Week 13 Group 4 Current Event

Group 4 Buddha here! [Jason Nagata]: Facilitator Kayelani Newman: Contributed Melanie Mamhot: Contributed  Johanna Mindo: On Vacation: Camping (no response from Email) Nathan Oda:        Work Issues (no response from Email) Michelle Mukaida: Life issues, Academic Issues, Computer Issues (no response from Email) This weeks current events topic was, "what are the top three most effective ways of communicating with your peers in an online course". Explained: "Here we are in the middle of week 13 of our distance education course. What methods have you found effective in communicating with your peers"? Our group's top three most effective ways of communicating with each other in an online course are: 1. Email was most efficient, it is easy to send out agendas, reminders and updates to our whole group and  members can access and read messages at their own convenience. In addition, I used it to keep group members updated on progress and reminders for things due. 2. Text-Messages for faster responses in emergency situations. In addition, it gets straight to the point., you don't have to listen to people go off on a tangent and waste your time or people may be busy at the moment (in class or driving). Although it can have drawbacks, because it is less personal and words can be misinterpreted due to lack of emotional tone and context. 3.  Google doc- easy to share ideas about projects when we can live chat and make real time changes.  Although these were our primary modes of communication, some members have not been able to keep up with emails, keep in touch to let us know what is going on, mostly due to a combination of lost of interest and  motivation, academic issues, life issues, work issues, and technological issues.   Here is a cool website on what you can use and facilitate communication in online classes:   "What Are the Main Online Communication Tools"?  This website lists communication tools, such as video conferencing, emails, chat, forums etc...and also how to be a facilitator and how to go about organizing a group for productivity. http://youthguide.iearn.org/index.php/get-ready-for-global-environment/communication-tools.html  A condensed version of highlights of being a facilitator from the website are below: "You are a facilitator. But what does it mean?...facilitator stimulates the discussion, keeping in mind certain goals of it, but never controls it". Before starting: "Introduce the topic – try to make a clear introduction of the discussion or project" "Meet people you work with – its always exciting to meet new people, and in case of you being a facilitator – that’s even essential"! "Agree on the rules of your group together with your participants". "Consult meanings of notions and words you believe are key for the discussion". While working: "Keep the discussion going – always try stimulating it giving additional or external incentives for participants to react and be active". "Be in touch – never fall out. In most of cases, if you are gone out of touch, your groups will start breaking up and loose interest in the subject". "Equal and involving participation – is a key to effective group work. Make sure you involve everyone and no one stays behind or keeps silence. Everyone has an opinion and your role is to make it heard". "Share responsibility and organization – try to make everyone involved through giving participants their unique roles in the group". "Be ready to help and assist – if there are any questions popping up or troubles faced, try to negotiate about solutions". "Update information and send news periodically to your group. It’s always useful and very effective way of keeping in touch with people and remind them to get back to discussion". "...keep in mind the overall context of the discussion together with its objectives and most importantly, expected outcomes and desirable impact". "Try to look back and reflect time to time to what has been done so far and how far are you from your groups goal".