In chapter 10, Jukes focuses on the importance of collaboration between students. Jukes states that collaboration is key to productivity in the digital world and that collaboration is happening more in personal lives as well as the modern workplace. Whether they know it or not, students are already collaborating using social networking. Juke's states "collaboration skills are essential skills for success in the modern workplace"and we must prepare our students for this in the future by teaching collaborating techniques and projects within the classroom. Do you agree with Jukes that collaboration in the workplace is increasing?
Jukes states teachers should focus on teaching students communication skills, how to plan joint work, now to negotiate the distribution of work between group members, and how to resolve conflict when collaborating. Jukes states students can collaborate in the classroom by producing real digital work such as: creating a website, making a video, participating in a blog or completing a presentation. What are some ways you can incorporate student collaboration via techhnology in your classroom or future classroom?
What are some benefits of student collaboration versus independent work?
Do you think there are any downsides or negatives to collaboration in the classroom?
Feel free to answer any of the bold questions- you do not have to touch on all of them!
I agree with Jukes that collaboration in the workplace is increasing. I think the way that Jukes starts the chapter out is the perfect example of todays business world and the skills needed to succeed in it. Collaboration is not only evident in the business world. Due to budget cuts this year our school had to cut many positions. To make a long story short I am teaching all of the schools chemistry classes and another teacher (who has never taught chemistry before) is teaching all of the labs. In order for this to work we are certainly going to need to collaborate to make the best environment and outcomes for our students.
ReplyDeleteIn order to teach students about collaboration I think that the best way to do it is the sink or swim model. Give them an assignment, my idea would be to have a group of students pick a different chapter and create a blog about that chapter. Then the other classmates will have to write responses and ask questions on that blog. Students will have to learn how to divide the workload and really work together if they want to have a successful blog.
There is a great article on edutopia entitled Nurturing Collaboration: 5 strategies where Joshua Block discusses ways that collaboration can go wrong and offers strategies on how to prevent that from happening. One strategy that jumped out at me because of this class was 4. Use Tech Tools to Simplify the Process. This strategy talks about using Google docs to help students collaborate.
My question about collaboration is, how do you grade it when things go wrong? Meaning do you take individual participation into the grade as well and if you do, is that really considered collaboration?
That is a great question Nicole! I think that for collaboration there needs to be section in grading the focuses on the overall participation and effort the individual put in to the group. This will help give the students motive to contribute towards the group project because their grade will be affected by their individual performance. Another strategy is for the students to give themselves and their team members a grade for their participation for their performance and contribution in the group.
DeleteWhat are your thoughts on digital natives using personal devices and not interacting when in a group and how this might effect collaboration?
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the article. It is quite the phenomenon. I just hope teachers can help students balance life skills and technology.
DeleteI am also frustrated when I see similar situations Sara! The worst (in my opinion) in the babies in strollers or at restaurant tables with tablets in their hands and kids in the backseat of cars with T.V.s. Those are times we bond with kids and instead they have a screen to their face. I see why parents do it, children seem to be fully engaged and quiet but they are not learning social skills! I feel like we will soon need a class in school called "how to engage in conversations with others"!
DeleteI found this follow quote and article (and graph) very interesting but NOT surprising.
“Parents who use phones and iPads as a substitute for their own interactions are compromising the development of the attention center of the brain,” UA psychology professor Timothy Cavell said.
http://wordpress.uark.edu/razorbackreporter/2013/12/12/smartphones-bad-for-childrens-social-skills/
I think that collaboration is such a huge part of today’s society and that it is a vital skill for students to have. It is now possible to connect globally with the click of a button, and that is exactly what many businesses are doing, connecting around the world. “Mass collaboration is sweeping across the business world, radically altering the way work gets done as it spreads to small and large firms alike” (pg. 107, Jukes, McCain, and Crockett, 2010). Students need to have the appropriate skills that will allow them to successfully collaborate using various modes of communication. I personally believe collaboration is a great use of time in the classroom. Students are able to bounce ideas off of each other and build off of one another. On the flip side, expectations need to be made clear because I have seen in multiple group scenarios a student who does not participate like they should because their group is doing everything or someone who tries to take control of the group; so there are both positives and negatives. With the way the world is heading, though, “If collaborative work environments have grown businesses into 21st century successes, why shouldn't schools truly operate on those principles?” (Education Weekly, 2013). There are so many ways teachers can incorporate collaboration into their classroom. There are the standard group projects where students meet in class or on their own time, but with today’s technology, teachers can incorporate online collaboration as well; google docs, blogs, and email are only some online resources. Page 106 states, “If teachers are going to connect not only with the world of their students, but also equip those students with relevant skills for their future lives, then it is critical that teachers grasp the extent that collaboration has spread across the modern world” (Jukes, McCain, and Crockett, 2010).
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point about expectation being made in the class for collaboration. I think many of my undergraduate students dislike team projects, as they think one of the team members won't pitch in to the project.
DeleteCollaborative groups within the workplace i believe has increased. According to Crockett et. all from the book Literacy is not enough, Collaboaration is a key fluency within literacy. Crockett outlines that the process should include: creating groups, establishing the roles and responsibilities of each member, determining the norms such as how often communication should take place and how, what is the scope of the project, defining a leader for the group, and lastly creating a group contract which establishes the expecations of the group/members. As previously indicated i believe a partner grading system or a contract as Crockett outlines would be most effective in reducing the negatives associated with group work.
ReplyDeleteI think many teachers have a hard time evaluating collaboration and are afraid of it. If you take a group project and everyone in the group get the same grade even though maybe 2 people did 3/4 of the work is that really fair? With instances like this I think that it enables students to learn valuable life lessons but they might not learn the content lesson that the teacher is assessed on. I think that because teachers are evaluated on the content they teach and not the life lessons it is harder for them to incorporate them into their daily planning. Also the amount of content that teachers are mandated to teach makes it difficult to incorporate collaborative activities.
ReplyDeleteNicole, I agree some students sit back and don't pull their weight in groups. I also experienced a few students this year controlling the group to much and "taking over" too much in groups this year. I had to talk to the students separately and work on a rubric and planning system on who was to do what. Points were taken off if students stepped over their boundaries and took over someone else's task or job and also points were lost if students didn't do anything. Like Matt mentioned, I am sad that I cannot find a way to intrinsically motivate student to WANT to participate.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what both of you are saying! Teachers are afraid to have students work collaboration because of behavior management and team work. I mentioned in my response about CC incormporating a tome of protocols and rubrics (in 4th grade) collaborative groupings. I think that the best thing to solve the question that NIcole L. brings up is to have the students grade each other. I tried it withmy students this year on a project they had been working on, I was a little worried about how they would grade each other so I had them write a written response. Overall they did a good job and were honest.
ReplyDelete