Reimagine Your Classroom

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Minna Logemann
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Digital Workplace ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Team Research ◽  
Online Spaces

This chapter notes the lack of coursework responding to the growing need to educate future employees to work and manage teams in the modern digital workplace as part of learning processes. The chapter introduces a case study on a virtual teamwork class developed for higher education students. The class offers a learning experience that resonates with the modern digital workplace and work in geographically dispersed virtual teams. Theoretical framing and instructional designs discussed in the chapter shed light to strategies how disciplinary knowledge on virtual team research were used to develop both the class content and the learning infrastructure. The chapter depicts several connections between disciplinary frameworks in virtual team research and pedagogical concepts in learning and education literatures. These connections offer ideas for developing teaching and learning in online spaces and suggest implications for developing the curricula to better prepare students for the digital, global workplace.

scholarly journals TAKING E-MODERATING SKILLS TO THE NEXT LEVEL: REFLECTING ON THE DESIGN OF CONFERENCING ENVIRONMENTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelagh M. Ross ◽  
Agnes Kukulska-Hulme ◽  
Helen Chappel ◽  
Brian Joyce
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Computer Conference ◽  
Online Spaces ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Written Assignments ◽  
The Impact

This paper reports an analysis of computer conference structures set up for a distance education course in which major components of the teaching and learning involve group discussions and collaboration via asynchronous text-based conferencing. As well as adopting traditional e-moderator roles, tutors were required to design appropriate online spaces and navigation routes for students. Tutors’ views concerning conference structures focussed on tensions between enabling easy access to conference areas, facilitating the successful running of activities, and addressing students’ subsequent needs for retrieval of conference material for assessment tasks. The geographically dispersed course tutors initially explored these issues in reflective online conversations. Comparisons were made between structures that were set up differently but all used for essentially the same tasks and purposes. Evidence from conference messages, from student feedback given in questionnaire and interview responses, as well as from students’ written assignments, provided insights into the impact such structures may have on the student learning experience. Students found conference areas for their own group easy to navigate, but they had concerns about managing the large number of messages; these concerns centred on the volume, threading, linking, length, and language of messages.

Learning together and working apart: routines for organizational learning in virtual teams

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 138-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Information Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Virtual Teaming

Purpose Research suggests that teaming routines facilitate learning in teams. This paper identifies and details how specific teaming routines, implemented in a virtual team, support its continual learning. The study’s focus was to generate authentic and descriptive accounts of the interviewees’ experiences with virtual teaming routines. Design/methodology/approach This case study gathered concrete, practical and context-dependent knowledge about virtual teaming routines in a specific environment. The main source of data was narrative expert interviews with working members of the team. Findings This study illustrates how a mix of face-to-face and virtual routines can ensure organizational learning in virtual teams. Research limitations/implications This case study is limited to one virtual team in the information industry. Future research could build on this research to study virtual teams in other industries. Practical implications This research offers specific examples of teaming routines that managers of virtual teams might adapt in managing their own teams. Social implications Given that the use of virtual teams is a growing phenomenon, understanding how to help those teams learn effectively is a critical issue. Originality/value This case study extends the research on teaming routines to virtual teams.

scholarly journals Cross-cultural effects of COVID-19 on higher education learning and teaching practice: A case study from Greece

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 73-89
Author(s):  
Margarita Kefalaki ◽  
◽  
Michael Nevradakis ◽  
Qing Li ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Cultural Effects ◽  
Global Pandemic

COVID-19 has greatly impacted all aspects of our everyday lives. A global pandemic of this magnitude, even as we now emerge from strict measures such as lockdowns and await the potential for a ‘new tomorrow’ with the arrival of vaccines, will certainly have long-lasting consequences. We will have to adapt and learn to live in a different way. Accordingly, teaching and learning have also been greatly impacted. Changes to academic curricula have had tremendous cross-cultural effects on higher education students. This study will investigate, by way of focus groups comprised of students studying at Greek universities during the pandemic, the cross-cultural effects that this ‘global experience’ has had on higher education, and particularly on students in Greek universities. The data collection tools are interviews and observations gathered from focus groups.

