Archive for February, 2020

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Team Project – Future Direction

February 27, 2020

How much distance do we need to form an objective opinion? Photo by Tyler van der Hoeven on Unsplash.

As you prepare to leave college with your degree the prospect of seeking a fulfilling career will become increasingly important. Much is being written now about the changing nature of work. As long ago as 2012 Forbes suggested that Job Hopping is the New Normal for Millennials. But, the Guardian newspaper reported that the trade unions in Britain are concerned about the abuses of the gig economy suggesting it results in lower wages. TUC wants clampdown on ‘poverty pay’ in gig economy revealed that almost half of adults aged 25 or over were earning less than the minimum wage.

The World Economic Forum report on The Future of Jobs 2018 provides a comprehensive analysis of trends on an industry-specific and country-specific basis. In the section on Strategic Drivers of New Business Models it concludes that the unfolding of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is resulting in a variety of new and emerging jobs while the more traditional job roles are declining. But, there is some good news for you as the Economist reported in 2016 that people working in creative fields are less susceptible to automation in Automation and Anxiety.

Taking a more holistic perspective raises deeper concerns for the future of not just work, but the entire ecosystem of society. French philosopher Bernard Stiegler suggests that the world is heading rapidly towards a dead end thanks to the consumerist model. Speaking in London in 2018 he argued that a radically new approach to shaping our society is required. Rather than allowing capital and technology to dictate we need to bring epistemological, technological, artistic, judicial, social and economic questions together in order to shape the future.

In 1992 the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a Warning to Humanity suggesting that vast human misery would ensue if we did not change how we are impacting the planet. They ‘feared that humanity was pushing Earth’s ecosystems beyond their capacities to support the web of life.’ In 2017 the warning was updated when 15,000 scientists from around the world published World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice.

This is a real challenge to you, individually and collectively, as you consider your emergence into society from college. For this project you are asked to consider how you might address the problems facing society while earning a living and living your lives. Do you accept the premise of the World Scientists? Can you see ways in which it is possible to work for a more sustainable engagement with our planet?

The Brief

Your team has been commissioned by a global firm in the communications sector to convince senior leaders that the time has come for change. The Board of the organisation has acknowledged the imminent destruction of our planet and decided that the company needs to lead the world to a new way of working. You have been briefed personally by the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer who have arranged a day-long workshop in mid-May to which all senior executives have been invited. It is intended that the outcome will be a completely new direction for the organisation that is fully sustainable and indeed, will lead the way in rejuvenating the planet and our relationship with our home.

Your task is to kickstart the session with a dynamic, exciting and informative presentation. You must inspire a group of hard-nosed executives who have been ruthlessly successful in exploiting the planet’s resources for the company’s benefit, without any consideration for the consequences, to review their behaviour and plan a new future.

You will work on this project in your groups to make your presentation in an entertaining, informative and lively manner using whatever medium and format you wish as long as it can be stored for later review (e.g. a talk, short film, narration+visuals). Each team will present live in Second Life. The presentation should be no shorter than five minutes and no longer than ten minutes. You are encouraged to use visual, audio or any other aids to support the presentation during which each member of the team must take part.

Each participant must also describe the progress of the project in a weekly blog post with particular emphasis on your own contribution to the project. (What are you bringing to the group and how does it fit into the team’s work?) Discuss the details of the project and also the issues that arise in working collaboratively online. How easy is it meet up virtually and plan the project? What difficulties arise in development? How easy or difficult is communication? What particular problems arise and how do you deal with them? Focus on the experience rather than writing a ‘correct’ post or having an answer for every difficulty.

Important note: If you use images or sound be mindful of copyright, particularly as presentations will be posted to the module blog.

Presentations should be no less than 5 minutes and no more than 10 minutes in duration.

Your presentation can be made in the TU Dublin campus or any appropriate venue in Second Life selected by the group. Presentations will be delivered in the last class at the end of the semester.

For full details on the Team Project specifications and the assessment criteria see the Assessment Unit.

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Class 4: Team Project – New Direction

February 27, 2020

Before starting the class John asked if everyone had read the brief and, while some of you had, many had not. So, everyone was asked to read it now. John also asked that you read the requirements of your submission in the Assessment Unit on Brightspace to ensure you are aware of the deadline for completion, assessment criteria, along with the part of the project that will be group-assessed and the parts on which you will be assessed individually.

Once that was completed John asked for some initial reactions. Most of you agreed that while it is a difficult topic is is current and highly relevant. The main problem to contend with in addressing climate change seems to be our reluctance as humans to acknowledge the problem, to consider the changes we need to make in our own lives and to demand that those with greater influence face up to the reality and do something. We acknowledged the iron will of people like Greta Thunberg, who are unafraid of power and willing to name the issues and those responsible. You also indicated that presenting your projects to a room full of senior executives in a global corporation sounds intimidating. However, John reminded you that the two most senior people in the organisation (the chairman and the chief executive) are backing you.

