Effective group work management using web 2.0 technologies

Groupwork (group coursework) is one of the popular forms of collaborative learning. Majority of the courses taught at tertiary level employ groupwork as an assessment tool (either formative or summative). However, it works best if everyone makes equal contributions otherwise, it could result in frustrating and de-motivating the more serious and able students. This study collects data about students’ experience of working in groups. This data is collected via a pilot study carried out with students enrolled in two Information Technology modules at an offshore campus of a British University in Dubai. The aim of the study is to mainly assess whether the non-contributor and communication related issues were of concern to these students. Analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data demonstrates that the non contributor issue is definitely a major concern which gravely de-motivates the serious students. It is interesting to note that although students these days are so connected via technology, communication still appears to be of grave concern. Another issue related to communications is difficulty in collaboration and compilation of individual contributions. However, the overall experience with working in groups for the students was extremely positive. It is recommended that use of Web 2.0 collaborative tools and technologies will help to overcome these problems and in turn, enhance student experience. It is suggested that advantage of using such collaborative web tools is two-fold. Firstly, to provide a ubiqutious access to the tutor of all team members’ work and the ability to monitor individual effort more accurately. Secondly, it will further empower the students to collaborate on their work online, thus reducing communication related issues. Wikis, Google Apps, Zoho and Dropbox are the tools suggested for use, appraising the offerings and features of these tools. It is posited that the use of such applied learning technologies with cloud storage and synchronization solutions will not only help students acquire transferable skills such as effective communication, academic writing and team work management but will also promote learner independence and possibly reduce the negative impact of groupwork.