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Working in Teams

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class discussion

What are the most important and essential responsibilities of the members in a learning community?

One of the most important responsibilities that members of a learning community should have is the ability to empathize with one another.  Members should understand each other’s differences pertaining to the amount of time each member has allocated for group activities.  Members of a group have various personal and professional responsibilities, which may or may not affect the amount of time and effort allocated for group activities.  Therefore, each member should empathize with the other members of the group.

In addition, members of a group should understand each other’s cultural differences (Palloff & Pratt, 2005).  Since members come from different parts of the country or different parts of the world with different time zones, they all have distinct cultures and priorities.  In addition, their comfort levels related to sharing or establishing communication lines with each other may also vary.  Each member of a group has a unique personality with likes and dislikes, and to each his or her own educational and career goals and standards.

As part of a virtual learning community, each member must have a basic knowledge on how to utilize technology as a means of communication and collaboration with the other members of the group.  Some members may have more technological knowledge or background than the other members.  However, each member must strive to be comfortable with technology designed for virtual collaboration in order to maximize each other’s participation and learning opportunities.

Finally, all members must show respect to each other, in spite of the absence of face-to-face collaborations.  Each member should follow netiquette rules to avoid offending someone in the group unintentionally.  Caution in using all capital letters or exclamation marks should be made.  Caution in using slang words or stereotype messages should also be made.  It is easier for members to work together when everyone respects one another and when everyone gets along with each other.

What are some guidelines you can offer that would make your learning community interaction more productive?

Architectural Team Going over BlueprintsI personally advice each member of a learning community to give each other time and space to get acclimated with the group and to get familiarized with the technology used for group collaboration.  In our case, working through a wiki page is a new experience for many members.  I am one of the members not familiar with the wiki page and its components.  Therefore, I plan to spend extra time familiarizing myself with the group wiki and the wiki technology

 How should members of the learning community deal with other members that do not actively participate or that participate in a negative manner?  

 I believe that every person can communicate his or her challenges with others with respect.  Showing respect to others is universal and is required in all diverse groups and communities.  Even when two people do not agree with each other, they should still be able to express their ideas with each other in a very diplomatic manner.  The good thing about collaborating online, in an asynchronous mode, is that we can take our time to construct our sentences or posts carefully and methodically, making sure that we do not sound condescending, pushy, or difficult.  Therefore, if we see that one member is not participating actively or if he or she is participating in a negative manner, we can take our time when constructing our written words to reach out to that person without further creating a conflict.  Perhaps this particular member is going through a challenging season in his or her life and being allowing that person to explain his or her personal circumstances is necessary.  I always believe that the manner in which a message is delivered is just as critical and important as the message itself.

Reference

Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating online: Learning together in community. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.


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