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1. Name: Group concept map planning

2. Category: organizational

3. Abstract

The group concept map planning pattern addresses the problems of organizing and developing cohesion for a geographically distant group, so that the group could effectively develop ideas for a Web portal. Because of the issue of distance between the group members, various communications technologies were used to accommodate this challenge. The solution was to develop a concept map that provided a foundation/infrastructure that the group could use to organize and develop the portal.

4. Problem

The problems that the group faced and that are considered in the pattern are:

- three people who did not know each other, who would need to communicate at a distance, and who had been tasked to complete a substantial project;

- deciding how to organize the group to accommodate each individual's strengths and interests:

- developing the initial ideas/topic areas for the portal;

- refining the ideas into content areas;

- turning the ideas into an integrated portal site that would reflect quality content, design and function; and

- delegating the workload to members of the group to create the portal.

5. Analysis

Organizing a project can be difficult at the best of times. This can become magnified if group members are meeting for the first time or if they are geographically dispersed.

In order to work effectively together, a group must be able to communicate not only through 'physical' links, but also through 'social' connections. For groups that must work at a distance, they need to find a method of communication that is easy, accessible, and affordable. With the proliferation of technology, this can be a challenge in itself. Just as important, group members need to connect on a personal level. Only after these linkages are established can the group generate/decide upon appropriate ideas and decide upon a set style/theme for the portal design.

Since most projects work with a deadline, one practice is to share the workload among group members. Although each member may work independently, they all must have a similar vision of what the completed product looks like. Therefore, groups must be able to create some sort of master plan to follow before individual work begins. Developing a concept map is a practical way to address all of the problems.

6. Known Solutions

The solution incorporates elements of existing good practice as well as theory.

Good practice includes group dynamics where all group members agree to work together, brainstorm, develop communication options to meet individual needs (e.g., e-mail, Skype, Elluminate) and build consensus.

Theory includes:

- education models such as Carl Rogers' social facilitation model (Crawford, 2001) that puts learners at the centre of the process in directing their learning and developing solutions; and

- a systems approach (Smith & Ragan, 1999) to address a problem, that often incorporates visual representations (e.g., diagrams, flow charts, PERT charts) to help plan and describe a problem or solution.

7. Research Questions

While the group used a specific concept map software (CmapTools, v 3.10), it is unknown whether there are different software options that might have been easier or more efficient to use. Further research on easy and effective concept map software could be beneficial.

8. Context

The types of contexts that the solution is applicable to are:

- developing a set of ideas, with a group whose members do not know each other;

- developing a set of ideas, with a group at a distance;

- planning or organizing any activity; and

- developing a specific activity such as a Web portal.

9. Conditions

The critical success indicators/factors that influence use/implementation of the solution and resources needed to solve the problem include:

- a commitment to work as a group;

- willingness of group members to take on responsibility;

- quality in the final product;

- a team leader to set out time lines to help the team to form a cohesive whole and to function effectively;

- effective and efficient communication methods to enable the project to flow smoothly;

- access to computer, Internet, necessary software, hardware; and

- having a reliable Internet service provider.

10. Discussion/consequences

Because the group used a concept map and based the portal on the map, it was relatively easy to delegate the workload, work independently and effectively, know what each person needed to do and ultimately, to create a cohesive, effective portal.

11. References

The copyright team developed the concept map so the team is the primary reference for the pattern.

12. Related Patterns

Two related learning resources and LMS patterns found in the E-Learning Designs Pattern Repository are:

- Asynchronous collaborative learning (P. Avgeriou, S. Retalis, A. Papasalouros, 2004); and

- Synchronous collaborative learning (P. Avgeriou, S. Retalis, A. Papasalouros, 2004).

Related collaborative learning pattern found in the E-Learning Designs Pattern Repository is:

- Support identifiable types of communication (Rusman, 2004).

Author(s): Kenneth Lam, Julie Levi, Margaret Loader

Completion Date: 4 December 2005

Acknowledgements: None

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