Tips for Working with Groups Online

Dear Moderators--

I've experimented with this off and on with putting participants in groups online, and am always surprised that I haven't remembered the key things, unless I'm doing it regularly.  So here goes what I think would be helpful:

1. Roles - Make sure each group member has a task/role: recorder, reporter, time-keeper, calendar-manager, editor, photographer, etc. If each individual has a different task to complete that is essential to the outcome, then the others in the group will put on the pressure for all to cooperate, and they will have to communicate with each other.  A jigsaw task is good for this too, but with individuals within the small group, not just the whole class. So maybe, for example, a WebQuest should be broken up into a jigsaw task for each small group.  More work, but it should bring them together.

2. Task assignments - Teachers are unique in that they are willing (sometimes) to take on tasks/roles without being asked--this is not usual! Even though teachers can see the benefit of the EVO session, they may not set aside time unless the moderator organizes it for them. (Students have their own lives and usually just want to know what they "have to do" to get through the course, get a grade, get the assignment over with.  It's a whole different pair of boots.) So...

3. Stepwise progress - Break down big projects, like an on-line report at the end of the term, into shorter-term tasks that can be completed and then reported back to the small group and to the whole class in shorter segments.  In a f2f class, I ask almost every week what each person/each group is up to.  As one group/person describes what they've done, the other groups get ideas of what they need to do. This is especially effective with big research papers or online presentations or projects. The same strategy can be effective in an online EVO session. Again, teachers (and students) don't necessarily do this naturally.  They usually haven't learned how to learn in this way. They are focused on the end product, not the process. Describing the process helps clarify it. Hence, we use benchmarks in our moderator training syllabus.

4. Organize the process - Lay out the process in clear steps so that teachers know where they should start with something like a big project or  complex online presentation.  I usually ask students to give me first a general idea of what area their paper or project will be about.  When we share these in class, the whole class helps brainstorm and refine the idea.  Sometimes it's easy to see that the student/group is going to try something too complex or vague, or conversely, something too trivial to produce a good result. The same kind of discussion can occur in the YG email forum discussion and in regularly scheduled live chats.

5. Formative self-evaluation - Just to repeat--discuss every step along the way and ask other participants to comment.  When working with students, I often have self-evaluations written right into the research paper as a section:  What worked and what didn't when you were researching?  What were the dead ends?  How did you perform the search (if online, what search engine and key words did you use?)  In an EVO session, if the research strategies are discussed with participant groups along the way, other participants can benefit and not arrive at the same dead ends--or they see that they need to get going!  If there are self-evaluations as way-stations in the process, there is less chance of failure to complete the end product.

6. Sharing - Sharing the product is very important--every paper, project, or presentation needs an audience, and there should be time for peers to provide feedback.  Otherwise, it's just another exercise. If a group knows it has to share at the end, they don't want to embarass each other (usually).  Well, this one doesn't always work in EVO--teachers sometimes are just too busy.

This short working paper is based on a discussion some years ago with an EVO coordinator and moderator and fellow Webhead, Buthaina al-Othman. I'd be happy to have you share any thoughts on these ideas. -- Just click on the >Edit page button and join the discussion. Or write to our YG -- Elizabeth

NEW: Use the synchronous chat tools! Since the advent of easy-to-use text, audio, and video chat, there is no excuse not to schedule regular chat times, though you may have to schedule several at different times to hit all the world's time zones. Ask your participants to present something to others--live! Be sure to add your presentations and chats to the EVO Calendar, so that other groups may join in.

Want to Know More?

This recent article (pdf format) on community management might be of interest: 18 Ways to Engage Users Online  by Angela Connor