As the use of technology increases and improves, so does our global learning picture. Collaboration with others, who are on the opposite side of the world, is now possible as well as practical in a school and work setting; while working with a team of professionals to accomplish a common goal, is a task that students and employees may participate in. This practice, these ideas, and the movement towards such collaboration can be enhanced by using a strategy called Cooperative Learning. Cooperative Learning is founded in the Social Learning Theory and is a strategy that “allows students to work together in small groups with individuals of various talents, abilities and backgrounds,” (Orey, 2001). It is a process that requires knowledge to be “discovered” and elaborated on, by interacting with others who can relate; as opposed to simply being presented, and assimilated through other learning theories.
Activities in the classroom that can help to prepare our students for such a rich, collaborative work experience include Web quests, Multimedia presentations, utilizing Web 2.0 resources, and Communication software such as blogs or wikis (Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, & Pitler, 2007). Additionally, Project Based Learning can also be used to drive collaborative instruction. My belief in our role as educators to facilitate conversation amongst group members, to support the “big picture” of knowledge, and to model the networking process so that all people and resources involved can be engaged meaningfully, is immeasurable. Because Cooperative Learning, does “create a situation in which students must explain and discuss various perspectives, a greater understanding of the material is obtained,” (Orey, 2001, p.4). Ideally, isn’t this always our goal?
References:
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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Kelly,
ReplyDeleteGood question that you pose at the end of your post! I believe that yes, our goal many times is to have students discuss and expand their knowledge on topics when we teach something to them.
You have made some outstanding points that are well said!
Marie Gauthier
Kelly,
ReplyDeleteYes, our goal should be to have students not just explain their perspective, but also hear, discuss, and be able to explain the perspectives of others. Sometimes our students (and us, as teachers) can get locked into the trap of "one right answer," when the Nature of Science is that there are many ideas that continually change our views of the world and nature. Real life is engaging in conversation and collaboration, so our goal as educators should not just be to talk "at" our students about our subject material, but allow them to talk "with" each other about their own unique perspective.
Great reflective question!
Holly
I agree with everyone in this discussion that our goal is to get our students to build great conversations through cooperative learning but sometimes that is where the challenge lies. For example, my students are in the midst of book clubs and my goal right now is to take them away from "boring talk" to "deep talk." In other words, away from retell and turn into conversations. What I have done so far is provide my students with prompts such as "I think this suggest _____" however what I plan on doing is having them use voicethreads or blogs. Hopefully if they use blogs or voicethread they will be inticed to have longer conversations from one idea. For instance, they can upload a picture of the book or a comment on a blog and add onto it. If anyone here has another idea to build better conversations through Book Clubs please share.
ReplyDeleteVeronica
Hey Kelly,
ReplyDeleteI agree whole-heartedly with you on us working "...to facilitate conversation amongst group members." As a math teacher I often struggle with how to do that...no one really wants to talk "straight math" - including me.
I try to find "a hook" that seemingly has very little to do with math but can spark that conversation. I think those discussions happening on something like a blog or a VoiceThread would be even more effective because of all of the different tools available to students.
Good stuff.
Take it easy,
James
Marie~ Thanks for the support!
ReplyDeleteHolly~ Great connection to the idea of the Nature of Science! It's a valid and interesting point.
Veronica~ I like your idea of sentence/comment starters. Most of the time, getting started is the hardest part for our students. I may use this in my classroom too. Oh and I will definietly keep my eyes open for other ideas! Thanks.
James~ Good practice "hooking" your students with something that is not math-related. I had to try some of the same tricks when teaching math, as sometimes the subject can be dull. Keep up the creativity!