Vicky Walker
Feb 10, 2023
Virtual Collaboration Tools
Mobile-First Learning
Although your course content is built out in the Brightspace Learning Management System, it is duplicated here to provide a mobile-first learning environment. You should consider creating Group Norms in your first meeting.
Establishing Group Norms
Professional Learning Community (PLC) team norms represent protocols and commitments developed by each team to guide members in working together. Norms help team members clarify expectations regarding how they will work together to achieve their shared goals.
Strategies for Establishing Team Norms
Begin by ask team members to think of a past negative experience they have had serving on a team or committee and to identify a specific behavior that prevented that group from being effective: for example, whining an complaining, arriving late and leaving early, being disengaged during the meetings, and so on. For each negative norm identified by members of your team, establish a positive commitment statement (a norm) your team should adopt that, if everyone adhered to it, would prevent the past negative experience from group learning.
Establishing Team Norms
Each team will establish its own norms. Norms are stated as commitments to act in certain ways rather than as beliefs. Norms are reviewed at the beginning and end of each meeting until each team member internalizes norm them.
You can consider asking your team to assess its effectiveness at least twice during this school year. This assessment should include a review of members’ adherence to team norms and the need to add new norms.
Remember. less is more. A few key norms are better than a laundry list. Violation of norms should be addressed when creating them.
Examples of Team Norms:
We will maintain a positive tone at our meetings and in our virtual discussions.
We will not complain about a problem unless we can offer a solution.
We will begin and end our meetings or complete our collaborative work on time and stay fully engaged throughout the year.
We will contribute equally to the workload of this team.
We will listen respectfully and consider matters from another’s perspective.
Optional Tools and Resources Your Group Can Use to Collaborate
VoiceThread: https://voicethread.com
Brightspace: https://www.d2l.com
Padlet: https://padlet.com
GoogleForms and Docs: https://docs.google.com/forms/u/0/
Brightspace Discussions: https://documentation.brightspace.com/EN/le/discussions/learner/discussions_intro_1.htm