Group work online

SOME THOUGHTS ON GROUP WORK

There are two reasons to create groups in online classes. One is that the class is simply so big (and I define that as over 20) that students could never keep up with all the postings. In that case you are using the Group function similar to the Discussion Board. This type of group work is easier to grade and takes a strain off students in a large class, but it really doesn’t help you as a teacher lighten your load. As in this class, when I do this I make all groups visible. I think some students do read the work in other groups.

The other, perhaps more popular use of groups, is to require students to work together to produce ONE final product. While this is the common use of groups, there are problems because people log in at different times. Some students want to finish early (I was this type of student) and some students wait until the last minute. There is also the “free rider” problem, where one student “coasts” on the work of others. I allow students in a group project to “fire” a non-performer. So far that threat has been enough to insure participation.

Some teachers assign roles in a progressive project. This is a good strategy with undergrad groups or groups who have just met. Students are required to build on previous entries. If you as a teacher know enough to sense who posts early this is a strategy to consider. Student A is assigned the first post, student b must add to it, then student C, etc. At the end all students make a final summative. When this works, it works great, but unfortunately life sometimes intervenes. This progressive type of project is also easy to grade.

In most group projects, however, students are required to all work together from the beginning and share their experiences but then come up with a final project that demonstrates that they have mastered the subject. This mirrors what you often have to do in a business situation. You need to arrive at a solution to a problem while working in a group. Note what happened here: There is no way that we could share our experiences, come to a conclusion and do a presentation in a short time. My finding is that this type of group project always takes longer than one week. I usually allot three weeks minimum. This type of project is hard to grade.

So what do I do? I try to be very specific in my directions, telling the group exactly what their final project needs to look like. I allot three weeks. I give break points within the three weeks: by the end of the first week you should have decided on the topic. by the end of the second week you have all given input into the topic… by the end of the third week you will all have worked together to produce the final product. I make myself part of every group so I can answer questions and I can more fairly grade. Some online teachers ask students in a group to grade each other, but I do not do that. I give the students a rubric and try to follow.

Designing, monitoring and grading group work is hard online. (Actually I think it is hard in a face-to-face class to).

New Technologies for Online Teacher Mentors

November 2009 New Technologies for Online Teaching and Learning

Online movie reviews: Carefully screen online movies for appropriate content. See http://www.imdb.com/features/video/browse/film/ for movies that can be freely viewed. Give out a Word study guide to focus student attention and lead a discussion on the important topics.

Video Blogs: The sites will offer the students with a variety of video blogs that they can refer to while they are researching a particular destination. The videos offer tips and opinions from the host as well as from other travelers – so the information is not biased. The students can also obtain guidance on how a video blog is organized if they chose to present their final project in this format.
Cruises/Ports: http://rickrockhill.blogspot.com/2009/10/aegean-sea-cruise-day-at-sea.html
England: http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/video-travel-blog

Tour of National Museums and Libraries
Nat'l Lib. of Medicine
Medline searches, fact-
sheets and bibliographies

So, after you tour a museum and want to rest your weary self, go to the library and read to your heart's content!! Medical Libraries
Listing of medical libs.
from U. of Iowa. Medical Reference
Find the best medical
reference on the Web

Concept Mapping
Here's some websites containing information regarding concept mapping. They should be helpful in facilitating student understanding of the process and completion of the assignment.
http://cord.org/txcollabnursing/onsite_conceptmap.htm
http://cmap.ihmc.us/publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryCmaps/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.htm
http://www.bing.com/reference/semhtml/Concept_map?fwd=1&src=abop&qpvt=concept+mapping&q=concept+mapping

Video Streamed Lectures
The school of Public Health at the University of Albany offers free continuing education courses, ttp://www.albany.edu/sph/coned/webstream.htm. I found a lecture on geriatric mental health that I would use to supplement a course on mental geriatric depression and other mental illnesses in the older adult. The University of North Carolina offers lectures on the web 24 hours following the live class and remains online for up to three weeks. This is great reinforcement for the students, and students who missed the live class can keep up with the rest of the class, this is only open to students attending the school.
I would use video streamed lectures or presentation to supplement learning or replace a class, as long as the video met the objectives of the class to be covered.
Student Produced Videos for the class
The following are examples of such an activity:
http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=69498&title=Health_Communication_Son

Interactive News and Documentaries
You won’t find this information in books. National organizations such as HIMSS puts out news and position papers frequently. They are not politically oriented, but do support the role of technology and there are also easy links to multiple news sites available that continually put out information on healthcare technology.
http://www.himss.org/advocacy/d/HIMSS_UpdatedHealthcareReformRecommendations.pdf
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/211832

Design Generation
Instead of critiquing preexisting designs within a field of study, learners create their own designs.
Example: Kitchen online design sites
http://www.merillat.com/ideafolio/3dplannerlaunch.aspx
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=pg&p=okv/okv_splash.html

Virtual Field Trip
Have students take a virtual trip to a site when they may be employed.
Sample tour of a nursing home Marian Manor Nursing Home

Online Multimedia and Visually Rich Cases
The use of multimedia could assist in decreasing the monotony of the black and white lettering and free computer screen space. Use of multimedia can add individual expressions to enhance a subject matter and also amplifies learning for the visual and auditory learner. Although, I personally is not a fan of all the potential and actual technological theatrics of the learning environment ---but I am here to educate / facilitate and will heed to the known fact that students learn differently and at different rate---therefore it would / could be necessary to supplement my traditional style of lecture with on-line multimedia materials and/or visually rich resources to enhance learning.
Here is a lecture on the Gastrointestinal System with visuals
http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/anatomy.asp?sid=7
Please click on the 3-D animation of the Gastrointestinal System---Here you will see what happens to a piece of food from the mouth to the anus.

Broadcast Events
Sites like http://www.edheads.org/activities/knee/ can be used to show student procedures as they are being performed.

Concept Mapping
Concept maps should be helpful in facilitating student understanding of the process and completion of the assignment.
http://cord.org/txcollabnursing/onsite_conceptmap.htm
http://cmap.ihmc.us/publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryCmaps/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.htm
http://www.bing.com/reference/semhtml/Concept_map?fwd=1&src=abop&qpvt=concept+mapping&q=concept+mapping