Problem based learning does not have to stop whilst your students are temporarily out of the classroom. There are several different tools that you can utilise to ensure that your students can still participate in group work whilst working at home.
Discussion Boards
Setting up a discussion board in your Blackboard module can be a great way to start off your group working activity. Start a thread and then allow your students to discuss the problem between themselves whilst you moderate the board. Online group working may encourage some of your more reserved students to participate more, as they can contribute ideas from behind their screen.
Microsoft Teams
One way to utilise Teams for group work would be to split your class into different groups and add them into separate teams. This way, your students can discuss the task, as well as work on shared documents within the Files section of Teams. Your students can also arrange meetings and video call with each-other, which can help them to stay connected.
Padlet
Padlet is another great way for students to share ideas/solutions in a group-based setting. You can embed Padlet into your Blackboard module or your students can also access it through their browser. You can find more information about Padlet here: https://blogs.tees.ac.uk/lteonline/2019/11/01/quick-tips-padlet/
Sway
Students can collaborate using Sway to create a presentation about their topic. They can access Sway using their university log in and can invite other members of their class to work on a project together. By using Sway, your students can track where other members of their class have made changes to the project and can work together in real time as their updates save automatically.
The following video provides more information about collaborating using Sway:
If you need any support with this, you can request an online drop-in session by following the instructions here: https://blogs.tees.ac.uk/lteonline/2020/03/20/online-digital-learning-drop-in/ or you can email elearning@tees.ac.uk for further support.