Instructional Design Practices for Effective Online Group Work

1. Megan Downing, Ed.D. Melody Rawlings , Ed.D. Organizational Leadership Northern Kentucky University Instructional Design Practices for Effective Online Group Work • EdTech Institute 2013 Northern Kentucky University

2. Course Design + Instructor Practices • Crucial to learning outcomes • Key to perceived learning

3. Instructor Practices to build Instructor Presence • Build connections • Demonstrate caring • Build trust • Establish relationships • Increase satisfaction • Increase perceived learning

4. Actions that Establish Presence • Feedback • Demonstrated Caring • Availability • Timely Communication • Course Design • Personal Contact • Administrative Communication • Complimenting / validating

5. Presence Fosters Effective Online teamwork • Reduces virtual distance • Motivates and encourages students • Direction • Feedback • Technical assistance • Accountability

6. Attitudes Toward Teamwork • Time to take a survey!

7. Student Quote Part 1 “I was honestly not looking forward to the group project this semester.  I too had some bad experiences with past team projects in other classes, and I always worried about getting a bad grade because someone would not participate fully. ”

8. Student Quote Part 2 “However, this semester my team experience was very rewarding.  Learning about and creating a team contract that included roles, responsibilities, and norms changed the experience for me.  I realize now that by not having these important criteria established for past projects ... It is probably the reason I disliked working in teams.”

9. Effective Virtual Teamwork • Builds leadership skills • Provides multicultural opportunities • Reduces discrimination and bias • Offers flexibility for busy schedules • Provides equal access • Promotes reflection and introspection about team goals

10. Considerations for Teamwork • Assignment topic and outcome • Team size • Communication/collaboration options • Instructor-Student trust • Student-Student trust (team) • Accountability & Empowerment

11. Topic and Team Size • Establish purpose of assignment • Students select topic from list • Instructor assigns topic to each team • Define deliverable • PowerPoint presentation • Executive summary • Report • Determine Team Size • Optimum: 4 to 5 members

12. Communication / Collaboration • Synchronous tools • Virtual chat • Conference call • Asynchronous tools • Discussion board • Email • Wiki • Blog • Practice Playground!

13. Build Student-Instructor Trust • Establish clear guidelines and expectations • Communicate evaluation policies • Provide communication tools • Include low-stress ‘social’ forums • Getting to know you forum/email • Virtual café

14. Build Student-Student Trust • Include time for forming / norming • Identify student perceptions of teamwork • Allow ‘teams’ to discuss perceptions • Include small group topic-specific discussions • Team Contract

15. Team Contract • Inspires students to take ownership of their share of the work • Roles and responsibilities • Team norms • Communication practices • Collaboration norms • Team-determined action plan/timeline • “Meeting” schedule and record keeping (minutes) • Team-defined conflict resolution process

16. Time for Teamwork! • Time to create a contract! • Topic: Business Solution Process • Deliverables: • Executive Summary • PPT following KISS principle with “notes” for presentation narrative • GPV: 200 points total • Rubric includes points for research/resources, writing mechanics, analysis/critical thinking, PPT design/graphics, “big picture”

17. Examples of Team Contract • Good example • Poor example

18. Empower Teams • Allow teams to remove slackers • Require unanimous vote after attempts to involve inactive member • Established policy may reduce likelihood of a team slacker • May increase participation and interaction • higher levels of cohesiveness • sense of project importance

19. Accountability • Weekly accountability post • Public for team members viewing • Weekly journal entry • Private for instructor’s viewing • Peer team member evaluations • Peer team evaluations • Self evaluation • Instructor graded team AND individual evaluations

20. Summary • Instructor Presence and Course Design • Builds connections • Demonstrates caring • Builds trust and establishes relationships • Increases satisfaction • Increases perceived learning • Promotes effective online teamwork • Contracts • Empowerment • Accountability Course Design + Instructor Practices = Engaged Online Students

21. Questions & Sharing LuMaxArt (2011)

22. Resources • Gaytan, J., & McEwen, B.C. (2007). Effective online instructional and assessment strategies. The American Journal of Distance Education, 21(3), 117–132. • Hoestetter, C., & Busch, M. (2006). Measuring up online: The relationship between social presence and student learning satisfaction. Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. 6(2), 1-12. • Richardson, J. C., & Swan, K. (2003). Examining social presence in online courses in relation to students’ perceived learning and satisfaction. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 7(1), 68-88. • Russo, T., Benson, S. (2005). Learning with invisible others: Perceptions of online presence and their relationship to cognitive and affective learning. Educational Technology & Society, 8(1), 54-62. • Tu, C. H., & McIsaac, M. (2002). The relationship of social presence and interaction in online classes. The American Journal of Distance Education, 16(3), 131-150.