The focus this week has been on cooperative learning, which has "students interact with each other in small groups in ways that enhance their learning," which parallels the primary concept of social learning theories. There are many ways technology can enhance cooperative learning. Email, blogs, skype, webquests and wikis are just a few of the many tools available to educators that can be used in cooperative groups. Technology today allows for students to be in different classrooms, different schools, different states or even different countries and yet still work together and learn from each other.
I also like the tools available that allow for organizing group members. I can not see third graders using them, but once into middle school, high school and even college the tools could be invaluable. Examples would be shared calendars and bookmarking.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Christina,
ReplyDeleteHow would you use Skype in your third grade classroom? Is this something you would have to get permission to use with your young students? I think my third graders would be over the moon to use Skype to talk to people outside of the classroom. Even if it was to interview someone else on campus. My initial thought would be to use it when playing a classroom version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire". Students could "Skype a friend" (another teacher, administrator, or someone on campus) for help on a curriculum based trivia question.
Using Skype in the classroom would be a great experience for students. I know that I have friends in other districts that teach first grade. If my friend and I were teaching the same material, we could let our classess communicate about their personal learning experiences with the material. This would be a way to introduce your students to Skype.
ReplyDeleteI also LOVE the Who Wants to be a Milionare" idea. The kids would love it!