Group Work in an Online setting can be a tricky thing. Communication with your group has been the most important thing I have learned from online classes so far. It is also very important to define roles and jobs for each individual in the group. Also setting dates for your group to do parts of the project can help move in along in an orderly fashion (Richardson, 2004).
Group work can be complicated as you have to rely on other people for part of the project, not just yourself. When you throw in the fact that you have to do it online, that makes it even more difficult to work with. It is easy to ignore a message from someone or an email, but it is much more difficult to ignore someone to their face. This is why it can be difficult not to meet with your group in person. This is also one of the reasons that it is essential to decide the source of communication before you start the project so that it can be very clear of the expectations and you will know exactly who may not be putting in enough work.