The buzz of active and collaborative learning

It was exhilarating to be with Circler's in the session I recently facilitated for Circle's Chart Your Course Bootcamp.

We unpacked, discussed, and practised how to design the content for a community-powered course.

Jordan Godbey @jordangodbey So much value packed in this one image. Old school courses → information Community-powered courses → implementation @CharlotCrowther showed us how to create a powerful course that focuses on action, sharing, reflection and feedback using her OWWH framework. Great session! 7:43 PM • Oct 13, 2022 1 Retweets 18 Likes Read 4 replies

​

The energy in the room was a powerful reminder of what learning in community feels like.

Mathilde Leo @Mathilde_Leo @CharlotCrowther @emmacatranis @circleapp It was an AMAZING session! Here are a a few of the dozens of comments shared in the chat throughout. Community-powered learning FTW! Charlotte Crowther 🕸 @CharlotCrowther Looking forward to going live in 5 mins with @Mathilde_Leo @emmacatranis and Pedro for Week 2 of @circleapp's Chart Your Course Bootcamp! 6:43 PM • Oct 13, 2022 0 Retweets 1 Likes Read 2 replies

​

A big thank you to all the participants for their curiosity, care and co-creation of the experience!

Also, Mathilde Leo and Circle for inviting me, Gwyn Wansbrough, Emma Catranis and Pedro Hernandez for supporting my session, and everyone who shared feedback, connected, and invited me to continue the conversation beyond the session ❤️

​

How to set up your students for success. A deep dive into Breakthrough Facilitation's onboarding experience.

​In my last newsletter I shared a visual of Gwyn's onboarding experience for her cohort-based course called Breakthrough Facilitation (BF).

I learnt this week BF Course Manager Lilian Warutere spearheads all things onboarding - so the credit goes to her :)

Before you decide what your students' onboarding experience is, or adjust your current setup, check out Breakthrough Facilitation's approach for ideas for your course.

You’ve done all the (hard!) work of marketing, selling, and creating your B2C or B2B self-paced, hybrid, or cohort-based course.

Honing in on your students' onboarding experience as soon as they purchase, or are enrolled in your course, is one of your biggest levers to deliver on the transformation you promise.

It is your first opportunity to leverage your learners’ peaked attention and set them up for success.

​

Welcome Email

As soon as a student signs up, they receive a welcome and congratulatory email from Gwyn to say hello and introduce herself.

In her email, Gwyn also invites the new student to:

• Complete a short registration form — a good opportunity to capture their goals for the course, their profile details, and any admin items.
• Schedule their one-to-one onboarding call with her in the first week of the course to discuss their goals.

​

Week 1 - Onboarding

With onboarding being so important, particularly for all the logistics of getting your student setup - for the third cohort, BF chose to dedicate the first week of the course to onboarding.

It’s a great way to have all your students start together asynchronously. There’s nothing like the sense of starting the journey together with your learning community. (For hybrid and cohort-based courses, often the window between the launch/marketing of the course and the date your course actually starts is a few weeks.)

It also allows your students to schedule in advance headspace and structured time to set themselves up for the course (versus feel like they are catching up from the outset).

​

Day 1 - Welcome!

The emails for the course onboarding week are from Lilian - a great way for her to build a relationship with each student, and be a familiar person to reach out to for any support related questions.

In the first email, Lilian:

Shares an outline of what to expect during onboarding week.

Introduces the Breakthrough Facilitation Community and the opportunity of connecting and learning with your peers in the course.

Shares an overview of the community values and guidelines to create a vibrant and safe space for everyone to learn.

3 key actions for day 1:

1. Watch Gwyn’s video and read through the Community Guidelines.
2. Add the course calendar to your personal calendar.
3. If students haven’t already - a reminder to complete the registration form and schedule their one-to-one call.

​

Day 2 - Focus your learning!

Day 2 is about introducing students to the Breakthrough Facilitation Model and inviting them to take their Virtual Facilitator Coefficient (VFC for short).

