Abstract

Online group work can be complicated because of its asynchronous characteristics and lack of physical presence, and its requirements for skills in handling technology, human relationships, and content-related tasks. This study focuses on the administrative, logistical and relationship-related challenges in online group work. Challenges in areas such as commitment/responsibility, communication/coordination, structure/management, and leadership are discussed; strategies for how to streamline the management of online group work, how to decrease unnecessary logistical load and extra layers of structure, and how to improve online group work through the design of the syllabus are presented. The study suggests that instructors split group work into individual portions, use peer evaluation, establish guidelines for communication, use tools such as Google Drive to streamline duplicate works, monitor the process of the group work, and give group members freedom, ownership, and autonomy in their group work.

Citation

Chang, B. & Kang, H. (2016). Challenges Facing Group Work Online. Distance Education, 37(1), 73-88. Retrieved June 10, 2023 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/193153/.

This record was imported from ERIC on January 10, 2019. [Original Record]

ERIC is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education.

Copyright for this record is held by the content creator. For more details see ERIC's copyright policy.

Keywords

• administration
• Adult Education
• adult learning
• asynchronous communication
• barriers
• case studies
• content analysis
• Cooperative learning
• distance education
• educational technology
• electronic learning
• Graduate students
• Graduate Study
• Group Dynamics
• Group Membership
• higher education
• Integrated Learning Systems
• leadership
• online courses
• Peer Evaluation
• teaching methods
• teamwork
• universities