Welcome Guest • Login
Peer Learning

Navigation¶

Main Page
Create Account
Search the wiki
»
Back
Peer Assists

Modified on 2010/04/03 07:22 by Nancy White Categorized as Uncategorized
The content from this page was started from the [http://www.kstoolkit.org/Peer+Assists|Peer Assists]page on the [http://www.kstoolkit.org/|KS Toolkit].

A Peer Assist brings together a small group of peers to elicit feedback on a 
problem, project, or activity, and draw lessons from the participants' 
knowledge and experience. Typically they require a couple of hours preparation on the part of the peer assistee and a volunteer facilitator, and an hour of the peer group's time.&nbsp; This makes them fairly easy to do and efficient with time and resources. They can be done face to face or online. Online can be a little more challenging, so consider starting the practice face to face.

<h2 id="toc5"><a name="Peer 
Assists-When to use:"></a>When to use:</h2>
 Peer Assists may be useful when:

* You are starting a new job, activity or project and you want to benefit from the advice of more experienced people.
* You face a problem that another group has faced in the past.
* You had not to have to deal with a given situation for a long time.
* You are no longer sure what new procedures to follow.
* You are planning a project that is similar to a project another group has completed.




 <h2 id="toc9"><a name="Peer Assists-How to use:"></a>How to use:</h2>
Learning from your peers; someone has already done it. Here is the high level overview. For specific "how to" steps see the resources listed below.
* Communicate the purpose. Peer Assists work well when the purpose is clear and you communicate that purpose to participants. 

* Share your Peer Assist plans with others. Consider whether others have already solved the problem; they may have similar needs.
* Identify a facilitator external to the team. The facilitator is responsible for managing the process so that meeting participants reach the desired outcome.
* Schedule a date for the Peer Assist. Ensure it is early enough to do something different with what you have learned.
* Invite potential participants who have the diversity of skills, competencies and experience needed for the Peer Assist. Avoid the usual suspects. Peer Assist works well with six to eight people; break up larger groups so everyone has the opportunity to voice experiences and ideas.
* Be clear on what you want out of the Peer Assist (usually options and insights) and plan the time to achieve them.
* Allow time to socialize in order to develop rapport.
* Spend time creating the right environment for sharing.
* Plan the event to allow a balance between telling and listening.
* Listen for understanding and for how you might improve your own activity.
* Consider others who might benefit from this knowledge, then share it with them.
* Commit to actions and keep the Peer Assist team updated. Let them know what you did as a result of what you learned from them.




<h2 id="toc9"><a name="Peer Assist Resources:"></a>Peer Assist 
Resources:
</h2>
* Peer Assist learning module: <a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.saea.uottawa.ca/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=682&amp;Itemid=649" rel="nofollow">http://www.saea.uottawa.ca/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=682&amp;Itemid=649> </a>
<a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://www.saea.uottawa.ca/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=682&amp;Itemid=649&amp;lang=fr_FR" rel="nofollow">
</a>
* Collison, Chris; Parcell, Geoff. 2004. Learning to fly: Practical knowledge management from some of the world’s leading learning organizations. Capstone, Chichester, GB. 312 p. [http://www.chriscollison.com/l2f/|Book web site.]
ScrewTurn Wiki version 3.0.1.400. Some of the icons created by FamFamFam.