P2PU Lounge - Mar 2010

Running a course at P2PU is not the same as teaching a course in a traditional learning environment

• You’ll be running your course online, using a variety of different tools
• You’ll be working with a group of your peers. This is a fantastic way to learn, but it is very new, even to us. We're all learning together here.

Course organisers at P2PU are less “teachers” and more “facilitators”

• At P2PU we believe very strongly that learning should happen horizontally, between peers - not vertically, where one person imparts education to many.
• Our most successful courses have been run by organisers who see their role as being facilitators of conversations and guides for interaction.
• You may find yourself doing some of the administrative work within your course, (setting questions for the group every week, maintaining the materials, encouraging the participation)  but we also hope that you will find the peer-learning process meaningful.

You do not need to be a subject expert to be a course organiser at P2PU

• All you need is an enquiring mind, and an interest in your chosen subject.
• We encourage all organisers to source their teaching materials from free Open Education Resources online, so you can make use of what the experts have already written.
• You will need to put your course together, though, and we will help you through that process, via our course-of-all-courses and the rest of the P2PU community.
• Several course organisers have found that the group actually has more knowledge about a subject than the organisers do. We love it when that happens, because then learning really can take place among the group.

Forget everything you think you know about grading

• At P2PU we encourage the participants to grade each other, comment on each other's work, and keep as much of the learning as possible in the public space.

Timing In General

• Most organisers devote a minimum of four hours per week as an organiser at P2PU.
• This is usually split between the meeting times, keeping an eye on the online group, setting topics per week, and answering questions.
• You may need to spend a few days before the course launches, getting everything ready, familiarising yourself with the tools, and planning the course outline.
• For most of this time, the P2PU community will be available to help you out if you have any trouble.

Dealing With Drop Outs

• While your course is running, you may find the several participants are unable to continue, or drop out completely. Do not get disheartened! 
• People lead busy lives, and sometimes they find that they run out of time.
• Regular email contact, personal follow-ups and makin yourself available using synchronous tools like chat, Skype or Tokbox are all good strategies for helping retain participants and keeping the group momentum going.