Collaborativ

e Work and Jessica DeSpain

Group
English
jdespai@[Link]

Project Andrew Leland

Educational

Design Leadership
aleland@[Link]
 3

“
Collaboration is a process that
involves mixing ideas,
approaches, and contributions
into a uniquely representative
outcome.
—Janet Salmons, Learning to Collaborate,
Collaborating to Learn

”
 4

Why Integrate Collaborative

Work and Group Projects?

▰ Develops students’ 21st-century skills

▰ Engages students in collective/shared learning
experiences
▰ Promotes student-student and student-instructor
relationships
 5

Building Skills with Collaborative

Learning

▰ Project Management
▰ Problem Solving
▰ Decision Making
▰ Effective Communication
▰ Conflict Resolution
▰ Professional Development
▰ Networking
 6

Individual and Collective Collaborative

Skills

Individual Collective
▰ Participation ▰ Clarity of Individual
▰ Preparedness Expectations
▰ Communication ▰ Problem Solving
▰ Honoring others ▰ Allocating Tasks
▰ Timeliness ▰ Scheduling
 7

What to Consider When Planning

Collaborative Work

▰ Methods of establishing trust

▰ Role of instructor and students
▰ Types of collaborative work
▰ Technology
▰ Assessment
 8

Trust and the Instructor’s Influence

Establishi
ng

Instructor
Ma g

ing
int

ild
ain

Bu
in
 9

The Instructor- to
Student-Driven Continuum

Instructor- Guided
Driven Facilitation Student-Driven

Best when Can efficiently Best for

content is blend skills and collaborative
priority or time content skill
is limited development

Instructor Instructor Students

organizes controls some control
teams, aspects of process, team
chooses team makeup, and
communicatio organization, communicatio
n platforms, communicatio n platforms
and controls n, and process
process
 10

Taxonomy of Collaboration

▰ Parallel: students complete discrete

parts simultaneously
▰ Sequential: students complete discrete
parts sequentially
▰ Synergistic: all parts are completed
collectively
▰ Spoiler alert: these can also be blended
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Technology and Assessment

Technology Assessment
▰ When/how groups ▰ Formative and/or
meet summative
▰ When/how to share ▰ Assessing
information collaborative skills
▰ Student and ▰ Assessing content
instructor knowledge
accessibility ▰ Assessing the
▰ Level of user- process
Day-to-Day
Collaborative
Learning
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Day-to-Day Collaborative Learning

▰ Connects students/creates community

▰ Best to use instructor-driven approach;
blended is possible too
▰ Collaborative learning can be used with both
large and small classes
▰ Use of protocols to build trust and facilitate co
llaborative learning
▰ Additional collaborative learning activities
 14

Reading the Research: Example

▰ Objective: Understand the function of literature

reviews/prior research for framing a current study
▰ Procedures: Individual/Group Expectations
╺ Each group assigned a different article
╺ Each individual assigned sections of the
article from which to prepare set of guided
questions
╺ Groups come together to synthesize answers
╺ Protocol guides the whole-group meeting
 15

Reading the Research: Design

▰ Instructor-driven: Breaking down/assigning

parts; platforms for interactions
▰ Trust: Established at beginning of semester; built
and maintained through the use of protocols
▰ Collaborative approach: Parallel; discrete parts
prepared ahead of time, students discuss in one
meeting
▰ Technology: Synchronous; think-pair-share
during Zoom breakouts
 16

Reading the Research: Assessing Skills

▰ Self-assessment: Post-activity, reflective post

╺ Content: summarizing key points; shift in
thinking
╺ Collaborative process: aiding in
interpretation of article
╺ Magic wand: What would you do differently
▰ Formative assessment: Provides benchmarks
related to content knowledge and collaborative
skill development
Group Project Design
 18

Group Project Design

▰ Projects that span a few days to an entire

semester
▰ Provides students with deeper, collective
learning experiences
▰ Teaches students how to organize, manage,
and problem solve through long-term
collaborations
 19

Technology and Literature:

Final Project Example

▰ Objective: Students work in teams to design

a digital project incorporating skills used
during the semester to explore a literary text;
assignment emphasizes collaborative skill
development
▰ Link to Assignment:
Technology and Literature Final Project
 20

Technology and Literature: Group Project

Design

▰ Student-driven: Students work together to devise

roles and responsibilities, plan a schedule, and
establish check-ins
▰ Collaborative approach: Blended; students complete
initial readings synergistically and decide on a series of
parallel and/or sequential tasks leading to project
completion; includes several synergistic check-ins to
improve final product.
▰ Technology: Uses Microsoft Teams to introduce field
professionalism, establish standard communicate
 21

