Resources
Connect
Connecting in a group project can be challenging, Add different cultures and geographic locations around the globe and it becomes critical to spend time preparing before the project. Incorporating resources that reduce the stress of communicating helps get the project started on the right foot!
Our project benefitted from starting with several pieces in place. First, a Canvas course provided the background skills needed to jumpstart our website build. We used NameCoach to record our names so we could practice pronunciation prior to our first meeting. Our assigned groups were balanced with different cultures and a framework to start.
Collaborate
Our instructors selected tools that worked for members collaborating with web design from all countries. Slack and GitHub both offer free versions with registration. We pulled our group communication together on Slack. This provided a space to post introductions and familiarize ourselves with schedules and skills. However, we realized it was important we have space to share documents for asynchronous comments and a place to meet for discussion and decisions that was synchronous. Our group voted to use Microsoft OneDrive to share documents and Zoom to hold synchronous meetings when needed.
Get Started
| Connect | Schedule |
|---|---|
| Slack | timeanddate |
| GitHub | Doodle |
| OneDrive | Zoom |
Plan
Working internationally we found planning to deadlines and meetings needed to be clear and intentional. If not, meetings may not happen with the different schedules. Things we discovered in the first few discussions. Time zones meant our days and nights were only in sync for a few hours each day. Personally, we also had habits and commitments that needed to be considered. Knowing who is an early bird or a night owl helped us plan meetings where we felt best able to give attention in the Zoom meetings. These are parts of our culture and personality that are not as simple as saying all Americans meet between 8-5 pm.
Our recommendations are to learn and familiarize in advance what you can with the set items. Understand time zones with online tools like Time Zone Map and understand date formats for different countries. We found in the USA we use MM/DD/YY, whereas in Finland it is DD/MM/YY. Bring patience and a positive attitude to the meetings so the small snafus do not derail the collaborative vibe of the group.
Have Fun
Virtually connecting, laughing, sharing our cultures, and seeing each other was the best part of this semester! We made virtual meetings more engaging with icebreakers that helped start the conversations and improved the comfort of sharing work online.
Create
Sharing photos and ideas we found online helped us find our look and design. Using websites like SchemeColor.com, Shutterstock and imgur.com provided inspiration to create story boards. This allowed us freedome to individually be expressive but still keep the theme across pages
