Monday, March 29, 2010

Social Learning

Collaborative Learning projects and Social Learning theories go hand in hand.  Social learning theorists believe that meaning is gained through interactions with others and the environment, (Orey, 2001).  By working collaboratively with others, students are constructing knowledge and learning to work in today's face paced and socially global society.  There are many web based activities that provide for cooperative learning.  What is the most exciting, in my opinion, is that the learning can extend past the walls of the school, and into the global community.  Students can collaborate with other students from around the world.  This is the modern day pen pal.  Students can reach out to cultural experts through the web to gain, gather, and provide information and knowledge.  Sites like ePALS and Key Pals International are great for this.  By far,the most exciting collaborative project for me to have be successful in my classroom would bbe the website creation.  I think this teaches so many skills while the students gain a vast amount of information on a specified topic. I love the fact this requries students to become an expert in an area.  With free and inexpensive tools this is easier than ever.  All these activities, and more, require students to work with each other, gain knowledge from each other, and learn life skills in the process.

References:

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page

7 comments:

  1. Laura,
    I just learned about ePal's at a conference last week and I am finding that it really is a great site if you can contact teachers in your same field. I am always trying to find ways for my students to see how math is used in the outside world and have been searching for a teacher in another country that may not be as well off as us for them to see that calculators are not supposed to be used as a crutch. I hope that you can have the same success as I have had!

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  2. I have no explored it yet but plan on doing so. That is a great idea. So many children rely on calculators that they do not have the basic skills. I am a fourth grade teacher and I find that my students do not know their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication adn division facts. makes teaching things like fraction, LCD, and long division very frustrating. We spend time going over these and then end up behind all year.

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  3. Laura,
    What kind of websites did your students create? I have never had my students make websites before. I guess I am a little nervous having my students creating them because I have never made one before. Collaboration in the classroom is so important it gets students ready for the real world. I try to have my students work together several times during a week.

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  4. Laura - it sounds like the web-pals idea is really interesting. I haven't yet had my students make websites either, but I am very intrigued by the idea. I hope to implement some of that into practice next year.

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  5. Beth and Scott

    I have not have them make websites yet but read about it in the class reading this week. Sounds very interesting. My class has created a wikki and use blogging. Not exactly the same but a start. Collaboration is an important life skill so exposing children to it is essential.

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  6. Oh Ms. Bucci! Trust me, I am a 6th grade math teacher and I am still trying to get students to learn LCD AND Multiplication! Someday we will put responsibility on these students and magically they will retain information, I am sure!

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  7. I was about to jump off the roof today! You cannot teach kids to divide if they do not know their multiplication tables!!!!! It is like slamming your head into a wall repeatedly! I finallt had to stop and assign multiplication for them to complete. Some of the problem in my school is our math program. It doesn't drill facts!

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