1.4 Your workgroup
Throughout the course you will be working with two classmates in a private information sharing area known as a workgroup. You can access this area on the course home page in the section called Workgroups. Each group of three wthin the class has their own private area. It contains:
- a forum
- a file sharing page
- a chat.
This is where you will develop your innovation project. You will work individually and also as a Brains trust (critical friend or motivator) for the others in the group.
Successful communications in your workgroup
All communication in this area will be done using text. Written communication does not convey the same expression as face-to-face does and the rapport you develop with colleagues is important. The tone of a message will build it or destroy it. The basic rule is to have and to show consideration for the other party. If you will just stop and think how the other person is likely to receive your communication, you will go a long way towards preventing misunderstandings and not giving offense. The simple test is:
“How would I feel in these circumstances, if I received this message?”
Also remember that anything 'said' in the workgroup, stays in the workgroup.
Further information
If you would like to explore this topic fully, these websites may assist:
Using Your Motivationals Skills Carl Hoffman, Eioba: your articles
Outcomes
At the end of this topic you will have:
- considered the role of workgroups
- established your own workgroup space
- communicated within your workgroup.
Activity one: Workgroups - support, motivate, critique?
The term Brains trust originally referred to a group of advisers to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. Later 'The Brains Trust' was a popular UK informational BBC radio and television programme during the 1940s and 50s. Brains trust nowdays refers to a group of experts who discuss issues and serve, usually unofficially, as advisers to others. This document may help you better understand the role.
You can also try this optional online quiz from ABC's The Einstein Factor to test your knowledge! This show has its own 'brains trust'.
Think back on your own experience of instances when you or someone you have known has benefitted from a brains trust. What was it that the brains trust did that improved the situation?
Enter your reflections in your learning journal.
Activity two - Introduction to your workgroup
, you are now ready to explore using your workgroup. You access it from the main course page or by clicking on the 'Wgroup' icon next to an activity.
As you will work through the activities listed below in your workgroup it may help you to print the page. You can always print page content using the print icon in the top right hand bar.
Your workgroup always opens at the Innovation project page. The Innovation project is the project for this course. It runs right through the course with small sequential tasks. Watch the video and read the information provided about the workgroup and your project.
Next you need to set up your own Workgroup forum space or thread. All your project work will be entered and maintained under this thread.
An overview of forums is in 1.3: Online communication tools. More detailed information is in your Navigation book and you used a Group Forum in the 1.1: Teleconference. Refer to these to refresh your memory as required.
In your workgroup area, open the forum listed in the left-hand menu under the button for the Innovation project. Click on the new thread icon and type your first name into the Thread title bar. Since this is not a message but rather a place where all your messages will be attached you do not need to write anything just click Post.
As your project will focus on an issue in your own school or workplace it will help your Brains trust to know a little about where you work. Write a couple of sentences giving some background information about your school/workplace e.g. size, type, location, student demographics etc. Type and save your text to a word document. In your workgroup forum click on Reply to your name message. Highlight the title and change it to 'my school'. Copy and paste your saved text into 'Your Message' and Post your entry.
Read the other entries. Click on Reply and ask one question your would like answered about each school/workplace. Post your question. Return to your thread in the forum and answer the questions posed by the other two members of your Brains trust. Check back later in the other two threads for the answers to your questions.
Locate a picture of your school/workplace or the local area near where you work. Remember to only use student or staff images if you have permission to do so. Open the file sharing area below the forum in the left-hand menu.
Upload the photo where you see this icon 
and put the name of the school/workplace as the title of the file.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
© State of New South Wales through the NSW Department of Education and Training 2007,
Professional Learning and Leadership Development Directorate, School Leadership and Executive Learning Unit
This work may be freely reproduced for personal learning purposes. Permission must be received from the Department for all other uses.
Not Licensed under NEALS.