Collaborative Assessment of the Remote Online Process

 

Challenges Faced

          By far the biggest challenge faced by this group has been communication in the online setting. Any new group of people just getting to know one another and working collaboratively on a project, would have challenges. However, not having the ability to meet face-to-face, discuss areas of content, and troubleshoot problems with the OIR added a new dimension of challenge. Mainly, technology caused the lion’s share of issues with our communication. A group member may be having Internet connectivity trouble on a particular night a meeting is planned, or they might not have large enough bandwidth to participate in the online chat discussions using Google Hangouts. In general, this was not a frequent occurrence, and all members of the group worked on their end to resolve technical issues and make it possible for the meetings to continue and be productive.  
          In addition to meeting in Google Hangouts, the group frequently checked in on Blackboard throughout the week to touch base on any issues with the OIR that may arise. Kent email was also used as another important way to communicate. This could allow for group members to reply at a convenient time for them. Despite the technical setbacks, this group was highly communicative and worked well together. The Google Hangouts was a great opportunity to see personalities shine and make connections which are essential to working as a team. Our group never had issues with netiquette and everyone was very aware of other people’s feelings.
        Because this was a project for an asynchronous class, there were challenges of finding a suitable time for everyone to meet. Obviously not all group members had the same work schedule. Some members might work weekends, others at night, and some had families to care for or other personal obligations. Online classes are very appealing because they can be worked to fit around personal schedules and various commitments. That being said, this group was very flexible and was able to find a consistent weekly meeting time to discuss questions and important areas of this OIR. Overall, this has been a rewarding experience and all members of the group have gained a great deal in this learning process of working together in a remote, online fashion.

 

Benefits of Online Collaboration

       
          There are two major components of online collaboration: the online experience and the collaborative standpoint. Our group had a positive online collaboration experience. A major disadvantage of online class is usually not being able to professionally network or form friendships, yet group assignments encourage and nurture such relationships. One benefit of group work is not having to be responsible for understanding, synthesizing, and executing the intricacies of the project on one’s own. Seeing others’ perspectives and learning from differing personalities and opinions is best practiced in class through group work. Team members benefit from the support and encouragement they receive from each other. We held weekly and sometimes biweekly meetings where we were able to discuss not only our assignment at hand, but also the class itself, which gave way to open and authentic conversations about our lives: jobs, families, current frustrations, happy news, etc.
        Online collaboration is flexible and convenient. One can be virtually anywhere with internet access to meet online, share materials, or carry on email conversations. We had a member of our group able to meet online even as she was on vacation! Our online materials were portable and easy for all group members to view. Actions could be executed quickly because most documents were in a shared space that all group members could access which also made the assignment at hand easier to manage. Online collaboration also made it simple and clear who is responsible for what in the group, eliminating confusion and miscommunication. Together, we were able to experiment with and learn about different formats of online social software and determine what worked best. Professionally, knowing how to successfully collaborate online is a powerful tool in the workplace with technology shaping the way librarians and information scientists communicate with each other on a micro and global scale.

Future Application of the Online Collaborative Process

        
          In the future, we will be able to apply what we have learned from this online collaboration to our professional and personal lives. Our collaboration has taught us about team work and how we, as individuals, work with others. In the future we can apply our newly found skills to projects at work, enabling us to better recognize the strengths and weaknesses of ourselves and our teammates. Our patience with ourselves and others has improved as has our ability to work with people who have differing personality types, communication styles, and ways of navigating stressful situations. Because of the social component of this collaboration and the very honest, kind, and open approach our group took, we will be better able to function in the future as supervisors, teammates, and individuals, discovering more fully our own valuable strengths while helping those around us to shine brightly.
         This experience will help us in our future endeavors at SLIS and in our future careers. If we encounter group collaborations in other classes, or at work, we will be better prepared than most at tackling the situation at hand and producing excellent results. This collaboration has emphasized the importance of and need for structure. As a result of our collaboration, we will bring with us into the future an improved ability to provide structure and boundaries to projects and undertakings. The lessons we have learned, the obstacles we have overcome, and the numerous skills we have gained during this collaboration will continue to benefit us for years to come, both personally and professionally.