My goal, since this is a new course is to “author” not “re-author” my course materials to take full advantage of the benefits of both in-class and online delivery methods. The course; Introduction to Design Management is a 300 level, undergraduate course and is the first course students will take in the design management option. As a new course, students have no expectations of how the course was previously offered and this is both exciting and challenging, as I have no roadmap to use as a guide. I do know that I want the online content to push students to utilize online tools and practices in creative and collaborative ways. I chose pitfalls #1: Upload your course materials, then call it a day and #5: Ignore the ways students learn from each other to respond to.
I am particularly interested in exploring innovative ways the online portion of the course can push team projects in new directions. One idea that I am considering is to have groups create their own unique online presence, enabling the entire class to see how all teams in the class are organizing and managing a given project. In addition to their own group members, students can collaborate with teams outside of their group and share feedback and ideas. One of the great things that online courses provide is the opportunity to have more transparency throughout a project compared to a non-hybrid class, because the digital material is available all the time and the entire class can have access. In a typical non-hybrid course, students utilize class time for team meetings and presentations, but the students rarely see the daily or weekly progress and process of how other teams are working. Allowing teams to see one another’s process, progress and being allowed to contribute to other team’s process and progress may create a richer and more transparent experience for students. My hope is that innovative online team experiences will expand student’s collaborative toolkit, help them gain confidence in peer learning and discussion and aid students in letting go of “ownership” in collaborative work.
Team building and coaching flow chart on blackboard
