Cooperative Learning - Chpt. 7

As I was reading this chapter, several segments of the book began to cooperate in my mind. It occurred to me that the use of the online surveys could enhance the use of cooperative learning by providing the group members an opportunity to evaluate the experience. This could include not only the learning process, but the composition of the group itself. Often students are reluctant to criticize the participation level of others, and this could offer a means of doing so that could inform the teacher without hurting any feelings. And, this could help to identify not only slackers, but those that overpower the rest of the group. Again, to inform the teacher, after using various forms of cooperative learning, the class could be surveyed as to which method they enjoyed most. The teacher could compare this data with the evidenced learning to determine the true value.

I like the idea of starting small with multimedia. I can imagine having teams of two, equipped with Flip or still cameras, searching out examples of geometric figures found in the school. The assignment, on a lower elementary level, could entail finding the example, preparing a brief description of the figure, and reading the description as the real world example is captured on disk/film. If we can start with something simple to get the kids used to successfully accomplishing a multimedia project, their interest and enthusiasm will grow, along with their abilities to manipulate technology.

I also like the idea of a class-size project, again starting simply. By using one of the classroom connection websites, it would be interesting to have a class here contact a class in California regarding something as practical as emergency drills. If they created lists to compare, the two lists could easily become a Venn diagram. The California classroom would undoubtedly have some earthquake proceedures not shared by Texas students, while we could tell of what to do in the event of a chemical release. This type of exchange could springboard into a study of air pollution, seismic activity, natural disaster versus man-made. Involving kids from across the country would engage the kids in a new way.

Shared bookmarking would also be a timely form of cooperative learning. Students could be given a topic to explore on the web. The premise, originally, could be simply to find the best sites. The teacher could establish a rubric for the students to use in their evaluation of the sites including such aspects as graphics, readability (key for the younger guys), and overall friendliness toward elementary users. When the kids each bring in their top 5 choices, the teacher could assign groups to further narrow the selection to the top 5 for the group. Each group could present their top 5, until a final "top" number is determined. At that point, the kids, or the teacher, could post the links on del.icio.us, or another site, and the students could be assigned a project to complete using the selected sites. The students would have tremendous buy-in because of their involvement in selecting the sites. Hopefully, during the process, much of the research on the assigned topic would already be in their heads!