Group projects never tend to be my favorite aspect of certain classes, because it usually results in one or two people doing all the work while the rest of the group gets to thrive off it. Working in groups also gets a bit stressful, especially now with being virtual, plus we’re all college students. Everyone takes rigorous classes on top of working, extracurricular activities, and any other personal engagements, so time management or meeting as a group becomes a conflict. Agreeing on a particular topic is not really a hindrance, actually having the time where everyone is available or making sure everyone is contributing is usually my main problem with group work. I like having other people to bounce ideas off of as I feel like it really leads to a creative experience; the more minds, the better which is what I find to be the best part of working in a group. I feel like I can keep up my end of the work, but if I feel like I’m the only one doing so, I tend to slack off or neglect the project as a whole and if everyone in the group has that tendency nothing but a last minute presentation thrown together will come of it.
I’ve worked in a few group projects while being virtual, one of them went really well because we all had great communication amongst each other and stayed on top of our divided tasks. The whole class was based on a group project, so we made sure everyone worked on parts of it that aligned with their strengths as a student, which I find to be a good approach. We even received As for our overall project and final presentation. We managed to be successful with a group assignment even while virtual by: constantly checking in with each other, being aware of deadlines, communicating with each other if we needed help or simple approval of an individual’s part of the project, etc… That experience alone makes me more confident about group work, but the other experience I had was the complete opposite. We didn’t keep in line with each other and ended up throwing something together at the very last minute which was very nerve-racking and anxiety-inducing. This experience made me realize group work may not be the best option for certain kinds of projects, but it works effectively in others. Overall, everyone just has to be equally dedicated and willing to do the work the way it is supposed to be done and on time.
To reflect on my technological ability to communicate with a certain audience, I would say I am pretty efficient at that. I have been a part of a couple social media or publicity-related teams for different organizations. With my position, I was able to spread the word using multiple platforms through the use of flyers, videos, posters, etc… To be able to connect with people using a technology-based platform you have to be very confident in yourself and in your work. I have enough confidence to produce a group podcast, and I feel like it’ll be fun since it is something that I’ve never done before. My group just has to approach it as if it were a natural conversation, so the audience can not only be informed, but feel like they can chime in too.
