Collaborative Learning

Leadership, collaborative learning, and student achievement – discover what works! This resource-rich book provides a straightforward, strategic path to achieving sustainable communities of collaborative learners. Research-proven inquiry techniques, vignettes, case studies and action-oriented protocols help you build strong learning relationships for high-impact student achievement. System leaders, principals and teachers learn to: Integrate diverse views and perspectives Build trust and hear every voice Leverage key resources and processes Build students’ cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal skills Use “Assessments-in-Action” to improve, monitor and sustain progress Build a collaborative culture through learning together Use this go-to guide to transform your school from a place of ‘good intentions’ to a center of intentional practice today!

The 21st century has brought about changes in every aspect of life through ubiquitous technology and Internet-based social media. The distances between cultures and continents have narrowed, the world has become flat, and multicultural work-teams composed of members from different countries have become a daily reality in global businesses. However, in many ways these global changes in work practices have only just begun to have an impact on education. To better prepare students for the information age, researchers and policy makers largely agree about the skills needed for shared knowledge construction. Indeed, the education systems in several different countries have begun to integrate these skills into teaching and learning and are placing a strong emphasis on their implementation (Melamed et al, 2010; Resta et al, 2011). In 2015 the OECD PISA exam for the first time, included assessment of collaborative problem-solving in its country-by-country comparison. Collaborative learning is not a trivial challenge nor is it intuitive for all teachers and learners. One must acquire and practice the essential skills in order to successfully work in a team. Consequently it is essential to train teachers in collaborative teamwork, as they must serve as role models for students. In addition, new tools and practices become available at a rate that outpaces the abilities of many higher education institutions to adopt and implement. This book surveys the current state of the field and provides theoretical guidance and practical examples to help meet the gaps in research, development and practice.

Students who know how to collaborate successfully in the classroom will be better prepared for professional success in a world where we are expected to work well with others. Students learn collaboratively, and acquire the skills needed to organize and complete collaborative work, when they participate in thoughtfully-designed learning activities.Learning to Collaborate, Collaborating to Learn uses the author’s Taxonomy of Online Collaboration to illustrate levels of progressively more complex and integrated collaborative activities.- Part I introduces the Taxonomy of Online Collaboration and offers theoretical and research foundations.- Part II focuses on ways to use Taxonomy of Online Collaboration, including, clarifying roles and developing trust, communicating effectively, organizing project tasks and systems.- Part III offers ways to design collaborative learning activities, assignments or projects, and ways to fairly assess participants’ performance.Learning to Collaborate, Collaborating to Learn is a professional guide intended for faculty, curriculum planners, or instructional designers who want to design, teach, facilitate, and assess collaborative learning. The book covers the use of information and communication technology tools by collaborative partners who may or may not be co-located. As such, the book will be appropriate for all-online, blended learning, or conventional classrooms that infuse technology with “flipped” instructional techniques.

Collaborative learning is well-recognised as a pedagogical practice that promotes socialisation and learning among students from kindergarten to the university level and beyond. Children, adolescents, and adults learn from each other in a vast array of formal and informal settings in schools and the wider community. This book brings together a diverse range of international scholars to profile new pedagogical developments in collaborative learning and to highlight how these practices have been implemented. The term collaborative learning is used very broadly in this volume and includes co-operative learning, peer learning, and peer collaboration. The proponents of these practices argue that by working together, students have many opportunities to learn and develop a greater understanding of others with diverse social, personal, and academic competencies. The emphasis in this volume is on chapters that have a strong evidence-base for the work that is presented. This includes chapters that present empirical studies, research reviews, case studies and theoretical reviews because there is much to be gained by sharing and learning about what happens and how different pedagogical practices have been implemented. These chapters include pedagogical practices in mathematics learning, classroom-based talk, literacy, learning processes, group work, pre-service teacher education, teacher professional development, web-based technologies, and affective education and development. This book will have appeal to pre-service and experienced teachers who are interested in how different collaborative pedagogies can be embedded in different curricula to promote student engagement with learning. It will also be valuable as a reference text in post-graduate courses that focus on research training in education.

Advocates a far-reaching change in the relations between college and university professors and their students, between the learned and the learning.

A school-wide model for addressing individual needs The greatest goal of education is to ensure equity while enhancing learning and academic success for all students. And yet, it is impossible for one teacher to meet the extensive needs of all students in his or her classroom. The traditional schooling model cannot provide for this complexity and leaves educators perplexed. The solution is a collaborative approach where “every child deserves a team” to surround them with supports that recognize their strengths and challenges. Collaborative Response offers a school-wide model for addressing students’ individual needs. The three fundamental components of the model are: collaborative structures and processes; data and evidence; and continuum of supports. In this book, readers will find: Entry points for beginning this work Potential pitfalls of the approach Case studies from schools that have adopted the model Access to a website with tools, templates, case studies, and more With a focus on quality classroom instruction, this book shares examples from schools and districts that have transformed how they respond to the needs of all learners.

A guide to thirty-five creative assignments for pairs and groups Collaborative Learning Techniques is the bestseller that college and university faculty around the world have used to help them make the most of small group learning. A mountain of evidence shows that students who learn in small groups together exhibit higher academic achievement, motivation, and satisfaction than those who don't. Collaborative learning puts into practice the major conclusion from learning theory: that students must be actively engaged in building their own minds. In this book, the authors synthesize the relevant research and theory to support thirty-five collaborative learning activities for use in both traditional and online classrooms. This second edition reflects the changed world of higher education. New technologies have opened up endless possibilities for college teaching, but it's not always easy to use these technologies effectively. Updated to address the challenges of today's new teaching environments, including online, "flipped," and large lectures, Collaborative Learning Techniques is a wonderful reference for educators who want to make the most of any course environment. This revised and expanded edition includes: Additional techniques, with an all-new chapter on using games to provide exciting, current, technologically-sophisticated curricula A section on effective online implementation for each of the thirty-five techniques Significantly expanded pedagogical rationale and updates on the latest research showing how and why collaborative learning works Examples for implementing collaborative learning techniques in a variety of learning environments, including large lecture classes and "flipped" classes Expanded guidance on how to solve common problems associated with group work The authors guide instructors through all aspects of group work, providing a solid grounding in what to do, how to do it, and why it is important for student learning. The detailed procedures in Collaborative Learning Techniques will help teachers make sure group activities go smoothly, no matter the size or delivery method of their classes. With practical advice on how to form student groups, assign roles, build team spirit, address unexpected problems, and evaluate and grade student participation, this new edition of the international classic makes incorporating effective group work easy.

Although research in collaborative learning has a fairly long history, dating back at least to the early work of Piaget and Vygotsky, it is only recently that workers have begun to apply some of its findings to the design of computer based learning systems. The early generation of the!le systems focused on their potential for supporting individual learning: learning could be self paced; teaching could be adapted to individual learners' needs. This was certainly the promise of the later generation of intelligent tutoring systems. However, this promise has yet to be realised. Not only are there still some very difficult research problems to solve in providing adaptive learning systems, but there are also some very real practical constraints on the widespread take up of individualised computer based instruction. Reseachers soon began to realise that the organisational, cultural and social contexts of the classroom have to be taken into account in designing systems to promote effective learning. Much of the work that goes on in classrooms is collaborative, whether by design or not. Teachers also need to be able to adapt the technology to their varying needs. Developments in technology, such as networking, have also contributed to changes in the way in which computers may be envisaged to support learning. In September 1989, a group of researchers met in Maratea, Italy, for a NATO-sponsored workshop on "Computer supported collaborative . learning". A total of 20 researchers from Europe (Belgium.