Groups-That-WorkOnline

Explanation of mission of Common Ground Publishing. Heritage knowledge systems are characterized by vertical separations-of discipline, professional association, institution, and

Blog post by Naava Frank, Jewish Philanthropy, May 2, 2013. Stresses that the relationship infrastructure is just as important as the technology structure. Facilitators may act like hosts to introduce people to each other and help them start a conversation on things that matter to them. A recent project she had for the Helen Keller National Foundation resulted in her doing this protocol: We paired people up - intentionally thinking about who might benefit from doing this work together - make sure someone who is technology averse is paired with someone who is technologically comfortable. Maybe pair people who work on the same team? Or maybe pair people across teams? We sent them into the platform with an assignment. While they are in the site and "kick the tires" we helped them imagine what it would be like driving the car. We gave them some guiding questions to think about. Name 3 ways this platform can help you forward your mission. Name 2 technology improvements you would like to see for this platform. Name 1 surprise from this experience. We asked everyone to post these responses in the site so that others can see how their peers respond to the experience. (Thereby giving them another opportunity to get to know others - by reading their responses.)

A blog by Geoff Cain on MOOCS and Connectivist Instructional design from October 27, 2012. Very interesting history of how this teacher of health information management used collaborative technologies to teach the class and help the students work online in a multi-model delivery method. See below for implications on any online courses and how OS it feels. There were weekly guest lecturers as well as presentations by the course facilitators. The real heart of the course was the groups of students who would meet virtually, using the collaborative tools of their own choosing, who would discuss the presentations and readings. These groups were self-organized, leaderless, and informal. Yet, there always seemed to be someone in the group who would carry the discussion back into the course to have questions answered by the facilitators. And the facilitators would sometimes participate in the discussions. This experience was highly interactive. There was interaction with the facilitators, the content and between the students. Interestingly enough, the research shows that interaction is one of the primary measures of success and retention in online classes: the higher the degree and opportunity for interaction, the more successful a course will be. This course completely changed how I think of course design.