This weeks lesson deals with social learning theory. I believe that one of the most important skills that students can learn in the high school setting is how to effectively interact with others. I believe that this skill will be invaluable to them in the future. If students are unable to communicate and collaborate with others, they will have a difficult time in the workforce.
In many of my classes, I try to create projects in which I can group students together and have them work toward a common goal / assignment. Currently, the technologies that I utilize most are blogging and wikis. I am excited to learn about the Voicethread technology. I believe that I can find many uses for this in my classroom. Also, I believe that it might be a great way to have the students interact and gain confidence in their communication skills.
We teach our students many things but are they just memorizing facts or can they apply the knowledge? I believe one way to ensure that they can infact apply the knowledge is to allow them to work collectively and to collaborate to build upon each others strengths and weakness and gain a better understanding of the content.
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Sue,
ReplyDeleteWhat type of collaborative groups do you find are the most productive in terms of learning? Do you like jigsaw? Do your students flourish in an environment that they find confortable?
Sue -
ReplyDeleteHave you used the smaller grouping ideas like think-pair-share, or numbered heads? I have used them several times and have found them to be useful, especially when I can't use bigger groups.
I also teach at the high school level and see that many of my Juniors and Seniors still lack the social skills that they need. I have done some collaborative work but not a whole lot. I realized after reading our course material that I have to be much more organized before trying a project.
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