Module 3--Collaboration and the constructive classroom
Collaboration has been occurring in schools for as long as I
have been either a student or teacher.
In the late 1950s and 60s it was called group work and the teacher would
put us in groups and give us an assignment to complete. Each of us would take a part of the whole and
on the day when it had to be presented, everyone had to give their part of a
presentation. Most of the time it was a
couple of the students doing most of the work but we were usually graded on the
work as a whole and a part for what each had contributed.
With the proliferation of technology, it has become easier
to collaborate and also to track each person’s part in the whole. Innovations like Wikipedia, initially scoffed
at, are now showing the way in how working together can add value to each
person who uses it. As a historian and
teacher of history, I do not allow any of my students to use it as a source,
but it is a good place to start a search and can jump-start a research track that
is faltering. Glogster is another tool
that I have used for students to have a central place to add contributions to
lessons that they are working on in groups.
It is easy to use, both for the teacher and the students, and it makes
it easy to keep track of how and what each child adds to the discussion.
A 2011 study done by Lampe, Wohn, VItak, et al, looked at
how college and university students were using Facebook as a way to organize collaborative
activities, (Lampe, 2011). The study
found that what to many is a simple social networking site has become a
powerful tool when used to encourage young people’s “propensity to collaborate.”
(Lampe, 2011)
Lampe, C., D. Y. Whon, J. Vitak, N. B. Ellison, R. Wash
(2011). Student use of
Facebook
for organizing collaborative classroom activities. International Society
of Learning Sciences. DOI:
10.1077/s11412-011-9115-y.
Rheingold, H.
(2008, February). Howard Rheingold on collaboration [Video file].
Keywords—Classroom-Computer
supported collaborative learning, Facebook, Sensemaking, Social network sites.
I will be
responding to the other people in my group before the Saturday deadline.
