Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

My classes are structured around collaboration and cooperative learning. I feel the toughest challenge for a teacher when using cooperative learning is the assessment.  I refuse to use a group grade for a student.  When using cooperative learning in school, I do not agree with this component suggested by Pitler, “sink or swim together” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 140).  I find that parents do not like group grading either.  

I agree with Ms. Ortiz and also provide a rubric at the beginning of the project (Pitler et al., 2007, p. 141).  In all of my classes, each student in the group is provided with a rubric at the beginning of the project.  The rubric guides the student throughout the project. The projects are assessed in steps on the rubric.  Upon completion of the project, each student in the group hands in an engineering portfolio with the rubric attached.  This enables me to grade students fairly within each group.

I believe the key to cooperative learning and collaboration in groups is the first recommendation that Pitler suggests, “Use a variety of criteria to group students” (Pitler et al., 2007, p. 140).  I receive a new group of students every thirty days.  On the first day of class we have a class meeting and I ask questions directed at learning styles and intelligences.  I think this is the key when grouping students for social learning and collaboration.  

In my two classes at Walden, 6710 and 6711, I was exposed to numerous tools that will increase student learning both individually and in group settings.  It is very important that teachers know these tools 100% prior to implementing them in activities.  The following sentence refers to the tools, “When these types of activities go astray in the classroom, it is often due to inadequate up-front preparation” (Pitler et al., 2007, p. 141).  I learned this student teaching during a CAD lesson.  When you lose the students due to something unexpectedly going wrong, it is hard to get them refocused.  Has anyone experienced this?  Another item to consider when learning these tools is how to adapt the learning tool for the grades we teach.

One tool that has been implemented recently is a class wiki.  It is working fantastic when students work collaboratively.  When I listen to the groups working together and see the end results, there is no comparison to the groups at the beginning of the school year.

Another tool I am finding very interesting is Voice Thread.  My classes are structured around problem-based learning.  I attempt to facilitate as opposed to teach.  My initial thoughts are to use this tool when I notice something that needs to be addressed in the project.  I could post the problem on a Voice Thread and ask the students to comment.  What are your thoughts, do you think this will work?  I feel this is a good example of using a social media tool that will prepare students for their future. 

            Here are two links for Voice Threads I created recently.  This one I could use for my classes.  http://voicethread.com/share/2908303/  This one is just for fun.   http://voicethread.com/share/2907193/

This class and our previous class have both exposed us to many social media tools that can be implemented in the classroom.  I have bookmarked them and plan on reviewing and learning them over the summer.  Which ones do you find most interesting?

References

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Denver, Co.: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.