Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, instructors have endeavored to identify alternative assessments to engage their students online. Facilitating collaborative projects online is a challenging task and one that many instructors might not be sufficiently prepared for. Virtual team projects can be particularly challenging, as students grapple with issues related to technology, management, communication, and culture (Flammia et al., 2016).
This article highlights the key stages that virtual student teams typically go through, along with one or more practical strategies that instructors can employ to facilitate those stages. Some of these strategies employ the use of e-tivities, which are structured, forum-based activities (Salmon, 2013).
The remainder of this article focuses on the following four stages of virtual teamwork:
Stage 1: Find a team and choose a topic for the project
Stage 2: Define team members’ roles
Stage 3: Decide how to approach the project
Stage 4: Undertake the project