Groupwork Activities in Synchronous Online Classroom Spaces

This paper shares insights about the deployment of groupwork activities in synchronous online classroom spaces. It is based upon analysis of 48 hours of online lesson recordings from an Introduction to Programming (in Java) subject conducted over two semesters. Key observations are shared about how factors such as the type of the activity, the level of student technological and communicative competencies, the interface design and the task specification influenced discourse and learning. On this basis recommendations for teaching using virtual classroom groupwork are offered in order to assist academics who may be considering similar approaches to teaching online.