Overview
YSU Cyberlearning is excited to introduce Blackboard Co-Working Sessions for faculty, designed to provide a supportive, collaborative environment for tackling challenging Blackboard LMS tasks, such as redesigning courses for online learning and grading student work. These sessions offer a unique opportunity to work alongside fellow faculty members and receive expert assistance from Cyberlearning team members.
Coworking spaces are critical for stimulating collaboration and knowledge exchange (Gerdenitsch et al., 2016), and the social support found in coworking spaces positively impacts performance satisfaction, especially when under time pressure (Orel & Bennis, 2020). These sessions can help support your productivity and reduce frustration when managing Blackboard tasks. What’s more, coworking offers valuable social support during demanding periods, such as course redevelopment and grading. The supportive environment, together with peers and refreshments, can help alleviate the stress and isolation sometimes associated with managing your Blackboard course.
Supporting Research
Coworking spaces, characterized as hybridized collaborative workspaces, are a significant trend. These interdisciplinary, open collaborative workspaces offer shared infrastructure and opportunities for social interaction. Research indicates that proximity in coworking spaces is crucial for stimulating collaboration and knowledge exchange, with organizational and social proximity playing a significant role (Gerdenitsch et. al., 2016). Coworking spaces promote knowledge sharing and cognitive proximity through physical co-location, leading to increased work satisfaction and creativity (Bouncken & Reuschl, 2016). Social support found in coworking spaces positively impacts performance satisfaction, with self-efficacy mediating this relationship, especially under high time pressure (Orel & Bennis, 2020).
Goals
The primary goals of the co-working sessions are:
- Supporting and scaffolding faculty's work as they engage in teaching-related and course-(re-)design-related tasks within the LMS, offering a service that Academic Partnerships (AP) cannot provide.
- Cyberlearning outreach & relationship-building with faculty.
- Catching user problems with the LMS when they're still very small, providing expert assistance to help faculty understand Blackboard features more quickly and solve problems before they grow bigger.
- Providing faculty with social and emotional support for the often difficult, lonely, and frustrating task of doing Blackboard work, including grading.
- Reducing faculty frustration with the Blackboard LMS by providing a supportive environment with peers and refreshments to help manage stress.
references
Bouncken, R., & Reuschl, A. (2016). Coworking-spaces: how a phenomenon of the sharing economy builds a novel trend for the workplace and for entrepreneurship. Review of Managerial Science, 12, 317 - 334. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-016-0215-y.
Gerdenitsch, C., Scheel, T., Andorfer, J., & Korunka, C. (2016). Coworking Spaces: A Source of Social Support for Independent Professionals. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00581.
Orel, M., & Bennis, W. (2020). The perspective of a coworking space model in scholarly settings. on The Horizon, 28, 101-111. https://doi.org/10.1108/oth-10-2019-0074.