Virtual Teaming and Digital Learning Strategies: Preparing Students for a Global Workplace

Many organizations use technology and social media as the cost-effective, even the preferred, rapid communication and teaming modality. University students must consequently be more than just Facebook ready to meet the greater business needs. They must possess fluency in the selection and use of computer mediated communication and virtual teaming applications. The paper examines the changing role of technology in teaching group principles, concepts, and theories to students competing in the global/virtual realities of teaming and group projects. The contribution presents a comprehensive online/on-ground (i.e., hybrid or blended) course design that accelerates team and group theory beyond the traditional live team application. The paper describes how students taking a teams class fully explored the variety of ever-expanding computer mediated communication platforms. They used action-learning labs to test and apply the use of a variety of face-to-face, computer mediated communication, and a blend of the two learning platforms to complete group assignments and discover the application of group theory as it relates to group project planning, group development, and conflict resolution.