scholarly journals Design for learning – a case study of blended learning in a science unit

F1000Research ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 898
Author(s):  
Roslyn Gleadow ◽  
Barbara Macfarlan
Keyword(s):  
Blended Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Scientific Practice ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Learning Management

Making material available through learning management systems is standard practice in most universities, but this is generally seen as an adjunct to the ‘real’ teaching, that takes place in face-to-face classes. Lecture attendance is poor, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to engage students, both in the material being taught and campus life. This paper describes the redevelopment of a large course in scientific practice and communication that is compulsory for all science students studying at our Melbourne and Malaysian campuses, or by distance education. Working with an educational designer, a blended learning methodology was developed, converting the environment provided by the learning management system into a teaching space, rather than a filing system. To ensure focus, topics are clustered into themes with a ‘question of the week’, a pre-class stimulus and follow up activities. The content of the course did not change, but by restructuring the delivery using educationally relevant design techniques, the content was contextualised resulting in an integrated learning experience. Students are more engaged intellectually, and lecture attendance has improved. The approach we describe here is a simple and effective approach to bringing this university’s teaching and learning into the 21st century.

Case Study - “Can You See Me?”

2012 ◽  
pp. 804-815
Author(s):  
Anne DiPardo ◽  
Mike DiPardo
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
Functional Requirements ◽  
Virtual Collaboration ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
History Of ◽  
Written Word

This chapter presents a case study detailing how geographically dispersed software developers employ writing in the process of creating and troubleshooting products for use in the healthcare industry. It focuses particularly on their efforts to arrive at language that unambiguously reflects functional requirements and optimal design principles. After a brief history of the company and the evolution of its national and international virtual collaboration practices, the authors turn to the role of text across particular task cycles, exploring the uses of writing in generating, designing, and refining plans and products. Focusing on a series of three composing sequences, the authors highlight the incremental process by which the team moves toward a shared sense of understanding and linguistic precision. They argue that in contrast to common conceptions of texts as simple containers for preformed ideas, these episodes provide a more nuanced picture, as writing comes to play a central role in constituting and fine-tuning meaning and in maintaining strong working relationships throughout the processes of developing and refining products. They close with implications for preparing diverse virtual teams for participation in tasks that demand exacting uses of the written word.

Trust in Virtual Multicultural Teams

2008 ◽  
pp. 1292-1308
Author(s):  
Iris C. Fischlmayr ◽  
Werner Auer-Rizzi
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Multicultural Teams ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Team Projects ◽  
Illustrative Case Study

This chapter analyses the phenomenon of trust with regard to its significance for virtual teams. Guided by the existing literature on trust, this chapter presents different kinds of trust and the development of trust over time. The challenges inherent to virtual multicultural teams, thus to working teams, which are geographically dispersed and communicate with the help of electronic media, raise the questions of their consequences on trust. As virtual teams are mostly used in companies operating in different countries all over the world, the different cultural backgrounds of the team members are taken into account as well. To give an example for the relevance of this issue in practice, an illustrative case study on experiences international business students have made during virtual team projects is presented.

Online Learning and Lifelong Learning

2011 ◽  
pp. 51-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn Finger
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Rural And Remote ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Technological Improvements

This chapter explores ways in which new and emerging information and communication technologies (ICT) might transform the learning experience through online delivery. After presenting a conceptualisation of ICT use by educators in terms of inaction, investigation, application, integration, and transformation, two diverse learning settings are examined to develop insights into the implications of online learning for lifelong learning—namely, the delivery of educational services to preschool children (aged 4 years old) through to Year 10 students (aged 15 years old) in rural and remote communities in Australia, and the dimensions required for designing online learning for adult learners in higher education. Through the presentation of a case study of a School of Distance Education in Australia, which reflects technological improvements using telephone teaching, and the affordances of improved connectivity, the case study demonstrates that this has enabled the use of more constructivist approaches to teaching and learning to transform the delivery of education to rural and remote students. Subsequently, this chapter provides a synthesis of the literature relating to the critical factors influencing learner satisfaction in online learning.

