Part One - Group working

Our group conference discussions were mainly conducted by the most active and confident members with others contributing occasionally. There was courteous and productive discussion about the papers we were studying in Module 1.

Split into two smaller groups for TMA02 in Module 2, our task was to create a web channel together with a separate webpage for each student. I offered to act as co-ordinator for Group One and this was accepted. In retrospect, it might have been better if members had taken more responsibility for this project rather than leaving it all to one person.

Our main problem was that not all members were active in discussions which weakened the consensus of the group. Consequently, most of the important decisions were made by a few members with very little input from the others. Some students visited the conference very infrequently due to other commitments and this meant that they were not fully aware of the ongoing discussions. We also managed to cope effectively with the very late arrival of one member.

Nevertheless, Group One was active and prolific - 231 messages were posted in six weeks. Less confident students were encouraged as they struggled with HTML. They also felt comfortable about asking questions if in difficulty.

I assumed responsibility for the Group Web Channel page leaving the others free to concentrate on their personal pages. One unfortunate side-effect of this was that they were reticent about contributing ideas for this page.

Within the group, open and honest discussions led to differences of opinion being settled amicably. Appreciation and thanks were given freely. Individual achievements were clearly enhanced through co-operation, support and encouragement between group members.

Hi All in Group One,
With the arrival of the deadline for TMA02 today, I hope that everyone has managed to/is nearly ready to complete and submit the assignment successfully.
I hope you'll excuse this rather long post but it came together in my mind early this morning while I was mulling over TMA02 part 2 and I felt it might be useful to discuss it in conference.
Ken will probably be closing our separate Group conferences soon now that the Assignment is over so I wondered if it would be a good idea for us just to reflect on what we've achieved as a group - now that we've had time to crystallize our thoughts through the TMA?

What do we think we did really well?
What do we wish we had done differently?

From a personal point of view, this is what I felt we did well (with reference to the Gary Alexander paper Extract from a Communications Guide we looked at in TMA01):-
- there was very good support, acknowledgement and encouragement within the groupwork situation. (PCP1)
- there was no fear of asking questions when stuck - even feeling able to follow up with more questions when the first answers didn't solve the problem completely.
- consideration was shown for the views of others and each member always put his/her opinions forward from a personal point of view using ' I '. (PCP 3)

This is what I, personally, felt we could have done better:-
- we were not as good at enacting PCP 2 "Acknowledge before differing" as we might have been. Perhaps if we had taken the time to double check some of the personal opinions offered, we might have avoided the misunderstandings in week 6 (although time was in short supply by that point).
- as a group, we might have benefitted from more feedback to questions raised in conference. Once or twice, feedback was requested but received from only some of the group members.

This is what I, myself, felt I could have done better:-
- in my desire to be a good group co-ordinator, I think I overwhelmed you all, not just with too many posts but also messages that were too long. (My excuse is that I was trying very hard to make sure that I covered all eventualities and didn't leave out anything important).
- I was unhappy at having to take the decision to drop The Illuminators in the final week because I felt I could have handled that better.
- on the other hand, I felt that I received good support and appreciation from the other group members for my extra work which really made it all worthwhile.

Perhaps it would be better next time, if the group members could take more collective responsibility for groupwork rather than allowing one member to do most of the organising. (I think this was the point that Chris made in one of his earliest posts in conference).
So, come on Group One, what are your thoughts on these points?
Lois

Hi Lois...thanks for making this posting, I was having thoughts along the same lines It would be good to reflect on how we all feel the group exercise went. (some excellent self analysis there!!) :o) I may be experiencing an anti-climax, after posting the TMA as I am tending to dwell on the things we could have done better.
I agree with Lois in as much as there was no fear of asking questions...However, for me that meant posting a question before trying to solve the problem myself.... I found I had become too secure in the knowledge that Lois would and could answer every question that I threw at her and may have taken advantage of that a little. I aim to improve on that from now on. It would have been nice to have some advice/help/comments offered by some of the other members of the group though. I personally found it really frustrating that people did not respond to messages that were posted, and It did cross my mind once or twice that since groupwork had come in the door...netiquette had gone out of the window. ..... At the begining of the groupwork I felt unable to answer the questions and just thought...oh Lois will get that one, I think I improved a little as the weeks went on, and at least had a go at trying to sort out some of the problems that were posted.
Like you Lois, I was disappointed that we could not reach a satisfactory decision about the group name Illuminators...On reflection perhaps this should have been one of those times when a 'live meeting' would have been appropriate and we could have thrashed it out....
I also agree that the group should take more responsibility for the group work...but on the other hand I felt awkward about saying can you change this or do that as it was you that was physically having to do all the work. Knowing what hard work my page was,didn't really want you to go to anymore trouble.
I have run out of page...(can't see what I am typing) so I will say cheerio for now, Looking forward to reading further comments from the group.
Vicky.

