Collaboration
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Developing Community for Effective Collaboration COLLABORATION IN THE ONLINE CLASSROOM Robin Ward-Dassler Lindsay Holland Janet Smith Benjamin Schosek 1
description
class assignment
Transcript of Collaboration
Developing Community for Effective Collaboration
COLLABORATION IN THE ONLINE CLASSROOM
Robin Ward-DasslerLindsay HollandJanet SmithBenjamin Schosek
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Developing Community for Effective Collaboration
Why Collaborate?
• Promotes deeper levels of knowledge• Promotes initiative, creativity and development of
critical thinking skills• Promotes Co-creation of knowledge• Promotes Reflection
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Developing Community for Effective Collaboration
Building Community
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A sense of community must exist for collaboration to occur A community is a place where students can come together and
share ideas with one another. Students need to be aware of the community that exists in their online environment in order to be successful in their course. In order to collaborate with one another, a positive and well respected community must be provided for the students.
Developing Community for Effective Collaboration
Elements of Community• All the people involved• Shared purpose
• Sharing information, experiences, interests, resources
• Guidelines• Structure of the course, ground rules for participation and interaction
• Technology or Meeting Places• Collaborative Learning
• Student-to-student interaction
• Reflection• To reinforce and transform the learning
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Developing Community for Effective Collaboration
Why Do People Need to Learn to Work Together?• Learning to work together gives learners the
opportunity to share knowledge with others. It also gives learners the chance to learn things in a different way from other people.
• Collaboration with others prepares learners in the workplace by providing them with the social skills they need in a work environment. They will be able to be more successful in their work place if they are able to work together with others and respect different ideas and opinions from their colleagues.
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Developing Community for Effective CollaborationWhen Groups Work and Don’t
Work
• A group work project that was the most successful for me was when everyone in the group had the same experience. The project dealt with algebraic thinking in students and since my group members all possessed algebra teaching experience it made the project go very well. Since everyone in my group had algebra teaching experience, it made the project go very smooth and everyone was able to agree on several components of the project.
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Developing Community for Effective CollaborationWhen Groups Work and Don’t
Work• A group work project that was not as successful for
me was when the members all had different levels of thinking. I remember working with two members in my group who were pursuing their PHD s in mathematics so their level of thinking was a lot higher than mine. When it came time to put all our findings together in one paper, we had several issues because of everyone's level of thinking. It was a very challenging project for everyone.
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Developing Community for Effective Collaboration
Stages of Group Development
• Forming: when groups get to know one another• Norming: when groups figure out how to work together• Storming: Problem-solving where there will be disagreement and/or
conflict• Students in groups bring to the table a variety of knowledge in
the subject, their own experiences and opinions.• As groups begin to share, different ideas emerge and
negotiations begin. This process can be frustrating and uncomfortable, but through the process learning increases and the team goals are reached.
• Performing: when groups work to complete the task• Adjourning: when groups end the work and disband or regroup for other
tasks
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Developing Community for Effective Collaboration
What Do I Need to Do as an Instructor?• Set the Stage
• The instructor sets the stage by using a learning contract. • Create the environment
• The instructor creates the environment dividing students into groups and clearly defining the assignment.
• Model the process• The instructor models the process by communicating clearly
and focusing on the goals and objectives.• Guide the process
• The instructor guides the process by reminding students of deadlines and making constructive comments.
• Evaluate the process• The instructor evaluates the process by observing the work
of the group and evaluating the outcome.
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Developing Community for Effective Collaboration
Successful Collaboration
• The instructor can enhance successful collaboration by:• Hold discussions in a forum that the instructor can
monitor.
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Developing Community for Effective Collaboration
Building Online Communities
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