John outlined your assignments for the coming week: to make contact with your group and hold the first meeting. He suggested that it might seem a simple task to complete in a week but in previous semesters many groups failed to achieve it. There was some discussion on how to make contact: do you share email addresses now? try to find each other in social media? hope to bump into teammates in RL? The logistics of arranging meetings online is somewhat different to doing so in RL. You need to ensure a common approach is understood by, and available to, all team members.

What do you do when (if) you manage to meet? John reminded you that the presentation board from Sitearm Madonna’s talk on Teamwork and Collaboration is still available in the class meeting room. Use it when you meet. Remember the stages teams go through when working on a project. Try to be aware of that when you meet so you can get the most out of your time together as a group.

Sunrise at Lauk’s Nest, the oldest complex build in SL, it dates back to 2004.

John proposed a visit to Lauk’s Nest for the final part of class. Notecards with information about the park were circulated along with landmarks and we all teleported there. Before allowing everyone off to explore John reminded you of the forthcoming deadline for submission of the Website Blog, part 1 for assessment. You must make the submission in Brightspace or John will be unable to award a mark and give you feedback.

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Class 3: Teamwork and Collaboration

February 20, 2020

Sitearm Madonna presents the theory of teamwork and collaborative working.

 

John introduced Sitearm Madonna, our guest speaker on the topic of teamwork and collaboration this week. Site began by asking each of us to jot down one experience of poor teamwork and another positive experience of teamwork for later discussion. He then pointed us in the direction of a short video to introduce the topic.

Site also provided this link to his slides.

Projects involving teams go through different stages and each stage requires different energies or has different flavours, as described in the sestet (a poem made o fix lines) displayed in the class – if you haven’t seen it make sure to visit SL and review it along with this summary.

Sitearm’s sestets give a flavour of teamwork dynamics.

 

Teamwork is like breathing: it is a process not a one time event. There are four aspects to understanding how teams function. Firstly, teams have effective members. Each of us brings some commitment and some level of competence. You can compensate for the lack of either in team mates to ensure a positive outcome. Secondly, effective teams develop in stages. Starting with the forming stage where members are getting to know each other and find their place before moving onto what can be the most difficult stage known as storming. This is where everyone is pitching ideas and working out how to proceed. Then teams usually move on the norming stage when the members are beginning to work together comfortably and settle down to performing and getting the project done.

Thirdly, effective teams use best practices. For example, using brainstorming to generate ideas and then agreeing a protocol for deciding how to progress: majority vote, consensus or some other way. You will find that you move back and forth between brainstorming and deciding until the project begins to take shape. When you meet in your teams get into the habit of briefing yourselves. Ask questions like: what are we going to do in this meeting? Then do it. At the end of the meeting leave some time for debriefing: record any decisions made or what happened. Also ask each to member to say what they liked about the meeting and what they wished had happened. This helps your team meetings to become more efficient, effective and enjoyable.

Finally, effective teams share roles: research shows that there are nine key roles for highest performance and success in teamwork. As many teams don’t have nine members it is often necessary for people to take on more than one role. Each of us has a natural affinity to some roles but you can practice taking on new roles also. The disadvantage of this is the discomfort as you move into unfamiliar territory and the extra work involved but the advantage is seen in performance and success on both the personal and team levels.

Collaboration is a technology – proven and time tested with a vast number of academic papers describing the process. Think of it like that and you will find it less daunting.

Always remember to practice your presentation before the final deadline, have backups and expect catastrophe. Prepare for it and you will be successful no matter what happens. Ease the typical headaches of teamwork, whether you are a member or leader, by trying to discover what you can rely on from yourself and others on your team.

We then revisited the experiences Sitearm asked us to jot down at the beginning of the class to compare them against the theory outlined in the talk. This helped to root the theory in practice.

In closing, Sitearm introduced Persona theory. The concept originated in ancient Greek theatre where the actors wore wooden masks with a hole for speaking through. Humans develop multiple personas during our lifetimes – tailored for multiple purposes and taken on in different social situations. An awareness of persona increases your competence in moving from one role on a team to another as necessary.

Finally, John posted the team members for the Team Project. In the next class we will consider the brief for the project and answer any questions you have about working on it for the rest of the semester.

For the rest of the semester you will be working in the following teams.

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Class 2: Blogging to the World

February 13, 2020

The second class of the semester gets underway as everyone settles down.

