Abstract
Group work can be used as an effective tool to help students learn from each other, build community and engage with the course content. The key to the success of a group is in the planning and understanding of the purpose of the work needed. The Technology Enhanced Collaborative Group Work (TECGW) indicated through their research on group work that the way in which instructors facilitate a group project has a major impact on the success of the group. Many educators incorporate group work in their courses, but they may not provide the necessary support to students working in these groups; consequently, students get discouraged, and may decline working in groups. In the online learning environments, with the elimination of physical presence, it is necessary to bring students simultaneously to collaborate on various activates of the course to enhance their engagement with each other, the content and the instructor. As technology plays a vital role in online environments, instructors need to develop strategies for students could help them in planning, collaborating and communicating, synchronously and asynchronously, effectively within a group. Project management concepts could effectively be utilized to help in facilitating students' group work. This paper, introduces effective strategies that will help instructors in facilitating group work by providing tools that students could utilize to understand and define their roles in the group. Additionally, the paper will introduce practices in creating group work assignments, supporting students in groups and enhancing communication among students in online environments. The paper provides some practices in using Web 2.0 tools that could facilitate the production of group work, and how these tools could facilitate learning among students working together on face-to-face and online courses. Keywords: Group Work, Project Management, Collaboration, Online Learning, Technology, Virtual Teams, Instructional Design, Web 2.0, Wikis, Google Drive, Blogs, Assessment, Rubrics.
Highlights
Group work in higher education could prepare students to enter the workplace by providing them with the skills necessary in a team based environment
Research indicates that the success of these groups depends on how instructors facilitate group work [4].The National Survey on Student Engagement (NSSE) identified active and collaborative learning as one of five benchmarks of effective educational practice
Students collaborating in the online learning environments may encounter the same challenges that they may face in the face-to-face environments; being at a distance may increase these challenges
Summary
Group work in higher education could prepare students to enter the workplace by providing them with the skills necessary in a team based environment. Students work collaboratively to solve problems, listen to other students’ ideas and respect alternative opinions from those with different backgrounds and life experiences [1]. Employers are asking for multi-skilled graduates who could work in teams, solve problems and are self-directed; they are looking for graduates with strong interpersonal and communication skills [2]
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