TFAC085 - Online Facilitation Skills for Mediation - Mediate BC
Course Description
Mediate BC Society and Royal Roads University have collaborated to create a unique online course designed to teach you, an experienced mediator, how to conduct mediation online. The content is founded on and inspired by Mediate BC's six-year Distance Mediation Project, which confirmed that distance mediation can increase access to justice safely, affordably, and effectively.
The online learning environment offers an innovative, relevant, and powerful learning experience designed to assist you in implementing technology in conflict resolution.
Course Outline
In this course, you will:
- Engage in practical and experiential learning to prepare for practicing distance mediation
- Participate in asynchronous online group discussions
- Attend several asynchronous and synchronous guest lectures from recognized leaders in the field
- Complete readings and an individual research exercise
- Engage in mediation role-plays and interactions with the instructor
- Receive reflective practice feedback
- The main focus will be on using technology as a communication tool (e.g., web conferencing) rather than as a dispute resolution tool (e.g., Smartsettle).
While the material will highlight the value of a ‘multi-tool’ approach to online mediation, time constraints mean the focus will be on web conferencing technology.
This introductory course is designed to provide you, a trained and experienced mediator, with a broad overview of the subject matter.
This course counts as:
- 40 hours CPD credits from the Law Society of British Columbia
- 40 hours toward Mediate BC's annual professional development requirements
- 40 hours toward Mediate BC Roster core education in conflict resolution and mediation theory and skills training
Learner Outcomes
By the end of this course, you'll be able to:
- Explore some of the most popular online dispute resolution (ODR) technologies being used to conduct online mediations today
- Understand the key issues relating to online mediation
- Learn techniques specific to online mediation, including how to build an online practice
- Engage in lectures, discussion forums, readings, and hands-on work with selected ODR technologies, with an emphasis on web conferencing technology
Prerequisites
This course is designed for trained and experienced mediators. In order to gain the full benefit of this course participants should have completed at least a basic 40-hour mediation training AND have conducted a number of mediations.