Designing Group Work in Online Courses to Develop Preservice Teachers’ Professional Collaboration Skills

With post-secondary institutions increasing offerings of online courses, there is much to learn about how online group work is designed. This is of particular importance for professional certification courses where group work is used to develop skills needed to prepare students for their chosen field, such as K-12 education. As part of case study research, the authors synthesize findings collected from both instructors and students at Western Canadian post-secondary institutions offering online courses in their Bachelor of Education degree pathways. Seeking to understand how group work can be designed to build essential professional skills required in the teaching profession through online course delivery, data was collected through one online survey, semi-structured interviews, and course documents. Findings suggest four design considerations for online group work: (1) clearly articulate the purpose of group work, (2) provide learner support through teaching presence, (3) be intentional in how groups are established, and (4) leverage digital tools for collaboration. The results will serve to benefit faculty, students and educational policy makers in understanding how group learning in online courses can be designed to develop critical professional skills. This will particularly benefit post-secondary institutions providing online courses in professional fields.