What are some online facilitation tools or techniques that you recommend or want to learn more about?

1 Polls and surveys

One of the simplest and most powerful online facilitation tools is polls and surveys. They allow you to collect feedback, gauge opinions, test knowledge, and generate insights from your participants in real time. You can use polls and surveys to break the ice, check for understanding, stimulate discussion, and evaluate outcomes. There are many online platforms that offer polls and surveys, such as Mentimeter, Poll Everywhere, Kahoot, and SurveyMonkey. You can also integrate them with your video conferencing software, such as Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet.

2 Breakout rooms

Another online facilitation tool that can enhance your large group facilitation is breakout rooms. Breakout rooms are smaller groups that you can create within your main online session, where participants can interact more closely and work on specific tasks or topics. Breakout rooms can help you foster collaboration, creativity, and engagement among your participants, as well as reduce the risk of boredom, distraction, and confusion. You can use breakout rooms to facilitate brainstorming, problem-solving, role-playing, peer feedback, and action planning. Most video conferencing software have breakout room features, such as Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet.

3 Whiteboards and sticky notes

A third online facilitation tool that can boost your large group facilitation is whiteboards and sticky notes. Whiteboards and sticky notes are virtual spaces where you and your participants can write, draw, and share ideas visually. They can help you facilitate activities such as mind mapping, affinity diagramming, SWOT analysis, and prioritization. Whiteboards and sticky notes can also help you capture and organize the key points, questions, and suggestions from your participants, and make them visible and accessible for everyone. Some of the online platforms that offer whiteboards and sticky notes are Miro, Mural, Jamboard, and Padlet.

5 Storytelling and multimedia

A fifth online facilitation tool that can enrich your large group facilitation is storytelling and multimedia. Storytelling and multimedia are ways of using narratives, images, videos, audio, and animations to convey your messages and stories more effectively and engagingly. They can help you capture the attention, emotion, and imagination of your participants, as well as illustrate examples, scenarios, and best practices. You can use storytelling and multimedia to introduce your topic, share your experiences, provide feedback, and inspire action. Some of the online platforms that offer storytelling and multimedia are Prezi, Canva, Powtoon, and Loom.

6 Feedback and evaluation

A sixth online facilitation tool that can improve your large group facilitation is feedback and evaluation. Feedback and evaluation are ways of collecting and analyzing data on the quality, impact, and satisfaction of your online sessions, as well as identifying areas for improvement and learning. They can help you measure the effectiveness of your online facilitation, as well as the learning outcomes and behavior changes of your participants. You can use feedback and evaluation to solicit comments, ratings, testimonials, and suggestions from your participants, as well as to track their progress and performance. Some of the online platforms that offer feedback and evaluation are SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, Typeform, and Qualtrics.