{"id":12102,"date":"2021-03-18T04:03:52","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T08:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/ressource\/experience-fieldnotes-fadios-distance-education-week\/"},"modified":"2021-11-16T21:48:26","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T02:48:26","slug":"experience-fieldnotes-fadios-distance-education-week","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/eductive.ca\/en\/resource\/experience-fieldnotes-fadios-distance-education-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Experience Fieldnotes: FADIO\u2019s Distance Education Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the last week of February, FADIO<\/a> hosted its annual #SemaineFAD event<\/a>, a single-track series of online sessions about Distance Education covering every part of Quebec\u2019s educational system, from Early Childhood to Higher Ed. Despite its focus on Quebec, the French-speaking event attracted participants from different parts of the Francophone world and some comments from organizers made it clear that overseas participants were welcomed.<\/p>\n

Having participated in eight of the event’s fourteen live sessions, I find it useful to share part of that experience. All recordings are available in a YouTube playlist<\/a> (in French).<\/p>\n

Event Structure<\/h1>\n

Any event bringing learning professionals together is likely to generate reflection by its structure and form itself. In optimal cases, participants adopt a learning role for the duration of the event. As with any learning experience, the degree to which a method was efficient and efficacious relates to complex factors, including personal ones.<\/p>\n

A highlight of this Distance Education week, for me, was in the opportunity to interact through some forms of backchannel, especially chat and Q&A. Though every session was held through Zoom\u2019s Webinar format, the team behind the event was able to experiment with some elements of this formula. For instance, during some Q&A periods, they allowed participants to raise their hands and interact orally with panelists. Some questions posted in Zoom’s Q&A module became a way to share resources.<\/p>\n

Allowed by this approach to backchannel were connections between sessions. Even when speakers only spend time in their own sessions, attendees can make explicit links which carry the reflection forward.<\/p>\n

Missing from this online event were spaces for more informal interactions as would typically happen between sessions at face-to-face conferences (occasionally leading to some kind of \u201cunconference<\/a>\u201d format). In the Fall, a related event<\/a> used a specific Zoom room for its virtual hallways. Though few people availed themselves of the opportunity to ask further questions, such a strategy might enhance this Professional Development form of Distance Education.<\/p>\n

Session Participation<\/h1>\n

Here are descriptions for sessions in which I was able to participate, loosely translated from their French title.<\/p>\n