collaboration

I've always had a love/hate relationship with group projects - so often they do lead to improved learning about a topic, but the process can often be full of challenges, frustrations, and unintended delays (on my part and/or the part of others). What was particularly interesting about the current group project is that we're creating a paper on the use of wikis and blogs and have been using a wiki to collaborate on the paper.

The readings indicate that wikis are great because of the opportunity to have team members not just distributed and compile portions of a project, but because they can create true collaborations where members really offer substantive inputs into all sections of the project. When we first designed our workplan, we divided up the project with each member taking on a major section of the paper, and then had two members assigned to the intro and conclusion, and some roles attached to editing/formating. When the major sections were posted we did have four separate but interrelated voices, and then the true collaboration began. Several members noted areas where we could improve flow and focus, and we at times reframed the topic, introduction and conclusion to match this flow and focus. Additions and deletions were made to each major section with no territoriality/authorship concerns, but rather a desire for a stronger whole. Several members took on editing and formatting roles, each improving the work of the prior students.

Thus, what began as a not very collaborative work became moreso over time - and time is a key factor here. We needed time to get the project underway, to do our research, and to become comfortable with our sharing and editing. We didn't really do much to improve our personal relationships with one another - I didn't really learn anything new personally about the group members via the group process - but I did come to better understand the work style and writing strengths of each member. Had we had less time for the project (or had to delay more than we did with some late submissions), I don't think we would have gotten to the collaborative moment we reached in the past few days.

I'm going to take this to heart as I'm developing group work in the classes I teach. I need to be sure that there is time for norming and performing. I have the benefit of teaching on a semester system, and thus have a bit more time for group activities that is available at CSUEB, but I also work with undergrads with less content knowledge, process knowledge and lower tech skills than the grad students I'm in class with, so we often need more time to do the work.

I'm really pleased with the progress of the group I was in, even if there were times that each of us failed to meet the communication and timeline standards we had set. The content and process were both really helpful to my own teaching.

betsy

unit 7 musings

Well, this week has been a crazy one for me because our spring semester began on Monday, I had family visiting from out of town then had to travel out of town for family business, I’m finishing up work-related grant application, and trying to do the work for the two online classes I’m taking. The storms have made internet access poor at home, so the online work has been even more difficult. Even so, I’ve made some good progress on class activities, and more importantly have been learning new things.

I’ve completed my section of our group project, learning more about the challenges of using wikis and blogs in online classes. I continue to find myself paying too much attention to things that weren’t tied to my contribution to the project, but I have gained some new knowledge about wiki sites, the benefits and difficulties of using wikis, and some of the issues that students find disconcerting related to wikis.

I’m making my way through the work completed by my classmates, but since some work did not get posted by the initial deadline, I am behind completing my reading because I had not scheduled my time to accommodate understandable and necessary delays. I intend to get caught up on this on Monday and be more ready to share my thoughts with classmates by the end of the day.

betsy

Project Progress

Working on a project exploring wikis and blogs is quite a challenge, for I find myself getting caught up on issues that are not part of the project- I'm becoming interested in/distracted by issues that are of interest to me and my teaching, but are not necessarily tied to the direct focus of our group project or the portions of it for which I am responsible. So, I'm learning a lot about the technologies, sites that are available, etc., but I haven't actually gotten much writing done for the paper itself. Sigh. I'm often in this position - more excited by the researching than about the writing, and then having to do the writing in a last-minute flurry.

Our group seems to be doing good work, but we're not as communicative as would likely be helpful. I am certainly to blame in this - I've been sick, the internet has gone out to my area twice in one week due to storms, (it's down now). There are some very involved members who post regularly to the group wiki and keep things going, but for this project I am much more of a follower than a leader - not something I'm used to being but circumstances are making it hard for me to be as engaged as I'd like.

Classes are now starting at the campus at which I teach. My online class of 57 just opened on Saturday, and the students are starting to log in and get started. I'm excited about this group, and happy that in a few weeks they'll be starting to use a wiki as well - putting some of the information we're developing in our group project into play.

That's all for now. betsy

Team and Individual Progress

Well, this week we have made some decent progress on our group project. We ended the last week with a clarified topic, and began the week creating an outline of the organization of the paper. We decided that although there was significant overlap in our interests in researching and writing about the different components in the paper, that we'd begin by having one person develop the main framework of each section, and then work together to nuance the content of each section and create a seamless flow from start to finish. While this may not maximize the collaborative nature of the writing, it does make best use of our time.

We have decided to use a wiki to help organize our work and serve as our main source of communication. So, we've posted the outline and our group guidelines, and have also begun posting resources for the paper. By next week I expect to see the beginnings of postings for each section, although with the midterm I doubt it will be very dense.

I was initially a bit frustrated by the flow of posting on the group discussion board and wiki - one member in particular was not checking in as regularly as others. We have now created group norms that do not expect daily updates/input, but still allow us to keep on top of our work. So far the team charter seems to be working for us.

In my own workflow, I am overwhelmed with new and continuing responsibilities at work and really annoying internet problems at home, and it has been hard for me to get the work done for the class. I am doing all I can to be on top of the group work, but that has put me behind in the preparations for the midterm. I'm stressing out a bit about the outline, and have just decided to turn something in that sseems to be a good start, and then I'll modify it over the course of the week as I can focus more deeply on the project.

I am enjoying what I'm reading for the class in general, the team project, and my midterm, but I'm not having enough time to really digest the information. I'm hoping for this coming week to be a bit more manageable....
betsy

Currently, all of the courses I’m teaching online at CSU Stanislaus are General Education courses. Students enroll in a course primarily because it satisfies one or more General Education requirements and they appreciate the online format, while interest in the course topic ranges from tolerance to excitement. The need for student-to-student and student-to-instructor connection is high in order to keep students engaged with the topic and develop the support necessary to achieve learning outcomes. These students have little connection to one another or the discipline prior to the class, and don’t enter with expectations of having continued connections post-class. The diversity of students (in identity, perspective, interest, major, etc) is a strength, but also a challenge, primarily because these classes have high enrollments (40-65 students each).

An issue I would like to explore is the best methods for supporting/fostering/facilitating community and maximizing social capital in high-enrolled online courses. Some readings recommend breaking students into smaller working groups (for discussions, projects, etc), but doing so controls/constrains who can learn from and teach whom. Having multiple sub-communities may also prove to be a facilitation challenge, as the instructor must determine the best means for regulating community membership, and ensure that valuable concepts the emerge within one group are addressed in the others as well.

I want to have a better understanding of if/how/when the organization of sub-communities within high-enrolled classes best supports achievement of learning outcomes and student satisfaction with the course, while being engaged in in a manner that creates a reasonable workload for the instructor.

So, if I were suggesting a topic for the project, it would be “Maximizing Social Capital in High-Enrolled Online Courses.”

betsy