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| http://thegoldguys.blogspot.com/ |
This post offers some “how to” ideas when it comes to
group work in the online classroom. The literature continues to report hesitancy
on behalf of faculty teaching online to take advantage of group work. There are
several potential reasons for this: they fear a loss of control of their
classrooms (Morgan, Williams, Cameron, & Wade, 2014; Roberts &
McInnerney, 2007), they perceive a lack of interest from the students (Roberts
& McInnerney, 2007), or they feel they don’t know how to successfully
facilitate the group experience online due to lack of professional development opportunities
(Morgan et al., 2014).
Some bulleted strategies and
techniques for online instructors incorporating small group work into their
online courses are listed below. For more in-depth information on these points visit the
references provided at the end of this post.
- Provide the groups with an activity so that they get to know each other better before they begin the group work (Morgan et al., 2014)
- Understand group dynamics and read up on Tuckman’s stages of group development in order to facilitate this process
- Demonstrate by modeling or through the use of tutorials how to use the tools in the Learning Management System or others online in order to carry out group meetings and other work
- Provide timely and specific feedback to the groups (Morgan et al., 2014)
- Monitor threaded discussions (Morgan et al., 2014) or ask the group to provide you with updates determined by you and dependent on the project
- Be sure the students know up front how they will be assessed (Morgan et al., 2014). Decide on individual grades, group grades, peer grades or a combination of these
- Discuss the many benefits of group work with the students from learning through collaboration to evaluating performances (Roberts & McInnerney, 2007)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPsioH_ISyM
References
Morgan, K., Williams, K. C., Cameron, B. A., & Wade, C. E. (2014). Faculty perceptions of online group work. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 15(4), 37-41.
Roberts, T. S. & McInnerney, J. M. (2007). Seven problems of online group learning (and their solutions). Educational Technology & Society, 10(4), 257-268.
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http://introductiononlinepedagogy.pbworks.com/w/page/20123537/Facilitating%20Group%20Work
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ReplyDeleteThe group work required for this course was my first experience with online group work. I can't say I'm completely sold on the idea. I love collaboration and I feel that I collaborate well with my teammates at school and even with our instructional coach and other stakeholders. However, I found it difficult to collaborate online. I am a planner. I like to have plenty of time to get a big project completed, so I am not a procrastinator. I found it difficult to stay ahead with this project because I was waiting to meet with our group to make decisions. I worked with a great group of ladies and I enjoyed getting to know them. Even though online group work is not my favorite online activity, I do see the benefits of these projects.
ReplyDeleteAs we worked through our group project we ended up with information in so many different places. We tried to keep everything on a Google Doc, but we were also emailing each other about meeting times, etc. I found a free online toolkit, Wiggio, that will house all your group information.
Here is the link: https://wiggio.com/#tpl=home_0
This site makes it easy to create a calendar, a to-do list, poll your group, and even upload files. I believe an online area like this would have made our efforts more efficient.
I love the idea of providing groups with activities to help group members get to know each other better before beginning group work. I think that could work really well in an online course and help improve the overall collaborative learning experience for students. I'm also learning that effective online collaboration sometimes requires a lot of structure from the instructor. I tend to not want to impose too much structure that could limit creativity and group processes, but I've found that for many groups, more structure is needed. Sometimes that can take the form of group roles or even deadlines created by the instructor. With undergraduate collaborative assignments, particularly online, I try to specify the roles that are necessary for groups to develop, but I don't assign students to roles. I think it's important for learners to identify their own strengths and select roles for which they are a good fit. With adult learners, I think a little less structure is okay, but I am still working through the best way to assign collaborative work online.
ReplyDelete