Children are social by nature. They want to talk and share what they know and
talk about themselves. Cooperative
Learning is synonymous with social learning theories. When done properly, cooperative learning
groups can be a productive way to create meaning and allow students to be
social at the same time. Planning is
very important for cooperative learning to be successful. Recommendations include keep group size
small, use cooperative learning systematically and consistently, and to provide
individual and group accountability (Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn, 2012). Rubrics and stated expectations are key to
helping students remain on task.
Technology can be quite instrumental in the success
of cooperative learning. Students can
work together on creating multimedia projects or websites. They can also participate with students not
in their classroom to cooperate on producing a wiki or project using a variety
of venues. With the internet, there are
limitless ways that students can interact and cooperate to create new material.
Resources:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using
technology with classroom instruction that
works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
You are right that children are social, and enjoy sharing their knowledge. Cooperative learning allows them to learn from each other. In the past, I have failed miserably at implementing cooperative learning in my classroom. From that experience, I now understand that planning is important to cooperative learning, as you said. I see that I will have to clearly state my expectations for the project, and make sure that all group members are accountable for their fair share of the work.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both you and Leslie regarding the importance of planning. I have to get much better at using rubrics to organize my plans and to better explain what is expected from my students. Using technology does tend to keep most of the students engaged and cooperatively working, but there are those individuals that would rather ride on classmates' coattails.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how many motivation techniques we use, there will always be one coattail rider. If the same student is consistently relying on others, they may need to be given an individual assignment.
ReplyDelete