Communications templates

Welcome email (send 1 week before course starts)

Dear FLO participants,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to thank you for registering for the upcoming online workshop, Facilitating Learning Online (FLO) Fundamentals, and to introduce myself and my co-facilitator. My name is [NAME] and I am [NAME] in the Centre for Teaching and Educational Technologies (CTET). I will be one of the facilitators of FLO, and I am joined by my colleague, [NAME]; the two of us are really looking forward to working with you over the next five weeks (starting [DATE]) as we explore skills for facilitating online. We wanted to share a few important points related to the course.

Course access:

You will have access to the course from 12:00am (PST) on Monday [DATE] via this link: [HYPERLINK OF COURSE]. We will send a message first thing on Monday [DATE] from the course announcements.

Time commitment:

Participants should expect to spend 6-13 hours for course activities during each of the five weeks. Those with no prior online teaching and learning experiences can expect to invest more time. Continuous, active participation is necessary to make this course successful for everyone. One thing that we find helpful when facilitating FLO is to block an hour of time in your calendar each day to devote to FLO.

Scheduled Collaborate web-conferencing sessions:

There are two synchronous web-conferencing sessions scheduled for the course:

• Tuesday of week 1 (DATE) at 12:00pm – 1:00pm (PST).
• Thursday of week 4 (DATE) at 12:00pm – 1:00pm (PST)

The link to access these Collaborate sessions will be in your course site and also included in the course schedule, which will be available on Day 1. Each session will be recorded for those unable to make it.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns. We look forward to “seeing” you online next week!

Warmly,

[NAME]

Week 1 - personal email to each participant (edit 2nd para with details specific to individual)

Hi [XXX],

I hope this email finds you and your loved ones safe and well. I just wanted to reach out personally to check in with you and making sure you are finding your way around our FLO course and finding what you need. The first few days can be a whirlwind!

It was great to see you in the Collaborate session this afternoon. If you’d like to watch the recording from today’s session, you can find it at the bottom of this page: Collaborate Room (Class). Thank you also for posting your video in the introductions Padlet! If you have time, it’s great to watch others’ videos and get to know them a bit that way. Thanks also for signing up to co-facilitate in week [X]! One of us will be connecting with you and the rest of your team sometime in week 3 to offer support to you and your team in getting organized.

I wanted to also offer a 1-1 phone call if that would be of benefit to you? I can be reached at [PHONE NUMBER]. If I don’t answer right away, I’m not far and can get back to you if you leave a message.

Please know that [CO-FACILITATOR] and I are both here for you. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need anything.

Warmly,

[XXX]

Week 1 - Check in email for participants who are absent

Hi [XXX],

I hope this email finds you and your loved ones safe and well. I just wanted to reach out personally to check in with you. I noticed that you haven’t had a chance to login to our course site yet. Is there anything I can do to support?

I wanted to also offer a 1-1 phone call if that would be of benefit to you? I can be reached at [PHONE NUMBER]. If I don’t answer right away, I’m not far and can get back to you if you leave a message.

Please know that [CO-FACILITATOR] and I are both here for you. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need anything.

Warmly,

[XXX]

Facilitation team initial connection (update X and links)

Hello [XXX] team! 

Thank you all for signing up to be the peer facilitators of the learning activities next week! Quick introductions: the members of your teams are [NAMES] - a team of [X]. I wanted to reach out to offer a few quick tips and to offer my support. I'll be available from now and throughout your facilitation to support you, however that takes shape, whether it’s to answer your questions, bounce ideas back and forth, or sit back and let you shine. This is totally up to you. 

I hope that the details we have provided in the Peer facilitation handbook are clear and detailed enough to get you started; that said, I know that there was a lot to read in the first few days of FLO, so if it didn't all sink in, that's ok. Please let me know if a quick Collaborate call with the four of you would be helpful and we can schedule something for today or tomorrow. 

My suggestions from here would be for the five of you to get in touch with each other as soon as possible to start getting organized. You can contact each other via Quickmail or go to the Participants list to find everyone's email addresses. We have also provided you with a Collaborate room where you can meet synchronously (you don't have to use Collaborate if there is another tool you have access to that you prefer!). Once you are in touch, I suggest working through the checklist in the Peer Facilitation Plan section of the handbook. Remember, you don't need to design or add any new activities for next week. You should definitely do some kind of kick-off post that goes out on Monday morning - will it be text? Video? Include images? What details should be included? These will be the first decisions to make. For the rest of the week, how involved will you be in the learning activities? Will you reply to every post? How will you support participants who are falling behind? Etc. etc. More on this in the handbook.

Above all, I would encourage you to think of this experience as your learning laboratory; this is the time and place to experiment and try out new practices. Never made a video post? Try it out! This is a safe learning space where the stakes are low - if something doesn't land just right, that's ok! Better it happens here than in your actual class, and it gives us lots to discuss in our debrief in the second half of the week.

Please let me know what I can do to support you in this part of your learning journey, and thank you again for being a part of this learning community.

Warmly,

[NAME]