Education Articles from College Matching Service

Having a virtual class online is one concept some people find hard to envision. But as an individual distance learner, you must learn how to develop and coordinate with your online college courses.

Simplify the tasks and break them up in to individual steps. Instead of envisioning one large group project, visualize the entire assignment as four or five smaller projects that will each require just two or three steps, rather than dozens.  Potential problem: The project contains too many steps to reach the final outcome. The complexity makes it difficult to understand and to delegate work, and to set achievable goals. Potential problem: Resentment because of lack of work parity. Group members become angry because the work load is not evenly distributed. Some team members may be perceived as slackers or freeloaders, who take credit but refuse to pull their weight. The converse can also be true. There may be resentment because one team member will attempt to dominate and not allow individuals to participate in the process. The dominant person may be perceived as a bully, much to his or her surprise. She thought she was simply being efficient, proactive, and “Type A.” Solution: Listen. List the roles and the responsibilities and behaviors expected of each role. Then, assign tasks to specific team members, and develop a realistic set of due dates. Make sure that there are clear ways to be in touch with each other if there are questions.

Coordinate time. Required collaborations do not reflect the real time commitments of the participants, nor do they reflect schedules or time zone differences. Solution: Give the group at least a week to do each project, no matter how small. Ask the individual team members what they are doing to find out and accommodate each other’s time constraints.

Develop a communications plan. Try to communicate live-time if you can, either with instant messenger, chat, video chat, or with Internet telephony, such as Skype.

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