We have liftoff...

Here’s the promised follow up post concerning another SJSU MLIS assignment. As part of the degree requirements, I have to complete a class that introduces you to the technology used in the program and then tests your ability to use that technology. This particular unit focuses on the mindset necessary for success in the program and personal skills necessary to being a team player in an online environment.

First up is a simple questionnaire, titled, Is Online Right for You?*

1. Do you possess strong time management skills?

I’ll tell you later.

2. Do you possess strong organizational skills?

If having an organization method that makes sense only to me is acceptable, then yes, yes I do.

3. Are you self-motivated?

Academically? Yes. Everything else? Ehrm... sometimes.

4. Do you enjoy working independently?

I absolutely prefer it.

5. Are you comfortable working with technology?

Who isn’t anymore, really?

6. Do you enjoy a challenge?

Given that I regard my secondary education as a sort of game where 4.0 = WIN, I think I can safely say yes.

5 out of 6 is, I’d say, passing. Moving on, let’s take a look at...

Strategies for Success!

Students in the survey mentioned several useful strategies to combat a feeling of remoteness for online classes and to impose some basic organization, including:

USE A CALENDAR.

I’m just two weeks in and I have absolutely no idea how you could function without one. Two of my classes run on a weekly schedule that doesn’t match another, so I have assignments due at different times of the week. Plus, in the intensive courses, huge projects fly down the line pretty quick, so there’s really no way of doing things successfully in the eleventh hour.

DESIGNATE REGULAR INTERVALS.

...for checking in and participating. Got it.

CREATE A DESKTOP FOLDER.

No. I abhor desktop clutter. I choose to create a taskbar shortcut to a folder within my documents folder, thank you.

CREATE A BROWSER FOLDER.

Funny, I already did.

 Next up... a presentation on working in teams. 

 If you were to take away one thing this afternoon, I would say that the key to successful teams is group goal, individual accountability. And how you put that together is really the essence of working together in teams. - Dr. Ken Haycock

I have yet to be in a group in an academic setting where at least one person simply did not give a damn. Unfortunately, dealing with this isn't really addressed. Acknowledged, yes, but not addressed. The progression out of what Haycock refers to as the "storming stage" just can't happen without unified accountability and there's no real guideline for slapping someone into shape.

Enid Irwin's presentation, The Monster Inside Library School: Student Teams, dances around this issue as well. "You have to be there," she says. "You have to participate, you have to take part. There's no lurking, there's no, 'Well I'll jump in later.'"

You can define expectations within a group as much as you want and micromanage poor performers as much as you want, but without some sort of definitive repercussion for being a crappy team member, accountability is a tough thing to force on someone. This is why I abhor groups in an academic setting. I've worked on "teams" in the professional setting often enough to know that they're a different monster; money and your job are on the line there, not just a grade. So, no matter how often someone says that "teams" in both environments are similar, I'm just not buying it.They're not.

Then again, dealing with horrible team members seems beyond the scope of both presentations. Really, they're about how a team functions and how to improve that functionality. That said, they're helpful but no different from teamwork training I've been through in a professional capacity.

At any rate, looks Like I'm go for success.

 *Bit late in the game to answer NO here, isn’t it?