Who can be a Moderator
Members may moderate study groups based on their areas of personal expertise or explore an area of interest along with their fellow participants. Their primary role is to animate and facilitate the study group. Prior to making a study group proposal, they should feel free to discuss the idea with their liaison or another member of the Curriculum Committee – e.g., scope and content of the proposed study group, learning objectives, methods of involving participants, etc.
New moderators must have participated in other study groups before moderating their own. The moderator is expected to be a member of MCLL, even if they are participating only in the study groups they are moderating. Moderators have access to their class lists through the instructor portal on Athena. To use the instructor portal, the moderator must use their McGill email address and password.
How to access the Athena Instructor Portal
Instructions on how to activate your McGill email address and password
In order to increase security, McGill now requires 2-Factor-Auhentication (2FA) to use their email addresses.
For more information: https://www.mcgill.ca/2fa/
For help setting up your TFA, please call McGill IT at (514) 398-3398
Getting to know our moderators
In recognition of the invaluable contribution that moderators bring to our community, in 2020 the MCLL Council requested a survey of this special group of volunteers — indeed, all moderators are members who volunteer their time and effort! The purpose was to inquire about their engagement in the MCLL community and especially to support the retaining and recruiting of moderators. The survey was designed to capture basic information about how active the respondents have been as moderators and the types of Study Groups they offer. Also, a few questions addressed how they experience moderating remotely via Zoom. To read about the survey findings, click the link below:
How to go about it
- To focus attention on key issues, the moderator is strongly encouraged to contact participants by email a week or more in advance of the first session to elaborate on the description in the Calendar and distribute a suggested list of topics. Successful moderators often communicate regularly with members by email throughout the study group.
- He/she can assist participants in defining a topic, searching for resources, suggesting readings or reference materials and preparing their presentations.
- In encouraging group discussion, the moderator, as group leader, should bring out shy people, prevent any one person from dominating discussion, discourage private conversations and solicit give and take without arousing hostility. Treating everyone equally is of paramount importance.
- Participant Presentation is a key element of MCLL Peer Learning concept.
In promoting participant participation, the moderator can use a variety of tools, some of which are mentioned hereunder:
Different ways to ask for participation:
- Give a presentation, written or power point
- Choose a YouTube clip for discussion
- Send out questions to participants beforehand to be answered in class
- Prepare a statement /question to be discussed in class
Study Group Type:
Discussion group
Participants look at works of art, read books or magazine articles, watch movies or videos, listen to music, or write journals. The moderator then facilitates discussion among the participants.
Participant presentation group
With the guidance of the group moderator, the participants are expected to choose themes and make presentations.
Moderator/Participant presentation group
Participants are encouraged to choose themes and make presentations, although these are not essential.
Moderator presentation group
The group moderator makes all the presentations and facilitates the discussions.
Workshop
Study groups focused on addressing practical or life-style issues rather than intellectual pursuits.
