By Desi St. Amant
Desi St. Amant is a middle school language arts and AVID teacher in Southern California. She is currently working to earn her MS in Education. As an online student, she has had many opportunities to work on team projects and collaborate with various members of online learning communities.
Introduction
I have come to the realization that I am a social person, a social learner. I get along with pretty much everyone, and I make new friends with relative ease, especially in face-to-face classes. Which brings me to some thought-provoking questions that I have only recently begun asking myself: Why has my online experience been so much different? Why have most of my online group experiences lacked that spark, that almost electric energy that was usually palpable when meeting face-to-face?
After reflecting, I realized that many of my online group experiences were productive enough, yet lacked a key ingredient for social learners like myself: a sense of community. There was an unmet need to see my online peers as complex people with unique stories and backgrounds instead of faceless strangers. Online group work provides a wonderful opportunity for people who must work together in creating a finished product—whether it is a report, a website, or a PowerPoint—to establish closer relationships and create a sense of community; however, bonding and creating an online community within a small group takes more than just completing an assignment together.
One obvious way to deepen the connections between online teammates is through the use of icebreakers, which are activities “designed to help students begin to feel comfortable with each other” and are characterized by “brevity, relatively low-risk involvement, and participation” (Boatman, S. 1991). Icebreakers will fulfill an emotional need not only to become familiar with peers, but also to forge a bond for social learners like myself. Implementing icebreakers at the beginning of small team projects is an essential part of creating a sense of community online because it will help groups build stronger relationships and, thus, add that much needed spark to the overall online teamwork experience.
Face-to-Face Group Work Versus Online Group Work
As preparation methods and teaching strategies improve, online group work has increasingly been viewed in a more favorable light. Instructors have steadily improved the way students work together online by facilitating collaboration, providing structure, and modeling the use of communication tools such as wikis, discussion boards, and chats. Through increased guidance and support, online groups have experienced more benefits, such as receiving more feedback from peers in terms of problem-solving, the development of collaborative skills, and preparation for the 21st century workplace (Maier, 1967). However, various indicators point to the fact that that online groups are still not as successful as face-to-face groups when it comes to feeling acquainted, building trust, and overall satisfaction. In fact, studies suggest that online groups are less effective than face-to-face groups because of fewer interactions and their severely limited ability to handle non-verbal exchanges (Johnson, Chanidprapa, Seung, Berrett, & La Fleur, 2002). According to Liu and Burn (2007), because of the lack of in-person contact, online “teams find it difficult to establish intimacy and feelings of bonding,” so they generally show “lower degrees of satisfaction with their quality of decision making” than their face-to-face counterparts. This absence of closeness can lead to a weaker sense of “cohesion” among online teammates and make it easier for some group members to contribute less while the “remaining members feel angry, frustrated and dissatisfied resulting in the team being less productive” (Liu & Burn, 2007). Clearly, face-to-face groups tend to build stronger relationships and bonds than online groups because of proximity, non-verbal communication, and in-person interaction while online group members remain relatively emotionally detached. .
In a study exploring what makes online group projects work, Lopez and Lin (2005) came to a similar conclusion, stating that online students generally felt computer mediated communication lacked “the ‘thickness’ of personal exchanges.” As a result, participants were more likely to misunderstand each other and feel insecure about expressing ideas to one another because they could not rely on non-verbal cues that are present in interpersonal exchanges (Lopez & Lin, 2005). Facilitating online group work is challenging enough because of students’ different schedules, a lack of proximity, and asynchronous communication. With this in consideration, instructors should give online teams an opportunity to smooth out those inevitable wrinkles ahead of time. Online students must find common ground on a more personal level in order for their groups to better understand each other and have the most rewarding collaborative experience possible.
The Need for Bonding within Online Groups
Although most online groups are productive and complete their given assignments, there is a need to enrich the online group work experience by creating a sense of community, no matter how small it may be. Online group members need that critical additional time to establish relationships and protocols in their initial meeting (Johnson, Chanidprapa, Seung, Berrett, & La Fleur, 2002). As Napiers and Waters (2001) claim, learning is inherently a social experience; therefore, “building relationships in online environments . . . is essential to team effectiveness.” When one considers how group members are able to “predict each other’s behaviors and match their strengths and interests to tasks” as a result of being better acquainted with each other, it should be no surprise that there is a positive correlation “between team member relations and team performance” (Naipers & Waters, 2001). Of course, in order for online peers to have an awareness of each other’s interests and strengths, they must have the initial opportunity to get acquainted with each other and develop a bond.
