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Group Work

for Online, Blended & HyFlex Modalities

Michele Gribbins & Carrie Levin

University of Illinois Springfield

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Why Do Group Work?

Increase socialization & connectivity
Develop & practice team skills

Problem solving
Project management
Asynchronous & synchronous communication

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Influence of the online peer community

Community of Inquiry Framework

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When Should We Assign Group Work?

Students will benefit more as a group
“There’s no right answer”

Debates
Research on controversial issues

Multiple perspectives
Too many resources to evaluate

A “jigsaw” approach

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What are Your Tips & Best Practices for using groups?

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Types of Group Activities

Think-Pair-Share
Collaboration

Google Docs, Office 365

Debates

Kialo

Brainstorming

Collaborative Annotation

Hypothes.is

Peer Review

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Tips for Success - The Basics

Provide clear guidelines
Randomize students

Zoom, Canvas
Team Picker Wheel
Deck of cards

Icebreaker activity

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Tips for Success - Establish Group Norms

How will the group function?
When will the group meet?
What technology will the group use to support the decision making?
When will tasks be completed?
Will the group stagger the completion of the various tasks or will it all be completed at once?

BOTH

i. Each member of an online group will have his or her own expectations of how the project should be completed and how it develops.

ii. Students might find it worthwhile for their group to establish a set of norms, or common expectations, early in the group work so that each group member has a similar understanding of issues.

iii. Some considerations include:

1. Will someone serve as the group leader or will everyone be responsible for keeping the group moving forward?

2. Will the group meet asynchronously, synchronously or a combination?

3. (e.g., E-mail, Canvas Group Tools, Zoom, Telephone Conference Calls)?

4. to support the resource-sharing process of the group (e.g., using a collaboration tool like GoogleDocs, e-mailing resources as attachments, posting resources as attachments to the Canvas Group space, posting resources to a wiki)?

5. to support the creation of the group paper (e.g., e-mailing versions of the paper as attachments, posting versions of the paper as attachments to the Canvas Group space, hosting the paper online using GoogleDocs)?

6.

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Tips for Success - Roles

Will individuals be assigned to different tasks or will the group work collectively on all tasks?
Who will complete various tasks?

Facilitator
Summarizer
Note Taker
Progress Chaser
Time Keeper
Presenter
Mediator

BOTH

a. Facilitator: organizes and facilitates meetings. The facilitator sets the agenda and makes sure everyone’s voice is heard.

b. Summarizer: summarizes what was discussed in each meeting. The note taker also outlines the next steps for the project after each meeting, including who’s responsible for what.

c. Note taker: takes meeting notes. The note taker is responsible for posting the notes somewhere group members can access.

d. Progress chaser: follows up with group members to ensure that things move forward. The progress chaser is responsible for making sure everyone stays on track.

e. Timekeeper: the time keeper is responsible for making sure everything happens according to the schedule. This includes reminding everyone how much time is left in meetings, as well as the project as a whole, and what’s left to be done.

f. Presenter: presents the materials that are created by the group.

g. Mediator: helps resolve conflicts where they arise, making decisions when necessary.

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Tips to Reduce “Social Loafing”

Create appropriate group sizes
Make individual contributions meaningful
Encourage tools that capture individual contributions
Empower the user roles

Time keeper for deadlines
Progress checker for accountability

Ask for progress reports
Require small deliverables throughout the course
Use peer evaluation

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Canvas Features

Allow “liking” and commenting to mimic social media (Announcements & Discussion)
Canvas “Chat” feature (no DM; everyone sees everything)
Big Blue Button (or other synchronous tools integrated into Canvas)
Discussion forums for building community

Questions for Instructor
Informal Group Chat

Canvas Groups Home Page

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HyFlex Tips

Plan early and focus on structure.
Inform your students how and where they should communicate.
Distribute your attention.
Ask for and incorporate student feedback.
Asynchronous communication.
Use polling.
Learning Pods
Peer learning across synchronous modes
Group note taking.
Delegate tasks.
Back-channel text chat.
Beatty Book

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Group Work Resources

Group Norms : A Tool for Decreasing Online Group Conflict

Student Resources for Group Effectiveness

Reducing Social Loafing in Group Work

Assessing Individual Contributions to Group Work

Energize your Online Course with Group Work

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Thank you!