The concept of social learning contends that by learning by conversing with others the learning takes on more meaning and is learned more thoroughly. Cooperative learning allows the attainment of goals that might otherwise be difficult or impossible. Since learning is connected to environment and culture, the use of real-life examples, problems and situations makes learning easier. This translates into the classroom as group work in which all members contribute and an artifact for sharing is produced. Technology offers options such as the creation of a website to display the accumulated information, producing a wiki to encourage the input of others and interacting in multiplayer simulation games that allow human to human interaction. All of these provide opportunities for the students in a classroom to interact with not only each other, but with students worldwide, thus broadening the learning experience.
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I agree that these opportunities are beneficial to students, but do you find it difficult to assess group work? Sometimes I know that group members did not equally contribute work, but it is difficult to assess each individual when working in groups. What methods do you use? Do your group members ever evaluate others? I often have mine fill out anonymous opinion sheets on what they felt each group member contributed. I do not use that for assessment, but sometimes use it to decide whether or not certain students can work together again.
ReplyDeleteYou're right...
ReplyDeleteTalking about real-life examples and problems in the classroom allows students to retain the information as they can embed an image of that in their brain. Most studets have either heard of or even experienced these examples and can directly relate to the content causing them to store it their long-term memory and recall at a later date.
Cathy,
ReplyDeleteWhat activities do your students engage in that reflect social learning? You mentioned the use of wiki's in your post; have you used this tool in your classroom? I think wiki's are a great tool for collaboration. I specifically enjoy wiki's because teachers can enable them to be exclusive to the class. It is really nice for people (especially parents) to view what the class has been doing, without the ability to edit the work.
Cathy,
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that your posting suggests that we need to focus on real-world situations. The age old question by all students still gets asked today... "How will I use this in the future?" If we use real world situations - the students realize the importance of gaining the knowledge and how they will apply it as they go out into society. Do you often use cooperative groups or do you have a hard time giving up that control in the classroom?
Thanks for your posting!
Sara Catherine