Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference
Teaching, Learning, & Technology
The Connected Classroom
April 7-9, 2002
Development of Group Norms in Online Teamwork
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By: Charles Graham, Melanie Misanchuk |
Abstract
Indiana University's new online Master's program in Instructional Systems Technology requires intensive group work and collaboration at a distance. Students work on team projects that require negotiation of process, roles, content, strategies, goals, values, etc. This study looks at how teams work online, in synchronous meetings, and what group norms they establish to facilitate their collaboration. We are especially interested in determining what issues arise in the first group project with respect to group norms that change the way students set the norms in their second group project.
Description
Group work is a commonly used instructional strategy that has proven effective in many face-to-face learning environments. The unique challenges of group work in a distance envrionment may be barriers for many to using it as an instructional strategy. Successful group work in face-to-face environments depends on the team's ability to discuss content, divide tasks, work through issues, negotiate conflict, etc. These same kinds of tasks can be more challenging in a virtual environment where communication is often slower and lower fidelity than communication in a face-to-face environment. For example, communication tools such as discussion forums, email, and chat do not allow easy communication of non-verbal cues as well as interaction times are often significantly slower.
Groups in both face-to-face and virtual environments develop norms or shared expectations that help the group to work together productively. The norms provide a structure that helps the members know how to interact and function within the group. We often take these norms for granted in face-to-face group work because of our familiarity and experience with the communication medium. This study looks at the norms that were developed by a virtual project team in the Instructional Systems Technology distance masters degree program at Indiana University.
We will look at how the norms related to communication and work process evolved during the first online group project. We will also look at how the experiences and norms developed during the first project impacted the norms that were developed in the second project. The benefits of this study include: discovering what norms are important for students collaborating in a distance context. Additionally, we will examine the ways in which students learns about these norms, whether their group has to go through a dysfunctional experience itself in order to determine that a new way of working is preferable, or whether they can learn from being told of others experiences (experiential versus vicarious learning). Having identified some potential pitfalls of collaborating at a distance, we will be more prepared to advise students on what things to consider when setting group norms as well as the importance of revisiting norms throughout the duration of the project.