Collaboration

That is a big word. It is a word that as a student and new teacher I hated to hear. It meant I had to talk to people and share my thoughts. I might even have to stand up and share with an entire group. I know you can’t tell from how much I ramble on this blog, but I always hated it. I didn’t even like hearing the word. As I began teaching, it became easier. I liked talking to my new colleagues and I liked getting and sometimes sharing ideas. In graduate school, I was forced to collaborate more. I found that I not only had opinions I wanted to share but I learned so much from collaborating with my fellow students and teachers.

I began to realize that if I (a quiet person) can really learn something from collaboration so can my students. I don’t know about you, but my students LOVE to talk. They LOVE to be with their friends and even share their ideas. So I started having math conversations with my students. After learning how to share appropriately, they began giving their ideas, talking through math problems and even helping their neighbors when they didn’t understand. This collaboration between my students and me was so beneficial. I found that many of my students could teach those struggling students better than I could! That is hard for a teacher to admit...but sometimes they can explain a concept in a way I never thought about. To top it off, I began hearing these same collaborative conversations during centers as well. I was thrilled! Now, don’t get me wrong. I have a class of “bossy bosses” and they do get into arguments from time to time. It is not always wonderful...but any progress helps. Right?!

So I was very excited when I came across this article in the eSchool News journal. The article focuses on collaboration as a learning tool. They are mostly focusing on social media like Twitter and Facebook. At first, I was thinking...bad idea. But then I began to reflect on my past few semesters at Montevallo. A few of my classes (including those this semester) have been incorporating the use of Facebook and Twitter. It does help me collaborate and communicate with my fellow classmates that I do not ever get a chance to see. Most of us our already using these social media sites on a daily basis. So I started thinking about ways we could use it in the classroom. Students collaborating with other students all over the world would be spectacular. And if they were using a site like Facebook...would they even realize they were learning?!

So I thought I would throw some questions your way. I am interested in your ideas. What would it be like if we could use these sites to increase student learning? Do you think it could benefit the students and/or the teachers? Do you think it will ever be possible to use these social media sites to our educational advantage?