ENHANCING STUDENT COLLABORATION IN GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS Laurel Powell

GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS Virtual Collaboration and Teamwork Collaboration Benefits, Social Competence, Psychological Health Used by: Cisco Systems, IBM, Intel, Shell Oil Company, Toshiba, Siemens, Microsoft Corporations, Accenture, Alcoa

DEFINITION Global Virtual Teams Temporary Electronically Mediated Culturally Diverse Geographically Distributed

SUCCESS FACTORS Clear Purpose Measureable Goals Appropriate Team Size (3-5 People) Team Norms or Operating Guidelines Effective Communication Decision Making Skills and Processes Strong Leadership (Particularly Difficult in Virtual Teams) Pedagogical, Technological and Cultural Issues

ADVANTAGES OF GVTS Exposure to Variety of Ideas, Perspectives and Problem Solving Approaches Creativity Cognitive and Social Development Improved Skills in Developing Arguments

MANAGEMENT OF GVTS Positive Interdependence Perception that a team member cannot succeed without team success Promotive Interaction Acknowledging and Challenging Ideas Individual Accountability Objective Assessment of Performance Appropriate Use of Social Skills Trust, Clear Communication Group Processing Monitoring Work to Facilitate Social Interaction and Quality Work

COMPOSITION OF THE TEAM Larger Groups are Less Productive (3-5 Members per Team) Team Experts Diversity of Talents and Experiences Self Selected Teams v. Instructor Selected Teams Individualistic v. Collectivistic Cultures Task Specialization

MANAGEMENT Cohesiveness Communication Media Computer Literacy “Richness” of Media Asynchronous v. Synchronous Communications Trust Among Team Members

MANAGEMENT Problem Solving and Decision Making Different Tools for Different Parts of the Problem Solving Process Content and Format of GVT Deliverables Instructor Involvement Team Discussions Highlight Common Ground Mediate Conflicts Engage Participants

EVALUATION Challenge for Instructors Evaluation Process Peer Rating Self Evaluation

DISCUSSION?

GARY F KOHUT THE JOURNAL OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING, VOL. 12, NO. 3, 2012, 44-60