After reading the first chapter of Web 2.0 New tools, New Schools, I was consumed by a number of thoughts. The foremost in my mind was collaboration.
In my experience, even though collaborative work is the norm for adults in the working world, for students it is a mixed bag. You can have success with learning and cooperation, or you get the group where the one motivated kid takes over while the rest do nothing. In the working world, there are devices in place (the boss, $, etc.), but for kids the devices are not as effective (grades, teacher and parent contact, etc.).
Could using technology be a way to 'level the playing field' when it comes to cooperative learning? In the text, the author notes that "Using collaboration and communication tools with educational methods that also promotes these skills-such as project based learning--will help students acquire the abilities they need for the future." (New Tools, New Schools pg. 45 {iBook}).
I have seen some great examples of cooperative student learning in one of our middle school technology classes. The students create a commercial for an item of their choice. The group then researches the item, gathering resources. They create a list of ideas that they work from (images, sounds clips, video excerpts, etc). Each group then splits up their list, then gathers the resources. After demonstration and practice using Flash, the groups embarks upon their misson to create a commercial. Flash is also taught at the high school on a more advanced level. This middle school project is a great way for students to work together and achieve success using technology.
As a potential technology teacher, I hope that observing effective cooperative learning activities helps me to develop lessons, units, and other curriculum that uses technology.
Yours,
Aaron
I really love your first posting on your blog. As an English teacher, I often run into similar issues in class. I have a student who would rather spark note/cliff note every work of literature we study than to actually read. I mean, the kid tells me straight out that she hasn't read the text. Then she will write these amazing essays that get right to the heart of the reading and she will participate in class discussion as though she read every word. Her understanding of the authors' intent is perfect and her ability to connect the parts she did read with the world is better than most. So.. what can I tell her? I love to read. I love the book and the words and the way the author puts those words together is the art for me.. her zebra is "get to the point" and she does it well. How can I tell her that she is wrong? She has those tools available and uses them... she gets the job done. Still, I feel as though something important is being lost through all the instant information. Kind of like how McDonalds is fast, easy and to the point but good gourmet food is an experience that takes time and experimentation. I wonder if we are shortchanging the students by having all that technology available or am I just being old fashioned by expecting them to have the same aesthetic values that I have?
ReplyDeleteCollaboration and cooperative learning is sometimes difficult to achieve, even in the technology classroom. After 6 years of teaching, I have yet to come across the best way to get all students to own some part of a project. I always find myself moving back to a lot of individual work and then putting things together at the end. I am working with middle school kids, so sometimes I like to blame it on them being kids, but I wonder if it is me. Is it too much work for me? What I can tell you, is that I foster a collaborative learning environment where there is an abundance of "noise" in my room. They are allowed to talk to each other, ask questions of each other and are required to show each other how to do things. They are the masters of the technology and I am the guide there to assist. It may not work in all classes, but I like the way it works in mine.
ReplyDelete@Angela - I agree with you on your observation about short changing the kids with the instant access of technology. I think what I firmly believe is if we can teach our students how to find information accurately and effectively, and then be able to interpret that information to make their own judgment and create understanding as well as meaning, we are doing our jobs. Does the technology become a hindrance at times? Yes. I find that to be true with listening to music in class while trying to work on a project. Too much time is spent looking for songs and not enough time on the material that should be being focused on. Same with working on a slide show. They can spend hours looking up pictures, changing font colors, yet the reading, and writing is not getting done. That is why I leave all of the fun stuff for last! It has been said that we need to teach the kids to find the information and there is no longer need for rote memorization. I don't think you are being old fashioned, just a concerned teacher who is reflective about her practices!
I am often surprised at how the older the students get the more difficult that collaboration becomes.
ReplyDeleteSome of this is simply logistical, as the students move up through the grades their lives become more complex and busy. We also tend to ask them to do more of their collaboration out of school.
I believe this is one area where technology has tremendous potential for removing those logistical boundaries. It gives students the ability to connect and collaborate both over distance and can help remove the time pressure because they can collaborate asynchronously. One of my favorite tools for this in high school is google docs, word processing and presentation design over the air, and even accessible on their mobile devices so when they are literally on the go they can still participate in the creative process with their team.