Technology and Literature: Building Trust

▰ Choose groups based on skill set, content

interest, scheduling availability, or self-selection
▰ Students complete a reflection about past
collaborations and discuss with group and full
class when appropriate
▰ Groups complete and sign a contract with a
timeline and specific roles and responsibilities
▰ Instructor monitors progress and checks in with
students and/or groups as needed
 22

Technology and Literature: Assessment

▰ Pre-assessment: student reflection

▰ Formative Assessment: Proposal; has work been
distributed equitably? Have group planned for all
tasks?
▰ Peer Review: At midpoint, group members assess
one another’s contributions and meet with instructor
to discuss needed revisions to work plan;
example rubric
▰ Final Project Grade: 60% Collaborative, 40%
Technological Tools
 24

Technology Issues to Consider

▰ With some platforms, the instructor can check in

on shared group documents and consider them
in grading
▰ Students have variant comfort levels with
technology; is the goal to help them learn a new
program that may be useful or to use technology
with which they are familiar?
▰ Too many platforms, especially when students
have so many online classes, may be difficult to
 25

Project Management Software

▰ Project management (PM) software is commonly

used in business settings; learning to work in PM
software will develop their professional knowledge
▰ Students have access to chat, videoconference,
document sharing, and task lists all in one place
▰ Instructors can use PM software as an easy check-
in method for group progress
 26

Project Management Software Options

SIUE-Supported:
▰ Microsoft Teams(ITS Knowledge Base,
Microsoft Education Blog, Cult of Pedagogy,
Ditch That Textbook)
Open-Source Options:
▰ Slack and Discord (streamlined chatting)
▰ Trello (useful for organizing tasks and
responsibilities)
 27

Video Conferencing with Breakout Rooms

SIUE-supported: Quick Tips:

▰ Zoom ( ▰ Login early to pre-
ITS Knowledge Base) assign students to
▰ Microsoft Teams rooms
(currently no breakout ▰ Give students a task
room feature, but here list and time limit
is a workaround tutorial ▰ Use broadcast feature
) to give time warnings
 28

Multimedia Interactive Platforms

SIUE-supported:
▰ Blackboard (discussion board, wiki,
ITS Knowledge Base)
Open-Source Options:
▰ Padlet (a place to share any file type; allows for
extensive commenting; see example from Cali and
DeSpain)
▰ FlipGrid (a video-based discussion board;
 29

Quick Tips for Multimedia Interactive

Platforms

▰ Post article, video, artifact, or discussion prompt

▰ Have pre-assigned groups asynchronously
respond via video or comment
▰ Give one rotating group member synthesize
discussion at end of module/week
▰ Alternatively, run a synchronous conversation
entirely through an interactive platform
 30

Collaborative Editing Platforms

SIUE-supported: Quick Tips:

▰ One Drive or Microsoft ▰ Create a shared folder
Teams with web versions for class and give
of Word, Excel, and students editing access
PowerPoint ▰ Use to send question
Open-Source Options: sets or task lists
▰ Google Drive/Google ▰ Use editing history to
Docs assess individual
contributions
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Special Thanks To….

Members of the Collaborative Work and Group

Project Design Focus Group:

▰ Gillian Acheson ▰ Nicole Klein

▰ Cathy Daus ▰ Elizabeth Kamper
▰ Lora Del Rio ▰ Gloria Sweida
▰ Kristine ▰ Colin Wilson
Hildebrandt
 32

Thank
s!
Additional Resources can be found at:
[Link]
al/aleland_siue_edu/EoUFohsM56dJpOQ9dTWXZ98B
-E_HGKm7LSVm-V35kJMwIQ?e=ChRNHH
 33

Works Cited

“Building a Higher Education Flipgrid Community.” Flipgrid,

[Link]
Accessed 22 Jul. 2020.
“Flip Grid.” Online Tools for Teaching and Learning. University of
Massachusetts,
[Link]
grid/
. Accessed 22 Jul. 2020.
Gonzalez, Jennifer. “Building a Collaborative Classroom with Microsoft
Teams.” Cult of Pedagogy, 5 Aug. 2018,
[Link]
“How to Use Breakout Rooms in Microsoft Teams.” UTS, 15 Jun. 2020,
 34

Works Cited (continued)

“Microsoft Teams Education: How to Manage it Like a Pro.” Ditch That

Textbook, 20 Apr. 2020.
[Link]
Salmons, Janet. Learning to Collaborate, Collaborating to Learn :
Engaging Students in the Classroom and Online, Stylus Publishing,
LLC, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central,
[Link]
77
.
Tholfsen, Mike. “Top 5 Ways Teachers can use Teams During Remote
Learning.” Microsoft Education Blog, 17 Apr. 2020,
[Link]
ers-can-use-microsoft-teams-during-remote-learning/
35