You've been asked to facilitate a session. What does that mean?
It’s the morning of Edcamp. The session board is starting to fill up. There are topics you’re interested in but no one has stepped up to facilitate. You don’t consider yourself an expert but rather are seeking information about a specific topic on the board. You wonder what it takes to facilitate a session. Here are a few tips.
Be a guide on the side, not a sage on the stage.
First, an edcamp facilitator’s role is definitely not the same as a conference presenter. At edcamps, the facilitator’s primary role is to get the conversation started, to find out where everyone stands on a topic. As the conversation gets started, the facilitator’s role shifts a bit. It is his/her job to make sure everyone that wants to speak gets heard. The facilitator also helps monitor the time remaining. If there is a google doc or other shared note taking platform, the facilitator can promote it to ensure that important information doesn’t get lost. The phrase I like to use to describe a facilitator is the “guide on the side”.
Facilitators are not presenters. They are not there to promote themselves. Facilitators can share resources about a topic, just like anyone else. If there are websites to share, then a facilitator may be interested connecting his/her device to a projector but this is not required. A quality edcamp facilitator encourages the conversation. He/she is patient with others in the room that may not have previously experienced edcamps. The best edcamps have the best facilitators.
We encourage you to consider facilitating at Edcamp Branford.