In the January edition of Neuland's newsletter, Master Facilitator, Steve Davis, discusses the pros and cons of the the emerging pratice of virtual facilitation. His article, Balancing Technology with Touch, emphasizes that with everything that is given by technology (ex. connectivity across distances) something is lost (ex. body language):
While T/VM's (Teleclasses and Virtual Meetings) offer many benefits that F2F (Face-to-Face) interaction can't, they also have their limitations...
- Missing senses. T/VM's are often audio only, visual only, or at best, audio/visual mediums. This offers challenges to the attention of some learning styles
- Participant interaction with each other is limited.
- Missing body language that enhances communication.
- Limited in the use of visual demonstration and information.
- Easy to be distracted and tune out or multitask.
Steve Davis, M.A., M.S., is a former electrical engineer turned trainer, facilitator, business and life coach, and infopreneur. He coaches small business owners, people in transition, leaders, and cultural creatives over the phone and Internet. Subscribe to his free weekly ezine for group leaders at www.MasterFacilitatorJournal.com and check out his virtual university, packed with information for group leaders and participants at www.FacilitatorU.com
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