It's very quiet on the course this week. We have divided into groups , so effectively the course is split in two. Sometimes participants find this change of pace disturbing. Silence and quiet online can be experienced like a loud 'clang'! On another course I have worked on, participants in their feedback have said that they miss the whole group when they move into small groups. I wonder what these participants are thinking. This course is definitely a lot slower and quieter than all the other courses I work on, but perhaps this suits the subject and perhaps participants are relieved to have a bit more space and time this week.
I have also been wondering how they are finding the collaborative groupwork experience. I'm conscious of this because of the research team that I am currently working with online. We have never met and are working together on a wiki. We have a personal reflections folder on our wiki, where we reflect on our research process. One of our research team has said that this meta-meta cognition is too much for him, but I find the process of observing our workings as a research team, just as fascinating as the research itself. In this research reflections folder, we have just (at the instigation of one of our team) scored ourselves against a set of team working questions. This was useful as it made me think once again about the difficult balance between forming a well-knit team who support each other, and challenging each other when we don't agree. Just how much compromise is healthy? And just how much should we say what we think?
I recently did a wonderful course with Stephen Downes and George Siemens - Connectivism and Connective Knowledge - all about how we make connections online and access and construct knowledge through these connections (oversimplified explanation!)
Stephen distinguishes between groups and networks as follows
- groups emphasize sameness, networks emphasize diversity
- groups emphasize order and control, networks emphasize autonomy
- groups emphasize borders and membership, networks emphasize openness
- groups emphasize additive, cumulative knowledge, networks emphasize emergent knowledge
There was also discussion on the course about how groups encourage us to cocoon ourselves in echo chambers, so that there is not too much challenge to our thinking. I can relate to this, as time and again I myself falling into the trap of not saying what I think for fear of offending.
It's a very delicate balance getting this right - so that the team/group is able to challenge each other and make progress, whilst at the same time maintaining relationships close enough to produce an outcome.
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