Humans have a basic instinct to interact and work as
a group. Rheingold began his discussion
with giving comparison of individuals and businesses in the past competed with
others. Humans desire to have some type
of relationship with others for new forms of wealth. The desires for this wealth are more food or
basic daily, social desires, and social contact. As humans our actions are determined by these
desires.
Technology facilitates collaboration among learners and
teachers by providing instruction visually, audibly, and hands on
learning. Technology is a new way of
learning and teaching. It allows teachers
to access student’s prior knowledge of information to learn new
information. Collaborative classrooms
provide an opportunity for collective knowledge to be shared among teachers and
students. Students are able to set
goals, design their learning task and visually monitor their progress and
students are able to view their assessments.
The link that
I found that supports collaboration as an effective tool for learning is http://www.cisco.com/web/about/citizenship/socio-economic/docs/Metiri_Classroom_Collaboration_Research.pdf This article is based on the need to educate
students on the importance of collaboration and working together. This method provides them with workforce
skills that can be utilized in their future.
Reference
Rheingold, H. (2008, February). Howard Rheingold on
collaboration [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html
Latisha,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post and liked the Cisco article you shared via link. I took interest in reading about Cisco’s research finding on the topic of Discussion. In reviewing Cisco’s research work, I noticed that the finding was conclusive that K-12 students worked well in groups, were able to take on challenging tasks that otherwise, an individual student may not be able to perform on his/her own and lastly, students exhibited a positive attitude toward working on tasks in groups. The later sparked my interest and has persuade me to integrate Constructivist Theory and others with Constructivism as a foundation into my methodology in course design.
Thanks for activating my “light bulb”...the wheels are turning now.
Lynda Marshall
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comments. Humans have these needs and use networks to gain power and prestige. Social relationships began at a very early age and are important to well being.
Latisha,
ReplyDeleteTwo questions. Do you think it is difficult to overcome early 'less than optimum experiences, in working with groups as an adult learner? What makes group work in learning rewarding as we generally are not getting more food, or are in social groups by choice, or any economic benefit?
~CeCelia