1. Why online teamwork?
Higher education institutions need to equip their graduates and professionals for global virtual teamwork with International Online Collaboration Competencies (IOCCs) such as ICT competencies, Intercultural and cultural competencies, communication and language competencies, self-management and organizational competencies, collaboration competencies and domain specific competencies. Methods to teach and evaluate IOCCs acquisition are underdeveloped but urgently needed. (Kolm & al. 2022.)
Teamwork is an essential part of collaborative learning promoting shared learning. The benefits of collaborative learning are presented and discussed in the training module Introduction.
Research suggests (e.g. Kasurinen 2019) that students experience stress with group works, especially if the process is not well guided and supported by educators. The stress experienced in online groups may even be more severe as students often do not have the same interactive resources to bond, build trust and overcome potential conflicts.
Online teamwork differs from in-class or face-to-face teamwork in many aspects. Team dynamics are mostly hidden for the educator and students often suffer from lack of trust and lower work commitment if online interaction and support for team building processes are insufficient.
Teamwork online can, however, be very motivating for learners. Instead of coping along and often in isolation from peers, teamwork can provide benefits such as learning collaboratively and from each other or getting psychological support from peers in the same situation. A teamwork setting can thus enable a more trust-evoking and supportive learning environment than a typical one-way lecturing mode.
Teamwork may also be needed for practical reasons. Many faculty members are facing growing student group sizes with decreasing lecturing hours. While working with limited hourly resources educators can design, implement and evaluate teamwork smartly, benefit of digital opportunities and still offer a best possible learning experience for the learners.
