Real World Collaboration, and Efficiency of Collaborative Technology Tools

Collaboration in this lesson has not been easy at all. There has been a lot of delays in people coming up to post their comments or even to edit.  Matters have been  made more difficult by the fact that I could not move on because I had to wait for other members to post their contributions either on the wiki, Google docs, or the mindmeister.  I think this business of collaboration has to be revised and people have to be brought on the same page before it can be effective and efficient. Even now, because of the delays in members contribution, a number of us had to move on and that means that  we missed whatever contribution  came after .

I  would make it clear to all the learners that their contribution is imperative and would earn them marks but it has to be done at the right time, not lagging behind and then coming up when everybody has moved to the next step. In that case they would lose marks for inefficient collaboration. I would set a time limit and close the site the moment the time is up. This is to instill discipline and try to have control on the movement of the lesson.

I also think, it would be more effective if done in smaller groups like say Four to six learners in a group. That would ensure effectiveness and efficiency as far as posting contributions is concerned. A big group brings/ causes laxity.

Knowledge Building and Power of Collaborative Knowledge

Knowledge building is a process whereby learners go beyond just reproducing what they have learnt. It entails building knowledge and this happens when the learners use the new information or knowledge achieved and combine it with the information that they have been having, to create more Ideas and new understanding of things.

Knowledge building entails interpretation beyond the literal meaning, analysis of data and establishing relationship of the parts, synthesis relationship between ideas and evaluation of information in terms of meaning, or credibility. Knowledge building according to my understanding is as summarized in the diagram below

 

Engaged Learning, Technology, and Limitations of Technology in Engaging Learners.

Engaged learning means learner must be interested, involved, committed, absorbed  and loving what they are learning. They must have a passion for it, ask for it, want it, help invent it. They must be involved in everything because they love to be engaged.

Technology is a critical role-player in engaging learners. It is not a secret how much time learners spend on social media. They love to feel it and be a  part of it all the time and that is why we always find them busy face booking, tweeting, watching movies, sending messages etc all their free time. Technology gives them a chance to interact with others, a chance for a hands-on experience and learners love to experience what they are learning.

Technology has its limitations too.

·         It may be a distraction from school work and class activities. Students watch videos, listen to music, send messages and fail to concentrate on class activities. Others Face Book even during a lesson.

·         Others also listen to music as they attend to their class work or school work and this is multitasking which is disadvantageous as it reduces productivity, increases stress and lowers IQ.

Innovative Learning Activities and How I would Adapt more Elements of Innovative Learning in My Teaching

Innovative learning activities are the tasks that a teacher can come up with to make the lesson interesting to the learners. These activities should be in position to capture the interest of the learners and inspire them to search, sort,  rearrange data and create knowledge that will lead to effective learning and problem -solving.  These innovative activities must involve;

·         Collaboration and teamwork; this is because by nature people are social beings and they learn by interacting with one another and in the process focusing on the 21st-century skills of collaboration, teamwork, problem-formulation, creativity and the ability to "learn how to learn"

·         Have relevance and be applicable to the real world. In other words.

·          Promote authentic learning.

·         Be inspiring in order to help develop students' ability to go beyond, to question and apply learning in new situations.

·  Include the use of technology to allow the learners to have a hands-on experience where they can experiment, discuss, reflect on what has been learnt and even redo activity if necessary.

·         Engage learners attention and get them to be creative in trying to solve the problems.

·         Most importantly, learner- centered. 

From what I have seen from the learning games I have viewed, most of the activities are;

·         Carried out online and the students are eager to find the solution.

·         Creativity has been tremendously inspired from these learners that they are ready to stretch their minds in search of solutions.

·         The teacher is just there to guide when consulted.

·         Learners use technology and it is a hands-on experience for all.

In order to adapt my teaching to include more elements of innovative learning, I intend to;

·         Embrace creativity as part of learning.

·         Use creative arts and media oriented programs

·         Participate in or create a program to develop creative skills.

·         Use emotional connections.

·         Create a socially supportive atmosphere.

·         Establish a degree of expressive freedom.

·         Gather outside resources.

·         Allow room for mistakes.

·         Encourage curiosity.

·         Design lessons that allow for wondering and exploration.

·         Tap into multiple intelligences

·         Allow for collaborative problem solving.