Using Virtual Teams in Educational Settings: A Scoping Review

Authors: Shawna Jensen, Jesús Trespalacios, Chareen Snelson, Kerry Rice

Abstract: Virtual teams are increasingly being utilized by organizations to connect employees across geographical boundaries and promote collaboration through communication technologies. The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations to shift their employees to hybrid and remote settings. However, little is known about the use of virtual teams in educational settings. This scoping review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of relevant research and identify trends in virtual teams in education. Through a systematic search, 23 articles were selected as relevant to the research topic and questions. The findings indicate that the majority of virtual team research in education has mostly focused on students enrolled in business courses. Additionally, virtual teams have primarily been used for connecting students across the classroom and supporting global teamwork to simulate real-world working contexts.

Designing Virtual Teams for K-12 Teachers

Authors: Shawna Jensen, Jesús Trespalacios

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic turned many homes into virtual workspaces. Until the pandemic hit, business organizations were the primary users of virtual team models in the workplace. As a result of the pandemic, organizations outside the business sector had to deploy communication technologies to support virtual teams and virtual teamwork amongst employees. K12 teachers were and still are amongst those impacted by this shift. However, the current literature does not reflect enough evidence to support disciplines outside of business organizations with virtual teams in the workplace. As a result, K12 teachers do not have access to virtual team models that best support their progress toward desired outcomes. This article addresses this gap by first reviewing and sharing relevant literature on virtual teams. This paper then follows with a model for virtual team use by K12 practitioners based on the literature around virtual teams and professional learning.

Classroom community and online learning: A synthesis of Alfred Rovai’s research

Authors: Patrick R Lowenthal, Arielle Horan, Marc C DeArmond, Amy Lomellini, Dave Egan, Mickinzie Johnson, Krisha Noelle Moeller, Fayth Keldgord, Jessica Kuohn, Shawna Jensen, Auston Stamm, DaQuita Pounds

Abstract: Increasingly, researchers and practitioners have highlighted the importance of developing a sense of community in online courses and programs. However, many questions remain about the best ways to develop community in online courses. A recent literature review highlighted how influential Alfred P. Rovai’s research has been to researchers of connectedness and community in online higher education. However, some of this foundational research is over 20 years old. Given this, we conducted a review of Rovai’s research on community to take a deeper analysis of Rovai’s research and to identify themes across the studies, future areas of research, and implications for practice. In the following paper, we present the results of our inquiry.

Students’ perceptions of institutional services and online learning self-efficacy

Authors: Jesús Trespalacios, Lida Uribe-Flórez, Patrick R Lowenthal, Scott Lowe, Shawna Jensen

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore new online students’ perceptions of self-efficacy and satisfaction with institutional resources. A mixed methods approach was used to better understand online students’ perceptions. During the first phase of the study, 155 new online graduate students were surveyed about the importance and their satisfaction with university resources as well as their online self-efficacy. During the second phase of the study, follow-up interviews were conducted with six participants to better understand their perceptions. Participants reported being aware of the institutional resources and having positive experiences with online course tools. Furthermore, most participants found administrative services such as Registration and Financial Aid and Scholarship services the most
important. Participants also reported high levels of online self-efficacy. While the results illustrate student perceptions of institutional resources, more studies are needed to explore how participants with limited prior experience in online courses would evaluate the effectiveness of institutional resources.