I was interested to read Suzie's recent blog entry about her involvement in the group project and the fact that she was enjoying it. It made me reflect on the two group activites we have participated in for the Dip ELearning.
The first was in the MM Cluster. The dreaded Assignment 6 I think. This was certainly a low point of the whole program for me and I don't believe I am alone in thinking this.
The second was in the Ed Cluster where we had to facilitate a subject from the course. Like Suzie I enjoyed this project and the opportunity to work with others.
Now what was the difference? Two factors immediately spring to my mind.
During the first group activity I think we learned a lot about about working in a virtual team. Personally I learned the importance of spending time sorting out the technology and making sure you had a platform that was reliable and worked for everyone before you even start on the actual project. You also need to spend time in the initial planning as this will help the project to develop in the long term. Being able to divide the tasks and have confidence in your group members really makes the whole thing work smoothly.
The next thing to consider is the nature of the two tasks. In the first task we were working on a fictional scenario and I know that our group had a lot of trouble working out exactly what we were supposed to do. It was so much easier and personally more fun to focus on the multimedia side of the project and just prepare some web pages rather than concetrate on the virtual team and dealing with a client brief aspects that were really what the project was all about. In the second group activity it was more of a real life situation, we were preparing some activites and material to deliver to our fellow students. While we still initially had some questions about what was required of us we were able to sort these out more quickly and so get on with the job.
So what have I learnt from this:
- The importance of good clear instructions for these types of activities
- The need for the faciltator to be available for questions and perhaps early on in the activity ensure the group is functioning
- The need for reliable technology
- How difficult it is to make activities based on artificial scenarios relevant and effective and not too complicated
- A successful group activity can be a very rewarding and valuable learning activity
- An unsuccessful group activity can be frustrating and alienating especially in an online setting
- How important it is to do your bit and know that you you can trust others to do their's