I would be the first to admit that Lois did most of the work and that I persoanlly did very little. Having said that I suggest everyone is not too hard on themselves, it is probably the first time, any of u,s have done anything like this. Mind you the proof of the pudding is the result so wait till we get the p.m. Best of luck to everyone.
Philip

Hi All,
Sorry if this is a little late, I have been over indulging this weekend, but it has to stop somewhere!!
Thank you Lois for posting a "Post mortem" examination. I feel it is good to discuss the rise and downfalls of the group. Reflecting overall I personally felt we all did emtremely well. We had good communication throughout. I don't recall any question that went unanswered, which gave a great sense of achievement. Everyone should fell proud of this.
As already stated, There was no fear in asking questionsl, althougth, I was always too late to answer most of them!! Well done Lois, you are a book of knowledge on the computing front!!
"It would have been nice to have some advice/help/comments offered by some of the other members of the group though. I personally found it really frustrating that people did not respond to messages that were posted."
I am sorry Vicky, but I have had to juggle many things including work over the last few weeks and have found it difficult to find time to involve myself as much as I would have liked.
" - as a group, we might have benefitted from more feedback to questions raised in conference. Once or twice, feedback was requested but received from only some of the group members."
I agree with you, the same few always had input, but we must account for and understand othesr situations. Not all of us has the free time or flexiblity like others.
"- in my desire to be a good group co-ordinator, I think I overwhelmed you all, not just with too many posts but also messages that were too long."
I am sorry Lois, but I do have to agree with you there!! The information contained was good, although sometimes too long (Pot calling the kettle black here!!)
- I was unhappy at having to take the decision to drop The Illuminators in the final week because I felt I could have handled that better.
Like you Lois, I was disappointed that we could not reach a satisfactory decision about the group name Illuminators...
"On reflection perhaps this should have been one of those times when a 'live meeting' would have been appropriate and we could have thrashed it out...."
I am sorry to cause any waves here, but I thought the "Illuminators" name was unsutable. I didn't feel it was apropriate for my web page, but felt uneasy about saying so. It didn't state anywhere that we had to have a group name. I DID ask that we got together to discuss this, but as always, no response this. I know I volanteered to produce a Logo for us, but with my circumstances as they were I was unable to help, I am sorry for that.
Perhaps it would be better next time, if the group members could take more collective responsibility for groupwork rather than allowing one member to do most of the organising.I also agree that the group should take more responsibility for the group work...
I do apologise to you here, Lois. We did take you for granted more than once. But saying that, I too felt awkward about raising area's of doubt. Also, the homepage was completed well before any of our personal web pages, so there was no real discussion here to how we should disign it.
I hope this has helped.
Chris

Hi Chris,
Thanks for your input - it's all 'grist to the mill'. I hope that our reflections will be a valuable exercise and help us see how we can do better next time.
We have to accept, as a group, that some members will find it difficult to participate as much as they would like. This might be for reasons of work commitment, family responsibilities, or even temporary (and hopefully swiftly-resolved) personal difficulties outside their control.
Perhaps we might simply attempt to keep in touch as much as possible with the discussions and messages in our own Tutor Group conference. Obviously, there will be times when we miss a few (or a lot) of days and have to catch up. But if a question (like The Illuminators) arises and is resolved without the input of some members, then the consensus of the group is weakened.
On the point of the Group Name, can I refer you forward to the section on Xerox PARC? (the last of the sections now available on the T171 website). Exercise E5 'Developing Web Authoring Skills' involves the creation of yet another collaborative group web site. Its specific instructions read: "Your group should agree on a name and try and include some images, either to add identify the group or to add interest to the page". The name given to the fictitious group in the sample answer is The Wolverhampton Wanderers Tutor Group !
On the last point, about the creation of the Group Web Channel Page, yes I agree that I dived in headfirst and created a page without any input from the other group members.
BUT the whole of my message 'Format of Group Channel Web Page' on March 23rd specifically asked the rest of the group for input on the page. It was only a basic idea (it certainly wasn't completed at that point and underwent a lot of changes before the end of the TMA) and I made it clear that I was happy to change any aspects of the page - but I could only do that if I got some feedback on what the rest of you wanted. If you check back, you'll find that the message has no answers at all.......
Despite the lack of feedback, I feel I am right in saying that, by allowing me to take overall responsibility for the Group Web Channel Page, you all felt able to concentrate fully on your own personal web pages. Considering that HTML was causing a few problems in the group, this might well have been a good way to work - on this occasion.
But in future groupwork projects, like Exercise E5, it will not be a good way to work and the input of all members will be valuable - essential - in creating the end result. The 'areas of doubt' that you mentioned, Chris, should be voiced - we have a good foundation to build on after this assignment. I feel that we know each other well enough now to be able to discuss points openly and constructively.
Oh dear, I'm sorry, I've just done what I said I would try not to do - a long message. But this conference will be closing soon and I think we have had a useful exchange of ideas about the successes and failures of our groupwork.
Lois