Straight out of the Comfort Zone: Collaboration increases knowledge

I know I am not the first to say and know I will not be the last. Honestly, I hate working on group projects. Scheduling, the constant communications, and miscommunication that always seems to occur make group projects the most frustrating process. When working on a group project, collaboration can make or break the project. Working with my group of six during our Educational Technology Leadership role simulation proved just how powerful teamwork can be. At first, it felt a little overwhelming trying to get everyone on the same page, but once we found our rhythm, everything started to get better.

One thing that we managed to do was go beyond the basic requirements. We all had to choose a leadership style that did not align with what we were currently, basically we had to get out our comfort zones. Tierra advocated for an email thread, which will go along with goal of getting out of our comfort zones. Realistically we could not converse in a timely manner using groupme let alone an email thread which our grade would be heavily based up. Our next option was to implement zoom, something that we can schedule and can be quick. However, zooms and google chats are our old reliable, how can one really grow and learn without broadening their horizons. Lauren had the idea of using Notebook LM to proceed with the project. I previously tried to use that program for a discussion board and it was a major failure, I did not know how to work that one bit. Lauren taught us how to create a podcast using that platform. It initially felt incredibly out of my comfort zone but soon became easy to navigate. This hands-on experience pushed us to explore new tech tools, and it ended up being one of the highlights of our collaboration. According to Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2010), collaborative projects like this not only deepen learning but also build a strong sense of community among team members. 

Something that could have been time-consuming and confusing became easier as we divided tasks and leaned on one another’s expertise. Isn’t that essentially what leadership is all about? When everyone was in sync and working toward the same goal, productivity and creativity soared. Instead of just checking off boxes, we were creating something meaningful, and we learned so much in the process. We weren’t just completing an assignment, but building leadership skills, communicating clearly, and growing our understanding of educational technology. Barrett (2010) explains that technology-driven projects are most successful when collaboration is intentional and reflective, and that’s exactly what happened. We were building off one another’s ideas, which made the project easier and more refined than if we had each worked individually.

References

Barrett, H. (2010). Balancing the Two Faces of ePortfolios. Retrieved from http://electronicportfolios.org/balance/

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2010). The first decade of the community of inquiry framework: A retrospective. The Internet and Higher Education, 13(1-2), 5–9.

Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2009). An educational psychology success story: Social interdependence theory and cooperative learning. Educational Researcher, 38(5), 365–379.