Session 3 - Text 3 Reflection

Strategies for the communication and collaborative online work by university students

Guiding Question: What are some strategies for effective online collaboration you identify suitable for your own context (work, studies or personal life)

Source

Gutiérrez-Porlán, M. Román-García, M. Sánchez-Vera, Estrategias para la comunicación y el trabajo colaborativo en red de los estudiantes universitarios, Comunicar; Comunicar 54: Ciencia y saber compartidos. Acceso abierto, tecnologías y educación; 91-100 URL https://www.scipedia.com/public/Gutierrez-Porlan_et_al_2018a

In the article, the author conducted research on what today's young people use network tools for communication and interaction tools for their university study in Spain. From the research, the author finds that nowadays, Spanish university students heavily rely on the network tools such as google drive or instant messaging to cooperate with their groupmate for group study projects and course assignments. The author refers to today's generation as " digital natives," a generation that relies on web tools and the Internet, are used to using online tools to complete their works. Social networks are also the popular web tools amount university students for educational purposes and contact with each other. Students majoring in architecture and engineering are the most users, as their majors require excellent cooperation and communication. Working as a team is the key to their success, so the tools that can help them organize the work and get the team together are most welcomed.

As a result of this research, the author concluded that this generation of university students heavily uses web tools for schoolwork and contacts. Although students across every primary use web tools for their work, the result shows that the majors require teamwork and communication to coordinate their share documents and resources. Gender will also affect how the purpose of using web tools is different. Females tend to use the web tools for team working tools, unlike males using the tools for resource sharing. Therefore, this research can give us an insight into how today's university students use web tools for their study behavior in different majors.

After reading this article, I could not agree more that web tools are the key to success in today's Internet communications, at school or work. As Internet has become part of our daily life, the skills of using web tools have become a requirement to communicate with others. It is no doubt that instant communication and cooperation have dominated today's communication habits. People are expected to send or receive their messages instantly to speed up their work or communication. Instant messenger apps, such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, have become part of the official communication tools besides email in the workplace. This communication habit started with the popularity of smartphones and cheap mobile data service. As most students in the university are from Generation Z, who grew up with technology, the Internet, and social media, they are the generation that is most familiar with tech-savvy. Computers, tablets, and smartphones have become the standard equipment for current university students. The more web tools they can access, the easier it is for students to use them for their educational studies, and they can create a learning environment that fits their purpose.

In my personal experience, Google Drive and OneDrive have become my primary web tools for my work and school. Since the popularity of the cloud service and the cloud-related software, working cooperation has moved from exchanging files through many emails to instant file editing in real-time. This working habit has changed how teamwork works and increases its effectiveness. And I believe this working habit will continue to affect how people work in the information exchanged and data sharing.