If you have read a few of my posts here Inside the Virtual Village, I am sure you have ascertained that I am a stone-cold advocate for dynamic group experiences online. I believe in them, wholeheartedly, and there is nothing anyone can say to me to change my mind.
I guess I am like my grandfather in that way.
He was the one you wanted in your corner if you had to choose one person in the world because once he made up his mind, there was no hope of changing it.
Stack your evidence.
Stake your claim.
Gather your witnesses.
It did not matter.
Mr. Hughie Edward Owens could not be swayed once his mind was made up, a stubbornness that I loved as long as he was on my side but not so much when we were on opposing sides of an issue or topic.
So, yes, I am he and he is me when it comes to how I feel about group experiences online. You might have a good online course. It might even be great, but if it does not include cooperative learning group experiences, to be exact, there is no way your course is incredible.
And, I truly mean that.
One of the things that magnifies the impact of the group experience is the constant training on assessment, evaluation, and reflection. When students meet in groups and then close the experience with a transparent moment for sitting still and thinking about how well they work together as a group—they develop skills that help them grow not only interpersonally, but also intrapersonally. These invaluable skills then go with them outside of the virtual classroom into the walls, halls, rooms, streets, highways, and by-ways of their lives—never to be forgotten or put down.
In fact, I would daresay that they become a part of their psyche, their way of analyzing situations in their lives, choices that they may need to make, interactions with others. At least, that is my hope.
Group processing is what occurs at the end of group experiences in my synchronous online courses. My students take 10 minutes or less to assess their productivity, reflect on the entire experience, and determine their goals for the next session.
Sometimes, they are hard on themselves, and sometimes they are not hard enough; but the more that they “process”, the more transparent they become.
In the video, How to Improve Group Work with Group Processing, I share the method that we employ in my courses. If you are already implementing group processing in your courses, here’s my virtual high-five. If you are not, I hope that something that I say in this video makes you consider doing so.
Feel free to respond here or to contact me at hello@kelliealston.com. I would love to read your perspective and “chop it up” with you as they say these days.