TEAM-BUILDING ONLINE

TEAM-BUILDING ONLINE

"I am looking for a team-building exercise that I can use when doing online learning," says a reader. "Any suggestions or ideas?"

Here's what you said:

Build teams online with breakout rooms, recommends Anne Palmer Johnson (annepj@bmra.com). "Frequently, during a live online class of 30 to 60 students, a handful of students interact with the lead instructor and the 'silent majority' merely learn by observation, as opposed to learning by doing.

The 'breakout' feature in Web-conferencing software, by contrast, promotes full participation and team-buiding online by providing the capability to divide participants into smaller groups, thus encouraging increased interactivity, engagement and opportunity for learner-centric learning and team-building."

How does it work? First, says Johnson, the instructor provides the background for an exercise and sets the ground rules for engaging in a 10- to 15-minute brainstorming session. Then, participants are grouped together in breakout teams (generally three to six individuals per team) and allocated to private chat/whiteboard rooms to collaborate on their assignment.

Toward the end of their private session, they are given a three-minute alert to arrive at a solution and elect a team leader/spokesperson to present their case. All participants are then reunited in the main session to explore the different outcomes arrived at by each team.

The teams then break out again for a follow-up session. "This time around, there's apt to be more camaraderie and bonding, lending itself to a more relaxed breakout session affording greater participation by all members on the team. They then return to the general session, which will include feedback and wrap-up by the lead instructor."

Note that not all online Web-conferencing companies offer the "breakout room" feature, says Johnson -- i.e., the capability to enable private audio, whiteboard, quizzing and application sharing and to easily (and instantaneously) move participants and content between rooms. Some companies that offer the breakout-room feature, she says, include Elluminate Live! Virtual Classroom; Centra Virtual Classroom; and iLinc Virtual Classroom. Johnson is director of distance learning at Business Management Research Associates Inc. in Fairfax, Va.

source: TDF e-Net