developing Moodle sites and lay out a development plan.
Evidence/Data Collected Through a series of meetings the program evolved into a two day conference offered on McMurry University 's campus with an ongoing online support component. The online component of the program will now focus solely on ongoing support via discussion boards, chat rooms, reference material. A pre-conference site is also needed to facilitate the distribution of information and as an avenue to sign up for the Academy. People knowledgeable with various means of online delivery recommended Moodle as the best overall platform to delivery the program. My original concept has changed drastically as a result of participating on the committee. I have gone from a site dedicated to offering courses, to one dedicated to ongoing support. I have gone from developing the primary delivery system to being a support function before and after the Academy. By listening, remaining flexible, and reacting to the needs expressed by the committee I was able to devise an acceptable support plan. I had overestimated the support I would have for my original plan and therefore did not spend the time laying the groundwork or building support before the meeting. After coming to that realization I needed to go back and revise my approach in order to build support for the new plan. My standing within the committee as the technical consultant made it necessary to gain support from other members. I found by working more closely with a few committee members I was able to generate some allies to help convince the committee. The effectiveness of this approach gave me insight into how to deal with the committee in the future. The committee is now behind the building of a website whose focus will be ongoing support for those who attend the Academy and to encourage the development of Communities of Practice. To accomplish this I will include features that encourage interaction with others such as discussion boards/forums, chat rooms, and resource areas. I will build the site using Moodle and create a pre-academy informational and sign up website.
My next step will be to develop a beta site and get feedback from the committee.
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| Brad Poorman bpoorman@mcm.edu |
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