1. Online Teamwork Satisfaction in an
Educational Technology Leadership
Online Course
Diane Mason, Ph.D.
Cynthia Cummings, Ed.D
Lamar University

2. Problem Statement
Online instructors are challenged to implement
engaging, authentic, real-world activities that
promote collaborative learning and teamwork.

3. Research Question
What are the perceptions of graduate students’
teamwork experiences while working in
collaborative groups to solve a problem in an
Educational Technology Leadership online
course?

4. Theoretical Framework
• Instructors have been encouraged to develop and
implement team activities to prepare graduates for
work in the real world which includes interaction in an
information rich society
(Johnson & Johnson, 2000; Lehtinen, Hakkarinen,
Lipponen, Rahikainen, & Muukkonen, 1999).
• Researchers have reported online collaboration and
teamwork can benefit critical thinking, metacognition,
learning efficiency, communication, and problem-
solving (Daradoumis & Marques, 2000; Johnson &
Johnson, 2000; Panitz, 2001).

5. Theoretical Framework
• Hasler-Waters and Napier (2002) studied 24
graduate students’ experiences as a member of
a virtual team.
• Identified five factors indicative of successful
online teams including
– providing support
– getting acquainted
– establishing communication
– building trust
– getting organized (p. 197)

6. Context
• Teaching with Technology online course
• Required to work collaboratively in teams of
four to solve a problem-based scenario
• Google docs used for dialogue and scenario
response planning
– Focused on technology-based solutions
– Addressed diverse instructional needs in K-12
– Included recommended teacher PD component
– Used consensus-building decision-making strategies
• Open-ended collaboration implemented within
teams and course
– Web 2.0 tools
– Discussion Board

7. Problem-based Scenario Overview
• Work in a collaborative team to create a unit plan to solve a
classroom scenario.
• Focus -design developmentally appropriate learning
opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional
strategies to support the diverse needs of learners.
• Apply current research on teaching and learning using 21st
Century technology applications when planning the learning
environment and experiences to solve the scenario.
• Include examples of ways to incorporate assistive and
adaptive technologies within the Universal Designs for
Learning framework.
• Authentic assessment, sample technology-based activities,
and suggested teacher staff development should be
included.

8. Task
As the school-based technology expert, you have
been given an opportunity to model how
technology can positively impact student
achievement for diverse learners. Work with your
learning team to create a solution for the scenario
listed below. Use the guiding questions as
a source to begin your planning and discussions
within the shared Google doc your team created in
Week 1.

9. Scenario
The school principal directed you, a lead technology
school-based expert, to work jointly with a classroom
teacher to create learning experiences that not only
meet students’ individual differences, but also address
21st Century learning trends. Specifically, the principal
asked for you to design, implement, and assess a
technology integration/intervention program for a
group of 30 students with unique needs.

10. Background of Students in Scenario
Of the 30 students, there are 10 identified as
gifted and talented. The gifted and talented
students are accustomed to working individually
online. Two students have disabilities dramatically
affecting learning. One student is blind and
another is hearing impaired. The remaining 18
students reflect ability levels ranging from the
lowest level to high achieving.

11. Methods and Procedures
• Survey model, descriptive statistics
• Target population - graduate students (N=198)
enrolled in the Teaching with Technology online
course.
• The Teamwork Satisfaction Scale, used in this
research, was developed and validated by Tseng,
Ku, Wang, and Sun (2009).
– Permission obtained from authors
– Demographic information
– 10 item survey distributed through SurveyMonkey™
– Cronbach’s alpha of .96
– 5-point Likert Scale
• 5-strongly agree to 1-strongly disagree

12. Results
• 64 participants (32%) responded to the survey
• Demographics
– n=13 were male and n=49 were female
– ages ranged from early 20’s to early 60’s
– ethnic demographics included 75% Caucasian, 6.3%
Hispanic, 14.1% African American, 3.1% Asian-Pacific,
and 1.6% other
– 25% of the respondents were elementary school
teachers, 23.4% were middle school teachers, and
15.6% were high school teachers
– equally balanced between the main four content areas
of mathematics, English language arts, social studies,
science, and technology.

14. Conclusions
• The results of this study indicated there was strong satisfaction in
the online teamwork experiences provided in the Teaching with
Technology online course.
– Research validated the significance of collaboration using varied
technology interactions to solve problems (Kolbitsch & Maurer, 2006) .
• The study results clearly indicated the respondents reported gaining
knowledge and collaboration skills while working to solve a
problem.
– This affirms Garrison and Cleveland-Innes (2005) and Uribe, Klein, and
Sullivan (2003) work regarding the ability for teamwork and
collaboration to positively influence performance.
• Student satisfaction and learning potential should outweigh the
concerns about time required for development and implementation
of engaging activities.
– Johnson and Johnson (2000) and Lehtinen, Hakkarinen, Lipponen,
Rahikainen, and Muukkonen (1999) noted, instructors need to focus
upon the use of team activities that support work related approaches
and real world experiences.

15. Future Studies
• Expand the study to gather qualitative data to gain a
better understanding of the processes, interactions,
perceptions, and thinking that occurs while working
collaboratively in an online environment to solve a
scenario-based problem.
• Use the Collaboration Attitude Scale and examine the
results in relationship to the Teamwork Satisfaction
Scale to glean any insights into personal perceptions
and change in attitude as a result of engaging in
collaborative teamwork experiences (Hasler-Waters
and Napier,2002; Tsent, Ku, Wang, & Sun, 2009).

16. Contact Information
Lamar Research
Institute
March 22, 2013
Diane Mason, Ph.D. Cynthia Cummings, Ed.D.
diane.mason@lamar.edu cdcummings@lamar.edu