Class Presentation Review Blog

      I have always hated working in groups. In my mind group work was the recipe for disaster; however, it turns out that I wasn't familiar with the functions of a healthy group. When the professor announced that everything was going to be done in groups I felt the tiniest bit of annoyance, but I was left with a great surprise. Although our current circumstances are not the most convenient my teammates and I managed to do an amazing job communicating with one another. Not only did we learn about all the steps and stages of group work, we got to experience it ourselves. Other groups did an amazing job as well and I am happy to say that I was able to learn a lot from their presentations. Each group covered a different chapter of the book and had to create a presentation that reflected the chapter assigned. There were no difficulties for our group  but if in the near future we happen to experience them we'll know how to work past them. All groups provided important information needed in order to succeed while working in teams.

        In order to complete this assignment we had to go through the stages of forming, storming,norming,and performing.All four stages were achieved with no problems. We all agreed on a leader and tech person. Once it was time to pick who was working on what no one was left in the dark and we all had a say in our positions.Other members were added to the group later on which made the process a little messy at first but we were able to incorporate them with no problem. This actually actually made it easier for everyone instead of harder. 

    When it comes to what resources were used the majority of us used Blackboard,Google Slides, and WhatsApp. Blackboard is where our class meets with the professor, Google Slides was used to share and create our presentations with the rest of our group, and WhatsApp was needed to communicate outside the classroom. I found this necessary to mention  because without it we could've never been able to work in groups during a pandemic. Video Chats  were not necessary, most of our communication happened through WhatsApp and the few times we met during our class meetings on blackboard. During the presentation everyone cooperated and turned their cameras on which doesn't happen very often[LOL] and even though this is not always easy to do it definitely helps us feel more connected to one another. Technology has been an important and critical role on what we call "Virtual Groups". 

    Our group was assigned chapter 9 and in this chapter virtual group conflicts and many more are introduced. We learn that conflict goes unresolved a lot more virtually and that it's very hard to identify each others tone through text. The chapter also talks about the following conflicts: Issue related group conflict,Personality related group conflict,Culture and conflict, etc.  Although we did not experience any major group conflict we experienced small misunderstandings which were resolved through communication. Being able to learn a little more about the subject and how to handle it will definitely help us become better team players later on. Conflict can be created easily but i'm happy to know that my group found a way to take care of it in a healthy manner. Everyone participated and shared their thoughts. Our group leader did a great job, constantly checking in with us and making sure everyone was on the same page.

        

     Groups 1 and 3 were equally as informative and their presentations were executed amazingly. Chapter 3: Intercultural Communication, presented by the first group spoke about the differences in sexual orientation, gender, culture, race and how to communicate with one another despite those differences, which I think is a very important topic to cover when working with other people. Whereas group 3 included the different roles that make a group function and all the problem solving strategies covered in chapter 10. Our group had a leader and a tech person, however, most of us were simply assigned a section of the chapter to complete. Our differences never got in the way of course, and everyone completed their section on time. It was such a relief to be able to count in others to create something we were all proud of in the end.

   

    On the day of the presentation everyone from our group was present and ready. The night before we made sure to submit a list with the order in which we were presenting to make sure everything went smoothly for us and the audience listening.The group leader also made sure to return to the powerpoint to make some final changes.It was a very pleasant experience and for my first time being part of virtual group I would rate it a nine out of ten. All three groups had an amazing presentation with no unnecessary interruptions. I believe that everyone communicated with one another and that was reflected  not only on our presentation but everybody else's as well.

    

    It made me very happy knowing that the other two groups had a successful presentation as well. I have nothing but good things to say about everyone. All of our webcams were on, non of the presentations were delayed, I understood all the things being said and read, but most importantly I learned a lot easier with the PowerPoints created than if I were to read the book and memorize the information on my own.

     

    After having such a positive experience I do believe that my thoughts on group work is not the same as before. As I have stated previously everyone did such an outstanding job regardless of our current situation with Covid-19. There was so much effort put into these presentations which makes me look forward to what we can do together in future assignments. Everyone was respectful towards one another creating a safe environment to work in. I am very excited to continue to work in groups in hopes of getting better and more comfortable with teamwork.

                                                                                                            HANNY CUADRA