Team-Building Activities for the Digital Age: Using Technology to Develop Effective Groups » (New Edition)

Brent D. Wolfe, PhD, is assistant professor in the department of hospitality, tourism, and family and consumer sciences at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.

Working in higher education for the past decade, Wolfe has developed and taught courses on facilitating experiential and team-building activities. Specifically, Wolfe uses experiential activities with university freshmen to promote unity in the classroom and connectedness to the university. Working with these students allows him continued involvement with young adults and their unique interests, perspectives, and life challenges.

Wolfe has presented his research on facilitation and debriefing at numerous international and national conferences and has authored several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. In 2006, he was awarded the Junior Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award from the University of Southern Mississippi.

As a certified therapeutic recreation specialist, Wolfe works as a consultant for the Luckday Citizenship Scholars Program, developing and testing new team-building techniques and practicing his group-development and relationship-building skills.

Wolfe is a member of the National Therapeutic Recreation Society where he currently serves as president. He was also a member of the Association for Challenge Course Technology and the Association for Outdoor Recreation and Education.

In his free time, Wolfe enjoys learning about the latest in digital technologies. He also enjoys playing disc golf and hide-and-seek with his two-year-old daughter. He resides in Statesboro with his wife, Rebecca, and their daughter, Austyn Grace.

Colbey Penton Sparkman has more than 10 years of experience working with young adults as a campus minister and church-based minister. Previously, Sparkman served as minister to collegiates at First Baptist Church in Hattiesburg and as a campus minister at Florida State University and the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Penton Sparkman currently works as a leadership development consultant and communications specialist for National Collegiate Ministry. She received her master of divinity degree in 2000 from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Penton Sparkman, her husband, Larry, and three young daughters live in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. In her leisure time she enjoys graphic design, triathlon training, and vegetable gardening.

Team-Building Activities for the Digital Age will help you promote interpersonal communication and encourage young people to express their individuality and build face-to-face relationships. The activities use the technology that today’s young adults thrive on (including cell phones, social networking sites, MP3 players, blogs, and digital cameras) as an opportunity for education and enlightenment.

1 Operating System 1

Five Things a Facilitator Should Know 1

Importance of Team Building 4

Virus Protection 7

Generating Output 14

Summary 27

2 Photo Activities 29

3 Internet Activities 71

4 Texting Activities 117

5 Audio and Video Activities 155

Bibliography 183

About the Authors 185