We had a few more students join us this week and John arranged for them to join the module group after class. But he began the class by showing the blogs set up by three of you so far and reminding everyone to read the assessment criteria for the assignment. You will see that it is a requirement to write a post every week. On the one hand this is to ensure that you don’t have a big demand on your time at the end of the semester but, more importantly, to ensure you have time and space to reflect on your learning and progress continuously during the semester. Everyone who hasn’t already done so must submit a link to their blog this week (email it to John). The links will be posted here on the module website so that you can all see each others blogs, and even post comments to them.

John suggested that you probably don’t make a habit of reading blogs… When the module first started, over ten years ago, blogs were very much in fashion and many students were already avid bloggers. You confirmed that this is no longer the case. You more commonly use Instagram or, perhaps, twitter and occasionally, YouTube. However, you did not think changing the assessment element to a vlog would be a good move – preferring to remain with the traditional written blog.

During the discussion it was clear that many of you are not preparing for the class in Brightspace. You are not reviewing the Reading List, looking at the topics given in advance of the class discussion or availing of the Quiz. John reminded you that this is an essential part of the module. The in-class discussion must be informed by the reading or you will simply be sharing uninformed and relatively valueless opinions. The reading and viewing material has been specifically selected for accessibility and to be varied so it is not asking too much that you engage with it each week.

When asked if you had seen the class summary for last week many of you seemed unaware of this module website so John shared the link again. He reiterated that this resource is at your disposal and you should use it. It is particularly useful if, as in some cases, you crash out of SL during class, or your mic fails for a while and you end up missing some of the discussion: you can review the class content in these weekly summaries and catch up on the detail.

When writing your blog posts remember to adhere to academic writing standards and protocols that you are expected to apply in your critical theory classes. Use all forms of writing: narrative, descriptive, reflective and critical. Refer to the reading and viewing material from the module reading list and cite it correctly. The additional reading list this week gives links to manuals describing how to do this and will be useful resources for you to refer back to over the course of the semester.

We also spoke about the conventions and etiquette that you need to be aware of when working virtually. When you join a new group, whether in work or socially, you take time to see how people behave. The same thing applies when it comes to online working. Here in SL I have already suggested that you need to provide feedback to me to confirm that you understand what I am saying: typing a ‘y’ into the nearby chat window for instance. This also reassures me that you haven’t gone off to make a cup of tea and it replaces the body language and facial expressions we are so used to relying in real life. If you find yourself working in a virtual space that uses live video feed different work-arounds will be needed. The key is to remember the importance of reaction and feedback in human communication.

Finally, John asked everyone to prepare for next week’s class carefully and attend on time because we have our first guest speaker joining us.

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Class 1: Welcome to Second Life

February 6, 2020

The first class of the semester is always a little fraught as everyone is meeting in Second Life (SL) for the first time. Getting used to operating in this virtual environment takes a little while: trying to find the location of the class, learning how your avatar walks, talks or sits and trying to keep up with the content of the module can be an intense experience. But, after a week or two everything will settle down nicely. This semester was no different – it took a little longer than usual for everyone to find their way to the classroom in SL but eventually we settled down and got started. John asked everyone to ‘friend’ each other and ensured that all became members of the module group which gives you access to the TU Dublin campus in SL and supports remote chatting by allowing you to send group Instant Messages (IMs).

The plan was to take the class photo after that but in the hustle and bustle John completely forgot.

John forgot about taking the class photo until after the class had concluded and everyone had gone home!

 

Instead he introduced the content and structure of the module to come as the semester proceeds. Each class is quite self contained and will have a unique topic. You can preview the topic for each week on page 4 of the this blog (see the link in the right hand column) or in Brightspace. The first three weeks will see you all getting used to operating in SL until the Team Project is introduced. From then on you will be assigned to your teams and will work on developing your project which will be directed by the content coming from the following classes. You will also need to spend time working in SL between class times. At first you will be assigned specific tasks to complete  but as the module progresses you will use it to meet in your teams and to work on the Project.

The module has been constructed to be as interactive as possible – you are expected to preview the content in Brightspace well ahead of each class meeting: working through the reading and viewing material provided so that you can contribute to a discussion in class each week. This approach engages all participants actively allowing each to contribute appropriately. In addition, there is a specific assignment to be completed following each class. The details are given in the Brightspace unit for the relevant week.

John also explained how the module will be assessed and asked you to read the Assessment unit in Brightspace very carefully. Pay particular attention to the assessment criteria and the Assessment Rubric as these will guide you on what to submit. It is important to ensure that you write a post you your blog every week and don’t forget that the first assessment occurs after week 4.

The summaries of each class that are posted here are intended as a support for class not a replacement. Use them to catch up only if you unavoidably miss an occasional class meeting. John asked that if you cannot make class for any reason please let him know, by email, in advance.

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