Course objective, content and structure
Welcome to the online De Facto training!
What is this course about?
This is an advanced level De Facto course for teachers and trainers, and a completed foundation level training is an entry requirement for all participants. Still, we will provide quick refreshers and adequate references and links to content which is part of the foundation level course.
What is the course objective?
The objective of the course is to prepare teachers and educators to develop with confidence their own case studies and lesson plans using the examples, templates, methodology and tools created by De Facto.
What are the learning outcomes for this course?
Reaching the course objective means that we will be aiming at developing and building up a handful of skills and competences. Upon completion of the course, thе participants will:
- be able to select a relevant and suitable topic around a widely and publicly known issue or controversy;
- be able to identify and select resources that are varied, use different media or information carriers, and present opposing viewpoints; to critically assess such resources;
- be able to write adequate learning outcomes for their learners;
- discuss the 4 cognitive pillars of De Facto and to easily identify them in content; to be able to explain the nature of the pillars and be able to provide a range of examples, including explaining the way rhey can be used to manipulate;
- be able to remain impartial during construction of case studies, lesson plans and learning activities (e.g. debates, discussions); this insludes the ability to maintain a clear demarkation between facts, opinions and beliefs;
- be able to use De Facto's own tools and models, or such that are part of teh De Facto collection, for determining the truthfulness of information, for creating information and disinformation, for investigating the possible motives and intent behind manipulation attempts;
- be able to match learning outcomes with appropriate and high-quality learning activities; this includes the ability to select and use appropriate and varied teaching methods.
Certification
Upon successful completion of all tasks and subject to active engagement with the course, participants will receive a Certificate for the Advanced Level De Facto training for educators. At present, this is the highest possible level and it guarantees you that as De Facto progresses and evolves, with this certificate you will have a guaranteed entry to any future competence upgrades and courses.
What is the course format?
This training will lean, in part, on the flipped classroom method, where you will go through course content and activities first, and then have the opportunity to meet and speak to a teacher to discuss your progress and address any questions, difficulties or ideas. This gives you the opportunity to work and advance at your own pace and combine work, family, holiday time and learning time. For this reason, most of the course will take part asynchronously, but there will be planned convergence points where it is recommended that all participants arrive at a certain milestone event or activity at the same time.
Videos and live sessions?
There will be two scheduled live video sessions with the lead trainer, Andy Stoycheff. Both Andy Stoycheff & Lut De Jaegher will be available for one-on-one sessions on request, either where a participant wishes to spend more time on a particular topic or address a weakness, or where a participants was unable to attend the scheduled video sessions. We will be holding hold the video sessions using ASCM/NTCenter's BigBlueButton open-source web conferencing software which we host on Google Cloud, our first use of advanced cloud computing service.
Aside of the above, full support by the trainers will be provided during the entire course via the course forum. We will attempt to be quick to react, as we will keep a close eye on the activity in the platform.
You can also use the platform's internal messaging system to communicate with other participants or a teacher.
Acknowledgements
During the development of this course, we took advice and contributions from Johanna Snoeck for which we are thankful. Thanks go as well to the entire NTCentre's team in Sofia and Montreal for their continuous support.