Group Online Projects in the Distance Ed. Classroom
by Evelyn Beck IT’S NOT EASY, mostly due to student resistance, but online group projects can be undertaken successfully. And if they’re handled well, the experience can mirror real kinds of on-line collaboration that today’s students will face increasingly in their careers. Students don’t like on-line groups, mainly because such groups require extra time and because they require student participation at scheduled times, which seems contrary to the whole notion of asynchronous on-line learning. And students in Web-based courses have the same complaints about group work as students in traditional classrooms: some students do all the work. These complaints are valid, and they present challenges for both students and instructor. […]