What are the advantages and disadvantages of collaborating or group work to develop a project or product?

Nowadays, collaborative learning is gradually gaining recognition in the field of education. Our educational system is to foster a new kind of nonhostile, coorperative personality in students and to promote a spirit of co-operation where success is based on collaboration rather than competition.

In IT course, group work is of more significant importance. It helps students to learn each other and come up with solutions collaboratively. IT course involves a lot of outside classroom practice and this calls group work into full play since the teacher is not always around. i.e when the students are working together on their group website, one student fails to upload his document from the floppy dick to file manager. Another student may helps his partner find where the problem is, checking whether the filename is all right for uploading. He finds that there is a space between the name and extension. By revising the file name, the uploading moves smooth. This experience may reinforce the both parties what kind of filename is acceptable for uploading.

Besides, group work can save time. Suppose a group of students are working on the powerpoint slides for the final presentation. They can allocate the work in the group, with each one collecting information and pictures on one aspect respectively. Then they can pool what they find together, saving time and energy and adding to the varieties of the content as well.

But, if some group members are lazy and not supportive, group work may be a burden for the others. The delay of one single member will set back the construction of the project in the whole group. If one group member doesn’t make ready his bookmark file for the group bookmark, the other group members have to wait till he is ready. This will undoubtedly lower the progress of the whole group. Therefore, successful group work lies in the active and supportive endeavour of each group member.