Groupworking

The T171 course is completely undertaken online, with a number of the activities and in particular tutorials were required to be undertaken as a group.  

One of the greatest advantages I found of group working, especially as the Open University is very much an isolated individual activity has been the opportunity to bounce ideas around the group. It allowed me to check that my understanding of a question or concept was correct and allowed me to receive views on the given subject which I had not considered. This was most noticeable when the activity was to be undertaken in two different groups. 

The most difficult part of group working has been the problem of ensuring that the group initially set and stuck to a workable set of deadlines to ensure decisions were made and acted upon.  This has been a concern throughout a number of the online tutorials.  It proved to be a very difficult balancing act between allowing enough time for group members individual circumstances and allowing enough time for the group to complete the activity which has been set. Combined with this we also have to allow an opportunity for anyone who requires it the possibility of joining in at a later.  

Lastly I found that much more thought had to be put into the phrasing of the responses, to ensure that everyone understood what point one was trying to put across. I found this could be either an advantage or disadvantage; it took longer but made you focus more.