This just might be my favorite!!! The Cooperative appears to be a very solid model in which all teachers could use within any subject matter. For important concepts, this would be ideal to ensure that students have the supporting framework before attempting to utilize the information covered. The only barriers I foresee would be those pertaining to the preparation necessary for teachers before implementing a lesson students. In addition, a way to successfully establish how groups are to work together must be determined. To ensure that a sound structure and lesson is provided, ample time would be necessary to preserve the quality of the content. Once the time and effort is put forth, there is no doubt that students will be able to truly learn from this model. The collaboration benefits will allow students to truly work with one another and extend their learning through conversation amongst their peers.
I see using the Jigsaw and Find the Fib strategies most appropriate and realistic to apply to my classroom. The Jigsaw strategy could ensure that students review and discuss the content they have learned. To extend this, they will be able to truly think in depth in regards to what is the "fib" after truly understanding what the correct information is. The Jigsaw strategy seems most appropriate to help ensure that each member pulls their own weight. I feel this is the biggest downfall of students working within groups. This strategy looks to avoid any potential issues. Between the two, I could truly help students learn to work together towards one common task or objective.
This is where the problem comes in. I was not able to truly see this reflected in a web-based learning environment. While of the strategies provided, I did believe that Jigsaw would be the only strategy that could be applied. I feel that the technology tool used would have to fully support the use of this strategy rather than the actual lesson.
I have also found it challenging to imagine a cooperative lesson online. I tend to think of a group of 2-5 students sitting around a table communicating, which of course is how I've seen the strategy in action most often. For online, I don't think all of the cooperating has to be synchronous, like the face-to-face model we are used to. That's one hangup we should probably try to overcome. Cooperating CAN BE synchronous with tools like Elluminate, but there are good asynch tools as well such as "Cmap." That one allows a group of students to be assigned a group space, and they begin to independently bring in resources and materials they find, annotate or start discussion threads about specific resources (to help teach peers about the findings), physically specify relationships between the collected resources (bringing all the independent pieces together), and finally coming up with some group output-product. I've actually done a cooperative writing project in Cmap, where colleagues each brought in articles they found about a topic, annotated those, and we build a literature review together collaboratively. Interesting process, and probably not as easy as face-to-face, but it can work. And sometimes it has to work, as the folks I was working with were in different parts of the country. Face-to-face wasn't really an option.
ReplyDeleteIt's so important for students learning collaboratively to be able to gauge each other's expressions and reactions. Online instruction does indeed make this difficult, which is why I, apparently like everyone else, would be hesitant to use it.
ReplyDeleteSecond Life is becoming increasingly popular in online learning environments. I wonder if the next step in the evolution of virtual space we'll be able to gauge each other's reaction, not just see each others' avatars!