Group Work Online

SOME THOUGHTS ON GROUP WORK, Part 1

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 break the groups into smaller groups for discussion. Ideally, you appoint one member of the group as a moderator, who is required to summarize the discussion and report back to the main group. This can work well if the “moderator” is rotated through the group. When I do this I ask students to pick their week for moderation because it will require more work than normal.

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. First you must select an appropriate task. Not all tasks are suited for online group work.
Often these projects work best when students are given several individual tasks that must be integrated into a whole. Sometimes teachers assign roles, but other teachers allow the group to select roles. If the students are to select roles then more time must be allotted to the task.

I think many online teachers do not appreciate the logistical requirements of online work. Often students log into the class several times a week, but not on the same day and at the same time. This means that the early poster (who checks in Monday or Tuesday) often has to wait for the Thursday/Friday poster. In a discussion board this is usually not a problem because there are enough students so that students can interact. However, if students must wait for the whole group then there is a concern.
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 direction of the project and roles, 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. I monitor the group and am available for questions. I find that no matter how specific I am there are always questions.

Grading group work can be difficult. Part 2 to follow.

Teaching in the "For Profit" sector

The Chronicle of Higher Ed had a post today from the President of Kaplan. http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2009/08/21/clinefelter He discusses what it means to teach for a non-profit. I was interested that online faculty are expected to interact with students 10 hours a week. The full-time teaching load is 4 classes - 40 hours per week.

The article has other interesting points. I was impressed with the support for continued training.

One student in my present class teaches in a for profit institution. She said she must be in her class at least five days a week and must respond to student postings within 24 hours. The courses are monitored and if she falls behind she is contacted.

I think traditional institutions will soon have the technology to monitor teachers. I wonder if we will see more checking of online teacher preference.

Online students do better

The Chronicle of Higher Education just posted an interesting article titled "The Medium is Not the Message." http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/08/11/kaplan The article stated "A few weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Education released a report that looked at 12 years' worth of education studies, and found that online learning has clear advantages over face-to-face instruction. " As the author, Jonathan Kaplan writes, if the study showed that online students do worse than face-t0-face students the report would have been widely touted.

This study is from the Department of Education. Some of the comments to the post are very interesting. For example, some responders pointed out that online students tend to be older and more self disciplined. Others said that online students spend "more time on task." So much for the myth that online courses are easier!

My experience has been that online students are more engaged in the subject matter, IF the course is correctly designed. If the online course consists of "Power Point/test" then I would see no relation to student success. However, if discussion is encouraged, instructors are visibly present, and grading is swift and reliable, then that seems to encourage learning.