Group work on Internet

  In past two lectures, Prof. Chan mainly talked about communication and social behaviors on the Internet. I really want to talk something of my interest.

  ◆Groups and Group Behaviors

  Talking about communication and social behaviors on the Internet, we should concentrate on communication, so we should talk about group. The group is a structure consists of members with different roles, status, relations and communication networks, as well as subgroups. Members in a group typically coordinate their actions by communicating with one another. Groups can have a communication structure imposed on them, therefore restricting who can communicate with whom in a group. Communication in groups may serve functions which include controlling group members, expressing emotions, motivating others and exchanging information.

  When we set up a group to communicate on Internet, we should choose a person to be the leader to let all the members discuss. I will give the example in the following.

◆Group Activity

  At last lecture, we anticipated two activities in the class. Prof. Chan let us read an article and answer the questions she gave us. However, activity A is done by individual and B is done by group with Google Docs.

  When we answer the question by ourselves, we just need to do it alone, read the article and find the answer, the just upload it to the website. But, when we do the activity in a group, it went completely different.

  First, we need to find our partner and choose the leader

  Second, the leader upload the article to the website and let the members join in the group via Google Drive.

  Third, all the members give their own answers and discuss together with Google Drive.

  Last: conclude the final answer after discussing

  Thanks to the group work, I got some useful knowledge and the members help me correct my mistake. When we do the job by ourselves, we think and perform independently, however we just have our own knowledge. Meanwhile, we may have some mistakes but we do not know. So I think, we need group work, we can get more knowledge and we can share different ideas with others. And I think it is necessary to select a leader. A group can have a leader. Leaders enable groups, ranging from small teams to entire nations, to function as productive and coordinated wholes. In a group, when there is a leader, there are followers. In social psychology, leadership is a process of social influence through which an individual recruits and mobilizes the aid of others in the attainment of a goal.

  However, we really need group work to help us get more knowledge and to complete target as well as a good leader. But the most important thing we should never forget is we still must have our own idea and think independently, then we can do a good job no matter in individual or group.