The VCL project was applied in the course ”Introduction to Business” at EPOKA University. The course includes a semester project of building a business plan in groups. Therefore, the VCL method was applied to better structure the project and derive more effective results. The VCL took place between winter semester of 2021 and 93 students were enrolled on the course. The project theme was Social Businesses, focusing on social entrepreneurship to tackle societal issues. The emphasis was on the process of research, critical thinking, and teamwork. The VCL method was utilized to enhance the project structure and results.
Microsoft Teams and Miro Board have been used as a main tools to facilitate and monitor activities. E-Tutors checked the weekly meetings of the students, which were recorded, and the evidence was published in the group channel. Also, groups posted reports for their meetings that described the challenges and the outcomes from the meetings held. Drafts sent served as a proof of working status of the students and stimulated them to complete different sections of the project gradually. The assessment of this VCL module was based on the virtual collaboration and interactivity of the students. Points were allocated based on group work and individual performance.
E-Tutors offered:
- Support through functional, personal and group ordered, technical and organizational assistance
- Communication of important information and guidelines
- Assistance with comprehension problems, ambiguities, misunderstandings
- Observation and supervision of learning process
- Support of the evaluation while using evaluation instruments
1. Weekly Meeting Reports by E-Tutor: The weekly meetings were systematically reported. The structure of the meeting report consisted of: Date and Time, Attendance, Discussion, Action Items, Conclusion and Summary Table. They were saved in folders for easier retrieval. The importance of this document is supported by several advantages as it:
2. Weekly Meeting of students: Students should hold at least one meeting per week when they would work on the tasks given by their E-Tutor.
3. Weekly Meeting Reports of student group: Their meeting was reported by a representative of the group, usually the group leader. In their reports they included discussions and decisions made, objectives to be accomplished until the next meeting and conclusions. Reports are a useful review document when it comes time to measure progress and finalize the work.
4. Drafts: E-Tutor would ask for several Drafts to be delivered before handing in the final project report. Drafting helps students expand upon, clarify, and modify their initial plans and ideas, and it helps them organize their content into a meaningful sequence or flow.
Microsoft Teams and Miro Board have been used as a main tool to facilitate and monitor activities. They supervised the progress of their groups in several forms:
- Recorded meetings of student groups and student meetings’ reports:
- E-Tutors checked the weekly meetings of the students, which were recorded, and the evidence was published in the group channel. Also, groups posted reports for their meetings that described the challenges and the outcomes from the meetings held.
- Drafts: Drafts sent served as a proof of working status of the students and also stimulated them to complete different sections of the project gradually. The main aim of this required document was to promote and encourage systematic working, group collaboration, task division and research skills.
- Miro Board Activity: E-Tutors could access the Miro-Boards of the groups at any time to check their completion rate and structured ideas or highlights from student work.
Miro Board
Student groups, in order to keep notes during their virtual meetings and structure their ideas, actively used Miro Board, which was introduced to them the first two weeks of local pilot VCL implementation. Each E-Tutor created a board for each of the groups they supervised and shared the board with the respective team members. Furthermore, Miro Board was used collectively to perform group exercises for all student groups of the E-Tutor. Illustrated by the pictures below you can see an exercises session, where each group was given a different task and they were given 15 minutes to put their arguments and ideas on the sticky notes. The groups’ ‘working space’ was defined by frames, with the name of the group written at the top.
Kahoot quizzes
Some E-Tutors composed Kahoot Quizzes with questions on information they had received in the previous meetings. The best performing students could get some extra Bonus points. Students perceived this as an entertaining method to test their knowledge and boost their motivation to learn
Surveys were used to evaluate the course, with one survey collecting student expectations and another collecting feedback after the course.
- The VCL promoted teamwork collaboration was seen as a crucial asset for any group project. It encouraged systematic work, constant tracking of progress and division of work.
- Due to the E-Tutors it was easier for the professor to have a proper supervision of each group work.
- Moreover, the mentorship from senior students was efficient because freshman students felt comfortable and had better access to any information required because the E-Tutor was at their disposal.
- The best performing groups (having higher points for the project) were the ones who had shown constant engagement in their group channels and completed the requirements of the VCL module.
Split into Internal Factors and External Factors.
- Prior training of E-Tutor All E-Tutors had previous experience with subject, however there were still some gaps of information as they are not as competent on the subject as the lecturer. We suggest that there should prior training of E-Tutors on the course requirements and main concepts.
- Evaluation design E-Tutors kept note of questions from students that have been not considered beforehand. They delivered them to the professor, who could provide a definitive answer to their issues. These issues should be noted and elaborated further, because they enrich the process and avoid the rising of same information gaps in other VCL modules.
- Technical Limitations of used Platforms Miro and MS Teams For example there exists only 3 boards per team in Miro or all the members invited could access all boards, although they were intended to have access only to the board created for their group specifically. Furthermore it is not possible to create a meeting where people from different channels can participate in MS Teams.