The framework of facilitator responsibilities includes:
- course planning and organization
- ability to create an atmosphere of collaboration and teamwork
- setting an agenda and providing leadership and direction
- developing methods for learner feedback and reinforcement
- pacing materials and chunking modules
- personalizing instruction to be relevant to the needs of individual participants

Creating an "Online Presence"
Sage on the Stage (content provider)
Guide on the Side (content facilitator)
Teacher in the Bleacher (success coach)

If a facilitator can successfully guide learning through meaningful interaction with content, community and collaboration, then learning is maximized as participants are pushed to learn by doing in an effort to assimilate knowledge into schema. The facilitator approach fosters an online culture in which participants take charge of their own learning. In this way, the facilitator can help to focus and deepen the discussion without getting in the way of the participants' development of their own expertise.

Summary of Roles of Online Instructors:
Pedagogical
Course Designer - Design interactive learning experiences, structure course materials, construct questions that have variety of instructional levels, sequence presentation of content and pace material, refine and update learning material, share teaching experiences with colleagues.
Inspire Professionalism - Promote professional dialogue among participants, relate personal experiences and cases to the discipline, reference professional publications and organizations.
Feedback Delivery- Provide timely and quality feedback, provide formative feedback for continued learning and interaction, develop consistent method for learner feedback.
Interaction Facilitator - Facilitate peer interaction in online discussions through a wide range of strategies, set agenda and provide direction without controlling the class.

Managerial
Conference Manager - Ensure equity in online discussion, provide rules and guidelines to augment online discussion, promote the construction of new knowledge, encourage active online learning.

Types of Interaction
1. Learner-Content Interaction
2. Learner-Instructor Interaction
3. Learner-Learner Interaction

Organizer and Planner - Provide clear instructions and organization of course structure, achieve and maintain balance between structure and flexibility with new ideas and insights as vehicles to new understandings.

Social
Social Rapport Builder - Build rapport and foster community, establish online teams or groups for collaborative efforts, respond to needs of individual participants and personalize instruction to be relevant to differences in learning styles.

Technical
Technical Coordinator - Refer students to support links, communicate technical issues.
Media Designer - Develop or provide access to multi-media learning tools to enhance course content.
Technology Integrator - Incorporate interactive tools to facilitate high quality online interaction, stay current on technology trends and maintain updated training on instructional technologies.


Advanced Moderating Skills:

VOICES
1. Generative Guide
2. Conceptual Facilitator
3. Reflective Guide
4. Personal Muse
5. Mediator
6. Role Play

TONES
1. Nurturing
2. Curious
3. Humorous
4. Analytical
5. Imaginative
6. Informal
7. Neutral
8. Whimsical

CRITICAL-THINKING STRATEGIES
Strategies that sharpen focus
Strategies that dig deeper