Facilitators

Facilitators lead cohorts of Hyperlink courses and clubs. They are participants, but are also guides, responsible for shaping the learning environment. If a course is a score and a cohort is a performance, the facilitator is the conductor.

Getting Started

Who Should Facilitate

We believe that powerful learning is possible between peers, and that very often leadership and structure matters more than specific expertise.

We want facilitation to be open to all — but keep in mind that it can be a lot of work! Before you apply, please be sure that you are:

1. Prepared to commit fully to the role. You will be compensated for your time, but make sure you have both space in your schedule and mental energy to give this work the full attention it requires.
2. Qualified to facilitate a particular course. We encourage courses to be designed such that any learner up for the challenge can facilitate a cohort. However, this depends a lot on the course, and some may require specific expertise to facilitate. If you're eager to facilitate but not sure if you're ready, consider starting with a club instead.

The Perks of Facilitating

Facilitating has intrinsic benefits — for one, it can be a lot of fun; for two, it's a rewarding challenge — but comes with some concrete perks as well:

• You will be compensated: Facilitators should be paid fairly for their efforts. Hyperlink takes 20% of tuition (same for courses and clubs), including payment processing fees. The other 80% goes straight to the facilitator.
• You will learn a lot: Facilitating a cohort (or several!) is a great way to explore a topic more deeply in a structured way, and shape the learning environment in service of particular learning goals.

Becoming a Facilitator

1. If you're interested in facilitating an existing course, reach out to the course maintainer by direct message on the forum (email us if you're not sure who to talk to). Be sure to mention:
   • The date range(s) in which you're available to facilitate
   • Any relevant qualifications, if needed
2. For now, we'll need to add you to the course as a maintainer. One of the most important powers of a maintainer is the ability to create and facilitate new cohorts.
   • Eventually we may split out these powers so facilitating and maintaining are separated. For the time being, there's considerable overlap: different conceptual responsibilities, but same technical permissions on the site.
3. There are a couple details we'll need to take care of in order to pay you properly. Keep an eye out for an email with info on the following:
   • We use Stripe to handle both payments from learners, and payouts to facilitators. You'll need to connect a Stripe account from your Profile to receive these payouts.
   • Hyperlink is technically hiring you as a contractor when you become a facilitator, so you'll also need to fill out a 1099 for tax purposes.

Once these steps are complete, you'll be ready to start facilitating!

Facilitating Cohorts

Creating a New Cohort

1. Once you're a maintainer, you'll be able to edit course settings on the course page. From here, you can schedule and assign yourself to a new cohort.
2. When you first create the cohort, it will be in draft mode — not yet live and visible to the public. This gives you time to set up your cohort before publishing it to the world.
3. Navigate to your newly minted cohort page from the course page (or your homepage dashboard). There, you'll find a link to your cohort's private forum, which comes with some pre-populated posts you'll need to edit:
   • The "Notes" topic: add an overview of the cohort's schedule, and any changes to the curriculum specific to this cohort.
   • The "Getting Started" topic: let learners know how to prepare, with introductions and any logistical details.
   • Anything Else: other topics you'd like to create to get conversation going? Go ahead and create them on the forum.
4. Once you're all set up, go back to the cohort page and click the "Go Live" button.

Note: for a Club, the steps are very similar but the workflow is slightly more streamlined. You can skip the "Notes" topic, for instance.

Refer to the checklist at the top of your course / cohort page for details on the required steps as you go.

Congrats, you've just created a cohort — get ready to facilitate!

Facilitating a Cohort

The specific shape of a facilitator's job is decided by the course curriculum. Below, we've outlined some general things you'll likely want to do as part of this process.

1. Before the cohort
   • Familiarize yourself with the course curriculum.
   • Set up your tools and resources: link to readings, schedule video calls, and set up any shared tools. Be sure to test before the cohort starts.
   • Chat with learners: as the start date approaches, participants will slowly start joining the forum. Say hi, answer any questions, and get to know everyone!
2. During the cohort
   • Keep things running smoothly, following the course curriculum. Common things you may be responsible for include scheduling video meetings, distributing reading materials or assignments, and facilitating conversations.
   • Put out fires if / when they happen. If something unexpected arises, be flexible and creative, and do your best to figure it out. We're here for you if you need help.
   • Lean on the Hyperlink community for support! As a facilitator you'll have access to the Meta Course forum, where we can talk through any questions or issues regarding maintenance and facilitation.
3. After the cohort
   • Gather feedback and surface learning output, as a resource for the course. Two final discussion topics to make—
     • Artifacts: Every course on Hyperlink should result in learners producing some sort of artifact, whether an essay, final project, or research plan. Once the cohort is over, create a topic in the public course forum highlighting the artifact(s) that were produced.
     • Retrospective: Gather feedback from the learners and contribute your experience as a facilitator back to the course maintainers. What went well? What could be improved? We suggest starting a private discussion in the cohort forum, then summarizing the feedback in a topic on the public course forum.
   • Finally, mark your course as complete on the cohort page. The forum will always be open to you and members of the cohort, so feel free to stay and chat.
   • Get paid! Assuming all the necessary documentation is complete, you should see a deposit come in soon after the course completes.

Again, if you're facilitating a Club, most of your responsibilities will be the same. But you'll typically be following an outline more than a detailed curriculum, co-creating the learning experience with other participants.