Didactics and Technology in Education

Does group brainstorming work? This post looks at this issue, working from an infographic and selecting key concepts in the infographic and expanding on them. Gleeson begins by discussing "the five biggest problems with Groupthink." The list is below and all are explained in the post. Please note that there the author of the infographic also explains their perception of what each of the phrases below means.

* Social Loafing

* Social Matching

* Production Blocking

* Lack of Attention

* Fear of Criticism or Rejection

Gleeson then provides a list of tips for effective brainstorming (again, this are listed in the infographic with definitions provided). The areas explored here are:

* Independently prepare

* Set a goal

* Have meeting facilitators

* Avoid criticism

* Encourage competition

* Try collaborative apps

In education we often ask our learners to brainstorm. This article and infographic provide some insights that you may not have considered in the past. To go directly to the infographic (in which case you will not see the post by Gleeson)

 https://www.mavenlink.com/community/blogs/713-are-we-brainstorming-the-wrong-way--. 

There are also a number of free collaborative tools that support brainstorming. One of the more robust tools that is free to schools is LucidChart.