Advantages.

• Although you need communication skills to participate, online group working actually improves these skills, through seeing how others use the medium to put across their ideas. I know when I started the T171 course; in group activities I would just add a one-line comment but seeing how others participate encouraged me communicate much more.

• When you have to explain your ideas to others in the group and visa versa it helps to formulate those very ideas, allowing you to expand upon them.

• Others explaining how they have understood an idea may let the light in on something that you could not get your head around.

• Encouragement from others when things are not going well.

• You can share out the work load, I found this especially useful in exercises like OT2 stage 1 writing for the web; were the searching and evaluating of a web site is made much easier.

Disadvantages.

• The work rate of different members of the group may not be the same causing some to be left behind and others feeling frustrated at not been able to get on. (This is where a good group leader is essential).

• Due to the nature of group working compromise is necessary and therefore some good ideas can be left out.

• Although with conferencing as used in the T171 course the time factor is not so critical (if you log on once a day you can keep up with the schedule) but for some on-line group working this could be a problem.

References.

• T171. (2002) Home page [online] The Open University. Available from: http://t171.open.ac.uk/t171/ [Accessed 27 September 2002]

• Dr Dixon L. (Lynne Dixon@oufcn5.open.ac.uk) February 27 2002, Re: OT2 Writting for the web. Electronic conference submission to T171 bld4 OT2 (Open University T171 tutor group resticted conference).