CONFERENC E
Training Global Collaborators By John Sowash
Science has always been a collaborative endeavor. From the Wright brother’s to Watson and Crick to the Human Genome project, working together to accomplish goals is one of the trademarks of science. The importance of collaborative skills has become even more essential as technology allows scientists to work together from around the globe. Teaching students how to collaborate effectively should be an integral part of all science courses.
The 21st Century Workforce Commission argues that “In today’s wired, networked society it is imperative that students understand how to communicate using technology. This includes asynchronous and synchronous communication.” This plea has been confirmed by ISTE which lists collaborative skills as one of the essential technology standards for students (NETS-S).
Not all educators understand what collaboration is or how to teach it. Simply put, collaboration is two or more people, organizations, or groups, working on a common goal or towards a common purpose. Collaborating with others is important for five reasons: 1. It’s how things get done. 2. More than one brain is always better. 3. It reveals new perspectives. 4. It compensates for individual weaknesses. 5. It builds community.
Collaboration can be as simple as two students studying together or as complex as students from around the globe meeting in a virtual classroom. Collaborative skills can be taught informally or through designed activities. Numerous web tools such as Google Docs, Prezi and Twitter can facilitate collaboration. It is important to set expectations regarding the sharing of work. What a student considers collaboration, a teacher might consider cheating.
If our students are going to be competitive in the global job market of the 21st century they need to be skilled in working together. We have a great opportunity to teach them.
To learn more about this topic attend the MACUL conference session, Collaborative Projects for STEM Classrooms.
John Sowash is the Director of Online Learning for Global Christian School Online, a division of Southfield Christian School located outside of Detroit. Prior to his current role John taught high school biology for four years. John is a Google Certified Teacher and Trainer and helps schools implement Google Apps for Education, Flipped Class teaching, and 1:1 programs. You can connect with John via his blog (electriceducator.
blogspot.com) or Twitter (@jrsowash).
MACULJOURNALV |
INFOBYTES
Teaching in the YouTube Culture: How to “flip” your ideas about learning
in the 21st Century By Krista Price
In a society where students can access information in a myriad of ways and from countless devices at any time they choose, what is the real value of a teacher? The value of a classroom teacher is not in the information (s)he provides, but rather in what technology can’t provide. The real value of a teacher to a 21st century learner is the ability of that teacher to mentor, facilitate, and coach students in meaningful ways that help them to better analyze, evaluate, and create with information.
Because of this, moving content delivery from a teacher’s lips, to students’ fingertips can be a powerful way to re-engage students in the classroom. Instead of providing information during class- room time (i.e. traditional classroom lecture and notes), why not provide it outside of the school day in order to free up valuable class time for what’s really important?
When I “flipped” my ideas about information delivery three years ago, and began to provide all my courses’ content online, I found that it changed the dynamics of my classroom in several ways. It not only provided more in-class time for individualized instruction, group discussions, and process-driven activities, it also reduced the time it takes to deliver content from fifty minutes to five, while allowing students to consume content in ways they were more accustomed to: via visually-rich technol- ogy that they could pause, rewind, or access from anywhere and at anytime.
There are many reasons and many ways to “flip” your teaching. Come to this session at the 2012 MACUL Conference to learn about the journey of flipping instruction...tips to follow, tools to use, and pitfalls to avoid. Then get started in your own journey toward more engaged learning…both inside and outside of the classroom.
Krista Price is the Director of Theatre at Oxford Community Schools, where she teaches and directs theatre and speech. She has been teaching for 14 years, and speaks regularly at conferences about how to leverage online tools, such as YouTube, to reach students in more meaningful ways. Krista plans to teach and direct in China this summer.
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