Reinhart, Slowinski, and Anderson (2001) also emphasized the need for online educators to provide this valuable opportunity to small groups, saying that they need to “create activities that would encourage sharing and cooperation.” Students will be more likely to immediately engage with each other and form positive relationships when they can share about themselves while cooperating in an activity. In addition, this type of exercise will meet students’ need for establishing trust, support, and sense of inclusion that will facilitate ongoing online collaborations (Reinhart, Slowinski, & Anderson, 2001). Enabling online students to explore common interests within their small groups will nurture a sense of ownership, increase motivation, and make students feel more invested in the group learning process (Lopez & Lin, 2005).
How Icebreakers Can Develop a Sense of Community
Readers may ask themselves if adding that extra spark—that sense of community—to online group work is really as simple as just adding an icebreaker. It actually is that simple, considering that icebreakers are a simple yet powerful tool for enhancing group dynamics. Providing groups the opportunity to get to know each other as individuals through introductions before starting on a project is likely to improve the group process (Reinhart, Slowinski, & Anderson, 2001). In addition, online icebreakers give participants more control than in a face-to-face environment because it allows them to share information according to their comfort level. In other words, online students can take some time to reflect on the icebreaker activity, think about what they feel comfortable sharing with others, and express it in a thoughtful way.
Another vital element that icebreakers can bring to online groups is a sense of trust. When group members know they can trust each other and rely on each other, this trust “enhances group learning and development and allows teams to manage conflict more effectively” in order to increase productivity (Napier & Waters, 2001). Anyone who has participated in an online group project knows that conflict-resolution is an essential factor in successful online collaboration. When individuals feel that their interests and unique perspectives are recognized, respected, and valued, they are more willing to reciprocate that same level of trust and respect to their peers, thus creating a stronger sense of community within their online group.
In an effort to model and experiment with the implementation of icebreakers into small group projects, my own online group did one to get a feel for this process. While members of our group were somewhat familiar with one another from other classes and activities, I found that we learned so much more about each other. The icebreaker took place in our small group discussion board, where our sharing took place concurrently with discussions for the group project so that it would not derail our productivity. We greatly enjoyed learning more about each other, and the stories we revealed about ourselves made us realize that we had even more in common than we thought and drew us closer. I can personally attest to the fact that this bonding activity has made us feel more comfortable in seeking guidance from each other, which has transformed our group into a small community of support . As one can clearly see, online communities bring people separated by vast distances closer together on an emotional level and fulfill the human need to have a sense of belonging.
Conclusion
Clearly, online learning and group projects come with unique opportunities and challenges that must be addressed while keeping students’ emotional and social needs in mind. While establishing relationships between peers is not the sole factor in productive online groups, it would better facilitate communication, trust, and cooperation among group members. Many participants will enjoy it and relish in the opportunity to share what makes them unique with others. Although icebreakers would be an additional element in the group process, it will not add undue stress to participants; it is a small extra step that has the potential to transform a group of individuals into a true online community.
References
Boatman, S. (1991). Icebreakers and group builders in the classroom. Proceedings from the Annual Meeting of the Central States Communication Association 1991. Chicago, IL.
Johnson, S., Chanidprapa, S., Seung, W., Berrett, J., La Fleur, J. (2002). Team development and group processes of virtual learning teams. Computers and Education. Retrieved July 22, 2009 from https://bb.csueastbay.edu/courses/1/2093EDUI6707_10_HA_MRG/uploads/_1198324_1/Johnson_Virtualteams.pdf.
Liu, Y., Burn, J. (2007). Improving the performance of online learning teams-A discourse analysis. Journal of Information Systems Education. Retrieved July 13, 2009 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4041/is_200710/ai_n21137658/?tag=content;col1Lopez-Ortiz, B., & Lin, L.(2005) What makes an online group project work? International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(2). Retrieved July 22, 2009 from http://itdl.org/Journal/Feb_05/article04.htmMaier, N. (1967). Assets and liabilities in group problem solving: The need for an interactive function. L. Bradford (Ed.). Group Development. San Diego: University Associates.
Napier, W., Waters, L. (2001). Building a team collaboration in the virtual classroom. Proceedings from the National Convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology 2001. Atlanta, GA.
Reinhart, J., Slowinski, J., Anderson, T. (2001). Cross-country conversations: Techniques for facilitating web-based collaboration. Proceedings from NECC: National Educational Computing Conference 2001. Chicago, IL.