By: Kirk Davies
Nowadays, instead of being the wise old sage on the stage, instructors must become a guide on the side and learn to facilitate learning in new and exciting ways. What this means is that instructors must relinquish some of the control in the classroom and work with students instead of simply telling them what to do.
Thanks to the internet and some of the wonderful new devices available, there are many more ways for this to be done, both in and out of the classroom. However, with the proliferation of new tools being released, it must seem overwhelming to the average instructor who is trying to find ways to incorporate them into collaborative learning. It is daunting even to me and I’m an educational technologist!
Going into all the different ways to use these tools is beyond the scope of this blog post, but, what I will discuss is how to properly manage collaborative learning projects and how to become a classroom ‘project manager’ of sorts.
According to Smith & Ragan (2005), an instructional project manager needs to do the following:
1. Analyze the needs and goals of a project
Like any lesson, you need to look at what you are trying to accomplish and how you are going to get there. This involves the learning outcomes for a project. If the expected learning outcome for a project is to have students work as a team, then think about how they are going to do that.
2. Plan for how to utilize resources in achieving those goals
This is where the technology part comes in. You need to think about what resources you have and how these can help you achieve your goals. For example, you can set up a group forum in cuLearn where teammates can discuss parts of the project together and work together to set goals.
3. Maintain productivity under constraints
You must set timelines and goals for getting the work done. Students can set their own goals within their groups, but you should give guidelines for how they should do this.
4. Anticipate potential problems
Giving a very detailed explanation of what is expected of students is necessary for them to take charge of their own learning and to help relieve some of the questions and queries that come the instructors’ way. You should highlight areas that may cause issues and reiterate certain parts that you require.
5. Figure out how to work around those problems
You can give suggestions or examples of what you would like to see and clearly explain what you expect as a final product.
6. Know how to evaluate outcomes
How will you know if the students have achieved their goal or learning outcome? There are many ways to do this. For example you can use peer evaluation for group work as well as evaluating the work as a whole.
So how does all of this help with collaborative learning? Well, it helps you to manage multiple group projects more efficiently at the same time, while still giving a high level of guidance to your students. If you put in some extra effort in creating a good collaborative learning environment, it will pay dividends for you and your students.
If you’re thinking of using new collaborative learning tools inside or outside cuLearn, please contact us here at the EDC. We’d be happy to introduce you to and help you to use these new tools.