Giving Compass' Take:
- Rachelle Dene Poth shares ideas that utilize technology to build collaborative learning skills both in and out of the classroom.
- How can donors help schools to foster collaborative skills given the constraints of the pandemic?
- Read more about defining and driving collaboration in education.
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Developing skills for collaboration is a critical component for our students for their future. It is so important that educators provide opportunities for students to work together in our classrooms so that they can develop the necessary skills for working on a team which will also enable students to build social-emotional learning (SEL) skills.
Here are five ways to promote collaboration both in the physical classroom setting as well as the virtual learning space
- Learning stations when used in the classroom open up more possibilities for personalized learning, for social interactions, and the building of relationships between students and between the teacher and students. Selecting a mix of digital tools, hands-on learning activities, and teacher-directed instruction creates a good mix of ways for students to engage with the content.
- Cross-curricular collaboration: Find a connector between your class and that of a colleague. Create a task where the students in both of your classes must collaborate on the same project while you do the same. Find a common bond between your courses and start collaborating.
- Beyond Classroom Discussions: How about getting students to share ideas on important topics, by using some of the digital tools available for curating material or gathering feedback.
- Collaborative Creations: Giving students the option of using traditional formats versus digital formats is something that I do a lot in my own classroom. Students work together in ways that build collaborative skills while also connecting them with more authentic and meaningful learning experiences.
- Blogging and Website Design: Blogging offers so many benefits in addition to building literacy skills and helping students to share ideas in a more authentic way. It also offers an effective way to build relationships between students as they exchange ideas, offer peer feedback and engage in more conversations in the classroom and online.
Read the full article about ways to build collaborative learning skills by Rachelle Dene Poth at Getting Smart.