Collaboration

7.1

When you are collaborating, you are actively participating in the process with everyone toward a common purpose.
 * 1) What is collaboration?

2.What are 3 ways in which students collaborate in your classroom and are they successful?
 * 1) They work in groups/pairs on an assignment
 * 2) Class discussions
 * 3) Assist each other in the classroom on certain assignments.

7.2

How can expanded use of technology help develop depth and breadth for our students? By exposing students to technology, either hardware or tools available on the internet, the better we are preparing our students to survive in a technological work place. Just because they are aware of the technology, does not mean they have mastered how to use it. The more students use the technology the quicker they will master it. The video discussed how employers are looking for candidates that are well rounded individuals that have mastered something (skill), and/or have failed and recovered from something. It is not enough to just have specific work experience, it is more important to broaden your repertoire of skills to include general career/life skills. For example, various computer skills, time management skills, and know how to collaborate with your peers, and actively participant in all aspect of project, not just doing a small part of it. In the education field it is our job to educate the students not only in our curriculum, but to be well rounded individuals.

What is the difference between cooperation and collaboration? When working on a project with your peers, cooperation means basically just doing your part of the project and not really worrying or helping people on their parts. You don’t see the whole project just a section of it. When you are collaborating you are talking and participating in all aspect of the project. You see the finished product and want to know how your can help to get there.

What are the challenges in getting students to collaborate rather than just cooperating? Some of the challenges of getting students to collaborate rather than cooperating in the classroom is dealing with the social aspect of the age group, personal issues, academic level, and the function/atmosphere of the classroom. Some students would rather just “get their part done”, rather than discussing and working with their partner, which is a good example of cooperating not collaborating. We have to educate students how to properly take part in the assignment, have discussions with the group members, find an interest in the assignment, and work on it together. When they are in the work world they could just “get the work done”, but that doesn’t show management what type of team/well rounded player you are.

7.3 VoiceThread My understanding of a voicethread is that it is an online conversation tool that allows many parties the opportunity to comment on the thread by phone, document, text, file upload, webcam, etc. One of the major advantages of this tool compared to ones we used in the past is that you can add verbal comments. In the classroom you can have the student create a voicethread on a particular topic and have everyone comment on it. Another example is to have the student create a voicethread summarizing a particular topic, so they can use it as a study tool. Teachers can also create a voicethread of a lecture and have students view it at any time. media type="custom" key="8296832"Voice thread by Beth Horwitz and Karen Razzino

Voice thread by Mike Lightbody and Beth Horwitz media type="custom" key="8296880"