When I held my first online workshop, I realized—as was to be expected—that in three key areas—"curriculum," "administration," and "facilitation"—things didn’t work the same way as they do in person, and that I needed to adapt them for an online setting.

As for the curriculum, we initially planned to simply move the workshops—which had already been announced to participants—online, but we ended up having to redesign them significantly. Since we couldn’t replicate the in-person experience exactly, we knew we had to create workshops that highlighted the benefits of participating “from home” and “online”; otherwise, they would merely be a lower-quality substitute.

There’s something I always keep in mind during our regular workshops: a workshop is meant to serve as a catalyst. What matters most is how the children apply what they’ve learned to their actions afterward. With our regular workshops—for better or worse—there’s a clear distinction between “on” and “off.” From the children’s perspective, they’re participating in an event that’s outside their everyday routine. However, online workshops they join from home are an extension of their daily lives. Since that’s the case, let’s design workshops that seamlessly blend into their daily routines.These are workshops that make use of familiar items found around the house and allow children to continue their trial-and-error exploration even after the workshop ends. By designing the experience to include the time before and after the workshop, we’ve created a curriculum where “exploration” continues. In fact, some children have gone on another walk to look for wild plants after an online workshop.

However, this approach—in which parents are involved in “play and learning” activities before and after the workshop—has both advantages and disadvantages. This is clearly reflected in the results of the parent survey. The advantage is that it fosters communication between parents and children, while the disadvantage
is that it places a burden on parents.

However, moving forward, CANVAS will continue to create online workshops that prioritize “changing the way we view everyday life,” “fostering a spirit of inquiry in everyday life,” “promoting communication between parents and children,” and—if we may add one more point—“capitalizing on the benefits of having participants from diverse locations.”

Next, regarding “facilitation.” This is merely my impression based on the first trial, but 60 minutes is the limit for online sessions (in-person workshops last 120 minutes). It’s difficult to stay focused for a full 60 minutes straight. However, taking a moment to catch your breath—such as “closing your eyes for 10 seconds”—helps you shift your mindset.

Furthermore, when CANVAS was first established, children’s workshops tended to be offered for free; however, to ensure the program’s long-term sustainability, CANVAS decided to charge a fee. Similarly, if we were to offer this workshop for free simply because it’s online, it would be difficult to maintain the program’s continuity, so we’ve decided to charge the same participation fee of 5,000 yen as for in-person workshops. Therefore, we must ensure that participants’ satisfaction justifies the cost.Consequently, to design a structure that allows for two-way communication with all the children, having more than 10 participants in a single online room proved challenging. Furthermore, each room requires two facilitators: one to lead the session and another to observe all the children and provide guidance as needed. We implemented the program with the support facilitator also handling technical support.However, moving forward, I’d like to develop a format that allows us to hold online workshops with nearly 30 participants, as we normally do. I believe this could also serve as a useful reference for online classes in schools. As a side note, we received feedback requesting that “instructions on how to use virtual backgrounds be included.” When conducting online workshops, the participants’ home environments are fully visible. I feel that the use of virtual backgrounds is essential.

Finally, there’s “facilitation.” Unlike in-person settings, online sessions don’t allow for physical proximity. It’s true that the physical distance between participants can also create an emotional distance. It’s important for the facilitator, who acts as a guide, to always be attentive to everyone. And addressing participants by name is even more important than it is in in-person workshops.

At the same time, I realized that the online format itself has the effect of stimulating lively discussion without the need for facilitation. The same is true for university classes. In any case, a great many questions and opinions come up.We also received feedback from parents, such as, “My child usually can’t speak up when meeting someone for the first time, but was able to ask a lot of questions,” and, “In the past, my child would have been too shy to ask questions and would have let me ask on their behalf, but during the (online) workshop, they were able to ask questions and speak up, which seems to
have boosted their confidence.” Finding the right approach to online facilitation is a challenge we hope to explore further.

Among the feedback we received after holding the online workshop, there were, of course, many comments expressing a desire for us to resume in-person workshops as soon as possible. However, we also received comments such as, “It was much more fun than I expected,” and, “Even after restrictions are lifted, I’m hopeful that having programs available online will allow me to participate in events I previously had to skip due to location or time constraints.”

While this is certainly a situation unique to the period of self-restraint, comments such as, “Since I’ve had little interaction with anyone outside my family, this was a nice change of pace,” and “With so much one-way input these days—like reading, homeschooling, and streaming videos—I’d really appreciate more opportunities like this one where I can engage in two-way interaction,” are exactly in line with the goals of this online workshop.

As part of its new “Secret Hideout at Home” project, CANVAS will continue to offer a variety of online workshops.
Take fashion, for example. The clothes you already have at home can be transformed into new outfits just by changing how you wear them. We’ll be holding an online workshop on costume design.

And the area we’ll be focusing on most going forward is STEAM. We’re launching an online STEAM lab where participants will move back and forth between in-person and online sessions, choosing their own themes and working on creative projects.
Stay tuned.

　

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