Wk+4+Cooperative+Learning+Strategies

My Week Four readings and videos supported implementing learning activities that support cooperative learning strategies. **Cooperative learning** is when students work together and construct meaning for new knowledge by interacting with others. When 21st century students become adults, they’ll work in groups to solve hard problems requiring creative solutions. Let’s start teaching them how to do that now. There was a very interesting video interview with Linda Darling-Hammond [ [|www.edutopia.org/linda-darling-hammond-sel-video] ], who had quite a bit to say about the nature and scope and aspirations of education in the twenty-first century. She maintains that social and emotional learning is essential for kids to be able to engage with one another, understand themselves, handle stresses and challenges, and compete as adults in the global economy. (Aside: Have you read Friedman's **//The World is Flat//** ?) I’ve maintained for some time that our educational system, designed for the industrial revolution, presently has too many big urban factory-style schools where coercive and punitive dynamics emphasize control and conformity, and dehumanizes students. Social and emotional learning dovetails with group projects/project based learning, where small groups of students work together across disciplines on real-life problems or challenges. It’s active and engaging, and it produces a deeper knowledge of the subject than traditional textbook-style learning. Not only is the activity more engaging, it connects to real world problems and issues, and thus is more meaningful. There’s a term in the reading that I liked: “Positive interdependence.” It means that the group sinks or swims together, that everyone is responsible for the group’s success, and thus, they have to teach each other and learn from each other. Everyone has accountability, and everyone had better develop the interpersonal and problem-solving skills necessary to succeed. The Pitler text (//Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works//) has an excellent rubric for a cooperative multimedia project (figure 7.1 on page 142). I don’t mind telling you that I’ve been looking for this rubric for a few years. (It __had__ to be out there!) Its categories are: Content, Rough Draft, Organization, Storyboard, Originality, and Attractiveness. The next page has a chart listing Group Roles in a cooperative multimedia project (figure 7.2 on page 143). I need to close this overly long posting, but I want to share one more concept that I learned: It’s called “**Situated Learning”** and means that the learning takes place in a specific context. The idea is that most learning occurs naturally through activities, contexts, and cultures, but schools too often abstract learning, removing it from the natural context and applications. This concept really resonates—when you have to solve a problem or figure something out to accomplish your immediate and tangible goals, you have a greater commitment and involvement and you will have authentic learning.