In class Group Work / Collaboration: Learning Together

Traditional education has long emphasized individual student accomplishments. Contrast this with today's work world where teamwork and collaboration are critical skills needed to succeed and thrive. We work in teams, often with professionals from other fields located in different locations, to get things done.Working in groups does not lessen the significance of an individual contribution --think of rowing in crew--everyone has to pull. 

There are many ways to create an activity that requires both.  Group activities and team projects online do have the added challenge that your students are distributed, possibly without a dedicated "class hour" requiring them to be together. Extra planning may be necessary, along with some flexibility, but it is possible to create engaging collaboration online. See these top 7 best practices from a faculty perspective for  Designing Effective Team Projects in Online Courses Links to an external site..

Successful group work requires:

Planning: Clarity PreparationPresence

Management Professor Hank Johnson explains the value of a  student driven team project with strong individual and group components in an  Entrepreneurship  course he offered as part of the Occupational Therapy doctoral program. (Watch his full introduction to students)

"... 'creating knowledge'... is fundamental to this course but is also at the heart of every successful venture in  academia and business. How do you turn an idea into a reality? How do you link knowledge and learning to achieve innovation?

As leaders in occupational therapy at the doctoral level, you have the privilege and responsibility of creating knowledge for your field. The team endeavor project gives every team member the opportunity to collaboratively create 'something' that is not only academically rigorous but applicable in the real world."

An advantage to learning  online together in Canvas is that the Learning Management System (LMS) has built in tools ready to support collaboration and teamwork. Translation--as an instructor you do not have to spend time searching for software or apps and your students do not have to leave your online classroom. Use the Discussion or Group tools for your entire class and/or small group projects.

The Canvas Discussion tool is designed for collaborating over time. Students can create written posts along with  presentations, video, and audio files and respond to one another. NEIT faculty have creatively gone beyond discussions using this tool for online climate debates, Shark Tank-like pitches, a historical thrash out on Nazi Germany and a medical ethics role play. For more on how to set up Discussions visit the Canvas Basics: Discussions page

Canvas also has a Groups tool where instructors can set up private spaces for student teams to work together on projects. Every student group gets their own calendar, discussion board and collaboration tools to jumpstart working together. You can randomly assign students to groups and set a group size, or manually create and organize them. With groups in place, you can set assignments for "group submission", where each group has one submission for all group members. You can also set up these same group assignments to be graded individually. For additional help using Canvas Groups visit the Canvas Help Resources page.

It is important if you decide to use Groups that you provide clear instructions on how to use the space. Students may not know how to access or take advantage of the area. Along with instructions, set your clear expectations and outline why group work is important to the learning or you may find it underutilized. Canvas student guides on Groups Links to an external site. make it easy for you to provide support resources for your students.

Professor Sarah Holmes designed writing groups for her Argumentative Research Writing course based on the principle of 'a rising tide lifts all boats'.  Although students ultimately delivered  an individual paper, they were required to work in writing groups using Canvas Groups. She bounced between the groups--and posted to the different group discussion boards. This group work was an important component of her course and participation in these writing groups was both required and graded.  

"Why Work In Groups?

...to produce stronger writing by sharing it with peers, to engage in the 10 writing criteria as a writer and reader and to (build in a) challenge (to) argumentative skills through interdisciplinary feedback. When working in isolation, one loses the benefit of an 'extra pair of eyes,' and the insight of an actual reader."

Done well, using a video conferencing tool, like Zoom, can offer your students a classroom experience online.  Everyone is together in one virtual place at the same time. Emphasis on done well. Many of us have attended a webinar with our sound and camera off, as we go about such daily things as making dinner. This is not the gold standard! Active Zoom sessions will engage your students. The same rules for success covered in the asynchronous online collaborations previously, apply here. Incorporate Zoom sessions where they align with your course design and outcomes (Planning). Be clear about what you expect students to bring and do in a Zoom session (Clarity). Practice ahead of time, perhaps adding a  "Test Your Zoom"  activity early in Week 1 to get the kinks out (Preparation). Facilitate and mentor group exchanges in Zoom just as you do in your classroom (Observe and Mentor).

You can use Zoom's Breakout Rooms to facilitate small group collaborations. As the meeting host split your Zoom room into separate sessions (automatically or manually with a maximum of 50 breakout rooms). You can switch between sessions at any time where breakout rooms have full audio, video and screen share capabilities.  If the meeting is being cloud recorded, only the main room can record. However your students can record locally to their computer in their small groups  where you ask them to submit brainstorming "video notes" from their team meetings. Visit Everything you need to know about Zoom for a full set of Zoom help resources.

Professor Hank Johnson used a regular Zoom meeting in his Leadership course which he called The Leadership Council.  The council was the place for students to share their own personal leadership stories and discuss the stories of the "guest lecturers" who appeared throughout the course (inviting guest speakers is another powerful way to leverage Zoom). If students could not participate in the Council they were required to participate on the Discussion board. Students from the council who responded to classmates' discussion posts were given extra credit. This design embraced flexibility by offering a back-up channel and encouraged student peer mentoring. Both in the Zoom council meeting and on the council Discussion channel, students practiced leadership skills while they learned together and taught one another.  

"Each week we will hold a Leadership Council Meeting. The council will serve as the heart and soul of the course. Whether you are leading a project, facilitating a meeting, or running a company--understanding leadership theory and mapping your understanding to specific situations and your own personal strengths and weaknesses can be the critical difference between success and failure. The weekly council is the place where you will make these neural connections between the course and your own real life experiences."