Enrollment is now open for our next cohort. This five-session professional development course meets once per week from 7–9 PM on Wednesdays from Mar. 10–Apr. 7.
Class Overview
Cultivating a virtual community is challenging work. Whether you’re a teacher, facilitator, administrator, or executive, Hale can help you develop the skills and strategies necessary to select activities, engage participants, debrief experiences, and make the most of your group’s time together.
Crafting Online Learning Experiences will teach you to digitally:
apply experiential learning models
facilitate using culturally competent techniques
empower people to share their identities and perspectives
promote social-emotional learning
establish positive classroom and workplace norms
Don’t navigate this new virtual world on your own when you can expand your network, collaborate with other professionals, and be inspired to use tools and platforms in ways you never thought possible.
Participants who complete this course earn a Certificate of Completion they may feature on their resumés, LinkedIn profiles, and personal websites.
This course is offered in collaboration with the Center for Artistry and Scholarship’s Perrone-Sizer Institute for Creative Leadership, an approved professional development provider of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Teachers who complete it will receive a certificate for 15 Professional Developments Points (PDPs).
Successful completion of this course is one of several requirements to become a Hale Certified Facilitator™ of Virtual Programs (HCF-V).
Online Classes
Class 1: Building Community and Charting Our Course
Instructors will provide an overview of the course and facilitate the establishment of norms and community agreements. We’ll get to know one another as we reflect on past successes and challenges in our virtual classrooms and set goals for our time together.
Class 2: Experiential Learning Online
We often hear facilitators refer to their “toolbags” or “bags of tricks,” which is shorthand for props, activities, and approaches. But what do those look like in a digital environment? We’ll learn how to use the various (and often hidden) features of Zoom and the Google Suite to explore and implement Kolb’s Experiential Cycle.
Class 3: Social-Emotional Learning in Virtual Communities
The right facilitation techniques spark discussion, inspire reflection, and ultimately build communication, empathy, trust, and perseverance—all of which are required for social-emotional learning. We’ll introduce and facilitate a variety of activities that build SEL skills—and community—among physically distant participants.
Class 4: Culturally Competent Facilitation
Our identities, experiences, and perspectives shape every interaction we have in the classroom and in the world. We’ll explore strategies to empower students to share and celebrate their identities as well as assess how our own identities influence facilitation goals and teaching techniques.
Class 5: Real World Round Table
During our final session together, we’ll debrief the external programs we facilitated as we exchange ideas and troubleshoot challenges. We’ll also help each other brainstorm how we can apply course concepts to our professional lives.
Facilitators
Sue Crumbaker is the Program Design Coordinator of Hale’s School & Professional Programs. Lovingly known as “Super Sue” to tens of thousands of participants, she is a master facilitator with 25 years of experience in challenge course design, operations, and administration. A former teacher, she specializes in behavior modification and teambuilding and is certified by Project Adventure and High 5 Adventure Learning Center. Sue earned her B.S. in Geology with a minor in Psychology from Acadia University.
Dylan Gschwind is the Director of Intrepid Academy at Hale. During the academic year, he collaborates with Boston Public Schools to help teachers reimagine learning beyond traditional classrooms. During the summer, he runs Hale Outdoor Learning Adventures, a 5th quarter summer learning academy for 4th–6th-grade students and teachers. A public school alumnus and Perrone-Sizer Institute fellow, Dylan discovered his passion for outdoor education after earning his B.A. in Mathematics from Pomona College.
About Our Co-Developer
The Center for Artistry and Scholarship’s Perrone-Sizer Institute for Creative Leadership builds the skills, capacity, and confidence required to lead innovative, equitable, anti-racist, democratic schools and organizations that prioritize student agency and community partnership.
FAQs
Who should take this course?
This course is for leaders who seek to cultivate a sense of community and trust through virtual platforms. This may include teachers, student affairs administrators, business team leaders, and nonprofit managers, among others.
What technology is required to participate?
A computer, webcam, microphone, and internet access are required. Registrants will receive information regarding any accounts they may need to set up before the course begins.
Why do virtual programs require different facilitation techniques?
While much of the philosophy of facilitation remains the same, traditional activities don’t always align with online platforms and technology. Trust falls? Not happening! But as facilitators, we still need to establish trust…and this course explores new ways to do that.
What if I can’t afford the program tuition?
If tuition presents a significant barrier please email Sydney Howland to discuss your circumstances.
Will completing this course lead to employment with Hale?
A talented pool of experienced contract facilitators deliver many of Hale’s traditional and online programs, and this course is an excellent way to prepare for that work—but it is by no means a direct route to employment with Hale. However, it is the first step toward becoming a Hale Certified Facilitator™ of Virtual Programs (HCF-V), and we do take credentials such as that into account when hiring staff members.
I’m a teacher. How do I earn Professional Development Points?
Simply complete the course! Afterward, you will automatically receive a certificate for 15 PDPs issued by the Center for Artistry and Scholarship, an approved professional development provider of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
Sue Crumbaker is the Program Design Coordinator of Hale’s School & Professional Programs. Lovingly known as “Super Sue” to tens of thousands of participants, she is a master facilitator with 25 years of experience in challenge course design, operations, and administration. A former teacher, she specializes in behavior modification and teambuilding and is certified by Project Adventure and High 5 Adventure Learning Center. Sue earned her B.S. in Geology with a minor in Psychology from Acadia University.
Dylan Gschwind is the Director of Intrepid Academy at Hale. During the academic year, he collaborates with Boston Public Schools to help teachers reimagine learning beyond traditional classrooms. During the summer, he runs Hale Outdoor Learning Adventures, a 5th quarter summer learning academy for 4th–6th-grade students and teachers. A public school alumnus and Perrone-Sizer Institute fellow, Dylan discovered his passion for outdoor education after earning his B.A. in Mathematics from Pomona College.