This week one of my classmates posted a discussion about the characters that have been used to identify groups in this course. That got me thinking about what a clever idea that is. I think developing themes or identifiers for discussions for group work is a great way to build connections and community between classmates. Something as simple as a muppet can bring back nostalgic moments that group members can share with each other. Questions can be asked as to why a particular muppet represents the group, and something so common to break down communication barriers. The same with using sports icons. Who knew so many people would bond over a common dislike for Tom Brady? These identifiers were easy ways to discuss with others. I like that idea and will use those in the future in online courses, as well as in my face to face course.
As I thought about the identifiers that represented groups I found that I geared many of my pre-course survey questions so that I could find commonalities among my students. I could form groups based on education experience, learning styles, and teaching assignments. If I could form groups based on those commonalities, it may be a bit easier to break the communication barriers that so many struggle with in the group collaboration settings. Knowing years of experience may give me a loose indication of ages, so I may want to gear identifiers based on age groups that may identify with certain icons. For example, in my f2f classroom I know many of my high school students cannot identify with muppets, so I would have to find a different identifier for that grouping.
Another good week of putting all of the content together to form one good path in which to follow!
As I thought about the identifiers that represented groups I found that I geared many of my pre-course survey questions so that I could find commonalities among my students. I could form groups based on education experience, learning styles, and teaching assignments. If I could form groups based on those commonalities, it may be a bit easier to break the communication barriers that so many struggle with in the group collaboration settings. Knowing years of experience may give me a loose indication of ages, so I may want to gear identifiers based on age groups that may identify with certain icons. For example, in my f2f classroom I know many of my high school students cannot identify with muppets, so I would have to find a different identifier for that grouping.
Another good week of putting all of the content together to form one good path in which to follow!