In a video Lilian shares, Gwyn walks through the BF visual mental model that outlines the key skills the students will be learning about and developing in the course.

What’s great about sharing this so early on, is Gwyn cuts to the process she’ll be walking students through to help them achieve their transformation.

The brief overview also gives students context ahead of them completing their VFC — introduced as an opportunity to help students make sense of where they are in their virtual facilitation journey. A personal map that guides them on how best to focus their time and effort in the course to achieve the outcome they want to achieve.

Lilian shares a short video of Gwyn walking through her own VFC and learning journey as a resource for students as they complete theirs.

What's also useful is Lilian gives a heads when the VFC will be used:

• The one-to-one coaching calls with Gwyn.
• The community learning space.
• An activity in live session 1.

Key action for day 2 - complete the Virtual Facilitator Coefficient.

​

Day 3 - Join the Community

Day 3 is the BIG day when students are invited to join Circle, the community space where all the BF course materials are posted, and students can connect with each other.

3 key actions for day 3:

1. Join the BF Community space.
2. Watch the Welcome Video for an orientation of the BF Circle Community Space.
3. Introduce yourself to the community.

​

Day 4 - Get to know the Community

Gwyn and Lilian are community first in their approach to BF.

They encourage peer-to-peer connection and learning from the outset, which lays the foundations for:

• More fun, learning and connection in the course’s live sessions and community space.
• Inspiration and support from one another - helping each other’s persistence!
• Possibly even a new friend, an accountability partner or even a possible business partner.

3 key actions for day 4:

1. Reply to at least 3 other introductions in Circle to start building connections with your fellow cohort members.
2. Post your VFC in Circle and share:
   1. What are your biggest takeaways
   2. Did anything surprise you
   3. What would you like to focus on and prioritize?
   4. What are you excited for?
3. Explore the BF Community Directory to get to know your fellow community members from the present and past cohorts.

​

Day 5 - Get a sneak peek into the course material

Day 5 is all about giving students a sneak peek into the course and inviting them to discover some of the course material and resources waiting for them in Circle, like this visual map of the course experience:

3 key actions for day 5:

1. Discover how to successfully start and complete the course - watch the onboarding videos.

2. Explore the BF Toolkit - full of activities, tips, and resources to help design and lead breakthrough experiences.

3. Connect with your peers - post your introduction and VFC.

​

Day 6 - Get ready for the first live session of the course

3 key actions for day 6:

1. Complete all the onboarding action items before the first live session.
2. Make any arrangements to attend the first live session.
3. Check out the quick Zoom checklist to help you to know how to get the most out of the live sessions.

​

One-to-one Call

During the onboarding week, students meet with Gwyn and Lilian on a one-to-one call to discuss their goals for the course and Capstone project ideas.

With the student taking their VFC ahead of the call, it helps both sides get the most out of the session:

• Students have greater clarity on their goals from their self-reflection and seeing their scores visualised in their personalised report.
• Gwyn and Lilian have high level and granular visibility of the learner’s prior experience, strengths, and areas of growth.

During their call, both the learner and Gwyn build on the information in the VFC (vs take the majority of the time to establish where they’re at and what challenges they have), and use the time to discuss how to make the most of the course.

​

Week 2, Live Session 1

Within the first 40 minutes of the first live session of the course, Gwyn had:

1. A BF alumni share their success story and VFC (story).
2. The alumni's story facilitating the next activity - breakout rooms (connection) of 2 people sharing:
   1. Their strengths and areas for growth.
   2. One breakthrough they’d like to have in the course.
3. A group debrief on their takeaways from the exercise.
4. Recapped on the course experience ahead (map).

Gwyn designed for students to feel safe and connected with their peers.

With these conditions, students will more likely: engage, put in the practise, and contribute to the live sessions and learning community.

Students set up for success? Yes.

​

And that's a wrap!

What struck you in Breakthrough Facilitation's onboarding experience?

What's working, or not working, in your onboarding?

Keep the replies coming. I love hearing from you all.

Charlotte

​