Keep reading for more helpful perspectives on specific benefits of online collaboration, challenges, and a Best Practices toolkit.

Þ   Online collaboration platforms allow for increased topographical fluidity for learners to develop and apply time management skills (Choudhury, 2022).

Þ   Technological social networking affords learners to share one another’s interests, knowledge, and experiences, resulting in greater institutional commitment and identity (DiMicco et al., 2009).

Þ   Opportunity to expand on one’s own and the idea of others (Lane et al., 2023).

Þ   The capacity to view and review the project details at any time (Lane et al., 2023).

Þ   Leaners working in groups online report being more motivated when compared to learners completing solitary projects (Almarzooq, 2020).

Þ   *Learners must enter an assignment or project with a clear understanding of the importance that Group collaborations provide.

Þ   *Group members must have a foundation of the skills needed to be successful in groups. It is advised that the facilitator spend some time disbursing, highlighting, and modeling aspects of positive communication for a group to achieve.

Þ   *Rubrics are highly recommended as they provide students with saliency on grading criteria.

Þ   Increased inclusion of each person in a group assignment can have a greater impact in a virtual setting when compared to a face-to-face environment due to the increased potential for psychological isolation (Driskell, 2003).

Þ   A welcoming tone must be established early by the facilitator, demonstrating support for each student as an individual and the overall success of the group.

Þ   While a facilitator’s presence is important through a scaffolding approach, the instructor should not be domineering in the class.

Þ   Multiple modalities of communication and assessment should be integrated in the online class to appeal to and support different learning styles and support neurodiversity.

Þ   Group projects denote the understanding that the assignment is on a bigger scale, therefore necessitating a small group for successful completion. As such, instructors must provide formative feedback (de Nooijer et al., 2021)..

Þ   Formative feedback should be personalized and clear. Recommended modality is through video to bridge the interpersonal connection (de Nooijer et al., 2021).

Þ   Heterogeneous groups mimic professional settings and offer opportunities for learners to cultivate, fine-tune, and expand their conflict resolution and problem-solving skills (Johnson et al., 2020).

*(Source: “Effective Online Group Work,” 2025)

Almarzooq, Z. I., Lopes, M., & Kochar, A. (2020). Virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: A disruptive technology in graduate medical education. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 75(20), 2635–2638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2020.04.015

Baran, E., & Correia, A.-P. (2020). A professional development framework for online teaching. TechTrends, 64(2), 524–533. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-020-00491-0

Choudhury P. (2022). Geographic mobility, immobility, and geographic flexibility–A review and agenda for research on the changing geography of work. The Academy of Management Annals, 16(1), 258–296. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2020.0242

Culduz, M. (2024). Benefits and challenges of E-learning, online education, and distance learning. Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-4131-5.ch001

de Nooijer, J., Schneider, F., & Verstegen, D. M. (2021). Optimizing collaborative learning in online courses. The clinical teacher, 18(1), 19–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/tct.13243

DiMicco J., Geyer W., Millen D., Dugan C., Brownholtz B. (2009). People sensemaking and relationship building on an enterprise social network site [Conference session]. Proceedings of the 42nd Hawaii international conference on system sciences (pp. 1–10). https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2009.343

Driskell, J. E., Radtke, P. H., & Salas, E. (2003). Virtual teams: Effects of technological mediation on team performance. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 7(4), 297.

Haugland, M.J., Rosenberg, I. & Aasekjær, K. Collaborative learning in small groups in an online course – a case study. BMC Med Educ 22, 165 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03232-x

Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (2020). Cooperative learning: Improving university instruction by basing practice on validated theory. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 31(4), 19–40.

Lane, J. N., Leonardi, P. M., Contractor, N. S., & DeChurch, L. A. (2023). Teams in the digital workplace: Technology’s role for communication, collaboration, and performance. Small Group Research, 55(1), 139-183. https://doi.org/10.1177/10464964231200015 (Original work published 2024).

Lowenthal, P. R., Borup, J., West, R. E., & Archambault, L. (2020). Thinking beyond Zoom: Using asynchronous video to maintain connection and engagement during remote learning. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 28(2), 383–391.

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