COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

CL is a philosophy: working together, building together, learning together, changing together, improving together.

- Scott
(http://www.collaborativelearning.org)

During the intake process, when clients are asked ‘How do you learn?’, the answers given show that most of them perceive learning as being something that is teacher led, with little mention of independence. In many cases this previous ‘teacher led’ learning was not a positive experience.

A list of different kinds of thinking demands

Classifying, Comparing, Contrasting, Defining, Describing, Estimating, Evaluating, Explaining, Formulating hypotheses, Generalizing, Inferring, Interpreting data, Judging, Justifying opinions, Labelling Measuring, Noting a process, Ordering chronologically, Ordering spatially, Predicting, Problem solving, Rank ordering, Recommending, Testing hypotheses, Understanding and applying cause and effect, Understanding and applying rules and strategies.

Scott
(http://www.collaborativelearning.org)

In traditional classrooms the teacher provides the knowledge to the student. The collaborative style depends on shared knowledge amongst the group. The instructor still has information about content, skills, and instruction. However, equally important are the knowledge and skills that the participants bring to the learning situation. Also, in traditional classrooms, the teacher is responsible for setting goals, designing learning tasks, and assessing what is learned. Collaborative instruction differs by inviting students to set their own goals, decide on activities that suit their interests, and encourage them in self-assessment.

The collaborative process encourages the sharing of knowledge, strategies and decision-making. The ideas and life experience of all participants are important to achieve the teamwork, motivated learning and respect for self and others. Everyone learns from everyone else, everyone has an opportunity to make contributions.

Lower level learners learn from those farther up the matrix, but, more importantly, the ‘brighter’ participants have just as much to learn from their more average peers.