Facilitating Christians into discovering and developing their God-given calling is a very satisfying ministry that can also be done part-time. If you are interested in becoming involved in such a ministry, please read on.
Even though students can complete Didasko courses individually online, they will usually fare much better when they are a part of a facilitated group. We have found that people learn more when they interact with other students and with a facilitator.
May I run a course at my church or organization?
Yes, of course you may! We'd love it if you did. That's why our courses are free to use: we want churches, missions organizations, trainers and mobilizers to be able to use them as a resource in their ministries. Even though you can just start facilitating courses on your own, we have resources available to make facilitation much easier.
How facilitation works
There are three main ways you can facilitate Didasko courses.
Full-time training intensives
The facilitator organizes a group of people who wish to do a course. He agrees with the group on what the venue and food will cost (nothing is payable to Didasko).
When the group first meets, each of the students register online so that they can eventually receive their own certificate. The facilitator then plays the video mini-lectures via a projector, and leads class discussions after each video, as outlined in the course's Facilitator's Guide. If you prefer, you can teach the video contents instead of playing the video.
Each student independently completes the graded quizzes. Once the course is complete, the students can create their own certificates which they can print later.
Part-time face-to-face groups
This approach is similar to the full-time intensive, except that the entire course is done part time. The facilitator and the group agree how regularly they will meet.
At each meeting, the facilitator gives the group a set of videos and learning activities to do before the next meeting. Students then do those fully online at their own pace. They participate on the course discussion forums and work through the other material presented. They can also participate on their own organization's "Team" discussion forum. Facilitators can set up their own teams if they like.
When they meet again, the facilitator guides the group through group discussions as outlined in the course Facilitator's guide. Finally, the facilitator gives the group the next set of videos.
Each student completes the graded quizzes on their own time, and generates their own certificate once they have passed.
Zoom-based groups
These work exactly the same as the face-to-face groups, except that all interaction between students and facilitator take place over Zoom or a similar system.
The pre-requisites of facilitating Didasko courses, is that you need to have done the How to use Didasko course. In addition, you need to have done the three courses that form part of the Discovering Missions series. Even if you want to facilitate only the Bible and Missions course for example, you need to have done the Discovering Missions series. Having done the whole series will give you background and ideas for next steps to help you facilitate more effectively.
The Discovering Missions series consist of the following courses: Bible and Missions, Missions 101 and Roles in Missions.
If you want to facilitate other Didasko courses, such as the Fundraising for Missionaries course or the Prayer and Ministry workshop, you still need to have done the Discovering Missions series as a pre-requisite, and the course you want to facilitate (i.e Fundraising for Missionaries).
We don’t require any long-term commitment from you, like having to facilitate a certain number of courses per year. You also don't have to pay us any fees or royalties. What we do require is that you agree to abide by the Code of Conduct and the Values of Didasko Academy, because we want to retain Didasko’s good reputation. We want like-minded people who share our passion for God’s Kingdom!
Please note that Didasko Academy retains the right to withdraw your facilitator status if you do not comply with our Code of Conduct or our Values.
Apply to become a Didasko Facilitator (read prerequisites above first)
Besides the useful tips the course gives about being an effective facilitator, you will also gain access to our Facilitators' Portal, where you can download useful documents such as promotional material, facilitators' course guides, participants' manuals, course tests, attendance register template, video tutorials, Participant E-mail invitation and follow-up templates. These will help you present the course easily and effectively.
Must I be an expert of the course material I am facilitating?
No! You will be a facilitator of the course, not a teacher. This takes a lot of responsibility off your shoulders, and leaves you with the satisfaction of seeing the "penny drop" for people! You will have had to do the course yourself beforehand so that you know ahead of time what is coming in of questions.
Am I allowed to charge people to attend the course I run?
Yes, you may. Think of our courses like you would a book. You can use a book to teach a seminar people pay for. The same goes for our courses. If you go to the trouble to arrange a venue and use your time to facilitate a course, you may earn money from it. A worker is worth his wages. Of course, if you were to contribute a small percentage to Didasko, it would be most welcome. Contributions will help us run our web site, and develop more courses. But this is not compulsory.
We recommend, however, that you do it at as low a cost as possible, requesting money from students only to cover your costs such as venue, rental, refreshments, payments for Zoom, etc.
May I teach instead of using the videos?
Of course, you don't have to use the videos at all if you don't want to. You can teach some or all of the material yourself, and just use our courses as an outline.
I am an experienced missionary. Must I do the prerequisite courses before becoming a Didasko Facilitator?
Yes. We want you to have a solid understanding of Didasko's approach to training before becoming a facilitator. Doing the courses will also give you the opportunity to see if you agree with what we teach. And who knows, maybe you'll even learn something new!
