How Much "Group" Is There in Online Group Work?
Abstract
The ability to work in groups across time and space has become a
frequent requirement for the workplace and is increasingly common in
higher education, but there is a surprising lack of research on how
online groups work. This research applies analytic approaches used in
studies of face-to-face classroom “talk” to multiple groups in two
online high school courses. We found two activities that demanded group
problem-solving styles—one for deciding how to work as a group and a
second for responding to the content of the assignment; that successful
groups had directive leaders; and that most groups divided the labor,
working in parallel rather than collaboratively.
frequent requirement for the workplace and is increasingly common in
higher education, but there is a surprising lack of research on how
online groups work. This research applies analytic approaches used in
studies of face-to-face classroom “talk” to multiple groups in two
online high school courses. We found two activities that demanded group
problem-solving styles—one for deciding how to work as a group and a
second for responding to the content of the assignment; that successful
groups had directive leaders; and that most groups divided the labor,
working in parallel rather than collaboratively.
Keywords
Online learning; distance learning; group work; online interaction
How Much "Group" Is There in Online Group Work? | Lowes | Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks