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3 Takeaways

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This class has left me with many takeaways for online classes and just regular courses as well.

  1. Online courses can make communication with others difficult if you do not establish a plan. Sitting down with your classmates or groupmates and discussing what is expected out of everyone is a must. Communication is key.
  2. Addressing problems is important to do as quickly as possible. If you notice a problem with a group member, technology problem, access problem, etc, you need to address it quickly so you can get it solved quickly. Communication with the professor of the class and others is important in these difficult situations, but you are never alone.
  3. Time management is especially important in online classes, but is helpful in other places as well. Take a couple minutes at the beginning of each week and plan out your online course work for each day and the times you plan on doing it. Include where you are working as well. Doing this will help you stay on top of your work and not get behind. This can also be applied to other classes or jobs as well. Planning ahead of time can never hurt you, and can only be beneficial to you so take a second and PLAN!

Group Work in an Online Setting

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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).

Richardson, C. (2004). Participating in Group Projects Online. In G. M. Piskurich (Ed.), Getting the most from online learning: A learner’s guide (pp. 145-152). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons

 

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.