Facilitating online groupwork using Microsoft Teams
Wednesday 29th November: 10.30am - 11.10am
Authors and presenters
Judi Tapp, School of Nursing, CoHM
Susan Batur, Digital Futures (CoHM), Academic Division
Abstract
Teamwork skills are considered fundamental in many contemporary workplace settings (De Prada et al., 2022). Facilitating groupwork for students studying online has often been a challenge for educators due to several factors: one of which has been the absence of suitable online collaborative technologies. However, recent advancements in collaborative online technologies such as Microsoft Teams have facilitated effortless collaboration for teams spread across different locations.
This presentation will share the experience of piloting Microsoft Teams with online postgraduate nursing students enrolled in CNA613, a project management unit. The unit assessments are all designed around teamwork: requiring students to collaborate in pre-assigned small groups to identify and improve health services through the lens of project management.
Previously, students wishing to collaborate online were forced to navigate through a multitude of different systems and tools. This included using MyLO discussion for asynchronous chats, Zoom for synchronous meetings, and Google Docs for shared documents. The adoption of Microsoft Teams has alleviated many of these issues, acting as a unified platform for all collaborative needs. It provides a 'one-stop-shop' for students: granting them access to everything they need in one place. This consolidation has made teamwork and peer-to-peer interactions more transparent for teaching teams. Educators can now more efficiently monitor student activities and, when necessary, provide support more readily.
This Lightning presentation will highlight what we have learned, what the challenges were and what you need to consider if you are interested in introducing this tool to your teaching practice once it becomes available more broadly.
Reference
De Prada, E., Mareque, M., & Pino-Juste, M. (2022). Teamwork skills in higher education: Is university training contributing to their mastery? Psicol. Refl. Crít., 35(5), 1-13.