Trainers and participants look back at a successful first round of the Interactive Open Online Course ‘Introduction to Dialogue Facilitation’. More than 100 participants took part in the 4-week course presenting the basics on dialogue facilitation. 

The trainers were impressed with the quality and the level of engagement of the participants. As one of the trainers mentioned;

“What was encouraging to me was engaging with trainees who are doing similar and exceptional work in their own relevant domains, be it teaching, youth work, community organizing, etc. and seeing what practical and immediate tools and ideas they were taking away to use there.”

In four modules, this course covered the basic functions of dialogue and virtual exchange, key principles and components of facilitation, and various facilitation tools. Through Activities, talking points and assignments, participants could immediately practice ...  

To practice making observations and ‘speaking facilitator’ the trainers asked participants to make an observation about the course and their own feelings or reactions to the course content. The reactions to this activity illustrated the level of engagement:.

“I find this course very thorough and I have learnt a lot from it: both from the course content and from reading the other participants' comments and videos. I am enjoying the variety of media (video, infographs, images) and the tasks are challenging!”

“I like how the course is structured, that is applying facilitation tools. For example, triggering reflection by the use of talking points, peers observations to promote discussion, group feedback, etc. This is encouraging as it shows in practice what is facilitation and how it can be applied in different contexts. I have also noticed that I am starting to transfer what I learn here in some daily situations and reflecting more about how I react.” 

“The course stimulates active and (self-)critical participation. It is boosting my learning experience that I can compare my own findings with those of my peers. Although I am reading all the input of my peers, and reply here and there, there is not much interaction between me and my peers.”

The trainers and organizers of this course are enthusiastic about the prospect of these participants continuing their training to become active Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange facilitators. 
With high expectations they are now gearing up for the next rounds of ‘Introduction to Dialogue Facilitation’.