Pedagogical Responses to Social Software in Universities

2010 ◽  
pp. 335-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine McLoughlin ◽  
Mark J.W. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Social Software ◽  
Pedagogical Change ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Models Of Teaching ◽  
Networked Society

Learning management systems (LMS’s) that cater for geographically dispersed learners have been widely available for a number of years, but many higher education institutions are discovering that new models of teaching and learning are required to meet the needs of a generation of learners who seek greater autonomy, connectivity, and socio-experiential learning. The advent of Web 2.0, with its expanded potential for generativity and connectivity, propels pedagogical change and opens up the debate on how people conceptualize the dynamics of student learning. This chapter explores how such disruptive forces, fuelled by the affordances of social software tools, are challenging and redefining scholarship and pedagogy, and the accompanying need for learners to develop advanced digital literacy skills in preparation for work and life in the networked society. In response to these challenges, the authors propose a pedagogical framework, Pedagogy 2.0, which addresses the themes of participation in networked communities of learning, personalization of the learning experience, and learner productivity in the form of knowledge building and creativity.

Cross-Disciplinary Learning in Virtual Teams

2011 ◽  
pp. 78-81
Author(s):  
Scott P. Schaffer ◽  
Therese M. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Software Development ◽  
Virtual Teams ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
New Product Development Teams ◽  
Better Than

The prevalence of global software development and new product development teams is on the increase, and such teams face unique challenges (McDonough, Kahnb, & Barczaka, 2001). First, these teams often are comprised of individuals from different disciplines (software engineering, graphic design, instructional design/educational technology). Second, these teams often are required to communicate and share information virtually, since they are geographically dispersed. These challenges make management of such teams difficult, and very little is known about the conditions and factors that impact virtual team performance. While the task of overcoming these challenges is daunting, the benefits that an effective virtual and cross-disciplinary software development team can have are large. Cohen and Gibson (2003) state, “when organizations compose virtual teams with people from different perspectives and knowledge bases, innovation is more likely to occur” (p.8). In addition, the possibility of creating teams that are virtual allows an organization the opportunity to have the best people for a project actually work on the project, regardless of geographic location. Major questions related to the study of such teams include: Do virtual teams perform better, worse or the same as face-to-face teams? What makes one virtual team better than another? Are group dynamics fundamentally different in a virtual group than in a face-to-face group? Warkenton, Sayeed and Hightower (1997) found that face-to-face teams outperformed virtual teams, and the latter were less satisfied with the experience. Advances in asynchronous communication tools since this study may have improved the situation for virtual teams, but the question of what makes one virtual team better than another is intriguing. Ocker and Fjermestad (2000) investigated factors that distinguish high- vs. low-performing virtual teams. High-performing teams communicated more and more widely related to design decisions than did low-performing teams. Such teams summarized and reflected more often on processes and deliverables, and essentially mirrored face-to-face teams. Similar findings were reported by Baker (2002) in a study of the effects of technology on decision-making in such teams. Another key driver of virtual team development and success is the level of cross-disciplinary learning that occurs during the completion of a project. Fruchter and Emery (1999) define cross-disciplinary learning as the individual’s progression from a state dominated by discipline-centric thought to a state in which the individual understands the terminology and processes of another discipline. It is important to investigate how this learning can be supported and assessed.

Sociotechnical Design Factors for Virtual Team Performance

1996 ◽  
Vol 40 (15) ◽  
pp. 786-785
Author(s):  
Arnoldo R. Cano ◽  
Brian M. Kleiner
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Teams ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
Sociotechnical Systems Theory ◽  
Sociotechnical Design ◽  
Sound Theory ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Design Factors ◽  
Communication And Information Technology

Recent developments in communication and information technology, coupled with an increased need to coordinate organizational activities across geographically dispersed locations, have led to the development and use of virtual teams. Evidence, most of it anecdotal, points to the benefits that can be obtained from the use of such teams. Unfortunately, a comprehensive understanding of the factors that affect virtual team-based system performance is lacking due to little empirical evidence and sound theory. In this paper, sociotechnical systems theory is used to identify design factors for virtual team performance.

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