As the focus turned to the benefits of cooperative learning this week, I found myself in familiar territory. While I was a member of the 'rows of desks' facing toward the front of the classroom generation, I now work in a very collaborative project-based classroom. The desks are facing each other in 4's which immediately connects students as soon as they walk in the door. My Game Design program lends itself to base groups, which are defined as longer term groups such as within a semester class. "Base groups help build trust, cameraderie, and teamwork..." (Pitler, Hubbel, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). Every semester I see how students enjoy the interaction and learn so much more from their peers.
The discussions this week were interesting. While our focus on diverse learning involves the students, another peer replied to my discussion and pointed out that we, regardless of age and station in life, are all diverse learners; a consideration when not only planning our classroom curriculum to meet the lesson objectives, but also something to address when laying out a professional development session. We need to offer multiple Web 2.0 technologies to teachers in these sessions, maybe not so concentrated on the technology itself, but effective ways a selection of technologies can be utilized by students to present their knowledge of a subject or lesson.
Reference:
Pitler, H., Hubbel, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 139-154.
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