Today we want to stop at how to enhance collaborative learning, its use in classrooms. As we already have previously, the main idea of collaborative learning is that knowledge is created within a group, through the interaction of several of its members, therefore the main task of the teacher is to provide the students with the spaces for this communication possible.
Boys and girls must be able to take advantage of the skills and resources of the other, both from their peers, as from the teacher, as well as the tools outside the classroom that are necessary, and here we think about the Internet and other sources.
Encourage collaborative learning in the classroom
If human beings had not collaborated with each other, the species would not have evolved as it has. The importance of teamwork, to collaborate, has been shown throughout history. To collaborate, more than one is needed, that is, the group is necessary, therefore the first thing that must be created in the classroom is a common objective. You have to create group goals, and it will be the teacher who divides the necessary tasks that each group, and each member must assume.
In advanced ages, and with boys and girls accustomed to this type of collaborative learning, they will be the ones who make this distribution. The groups should not always be of the same participants, but they should all interact with each other, and the ideal is 5 people.
It is essential to promote a safe and effective communication. That is, students have to feel comfortable expressing their ideas and opinions. For this, a code of conduct can be developed among the members of the group, and respect for the other groups: tone and volume of voice, vocabulary used, speaking time, how to request help ...
Activities for the little ones
Promoting collaborative learning is enhance and share the capacities and possibilities of learning each. In this sense, it is important to practice with the children since we were kids these collaborative skills. We propose a very suitable activity for elementary school children and even children. They will do it almost automatically.
It is about doing tangram or puzzles collaboratively. The class will have to be divided into groups of 4 or 5 children, and each group has to complete the same number of puzzles, tangrams or puzzles as members. It is not a question of making one among all, but that each one has his own and receives help and helps the others.
We give each member an envelope with most of their puzzle pieces, but also some of the others. The boys and girls in the group cannot talk to each other (in this they can be flexible) and the important thing is that they are aware of parts needed by your peers to complete their puzzles. The team that first assemble the puzzles of each of its members wins.
Typical collaborative learning activities
Some of the typical collaborative learning activities are the group projects, collaborative writing and reading of a book, a story or a subject matter, correcting the homework of another, discussion groups, making subject specialists, or study teams.
In addition, we point out other tools such as ask the partner, sharing of the topic, and the notes that have been taken, or the mock debate, in which each child assumes a role in a debate on a topic, whether in favor or against, they will have to play the role that they play. You can see more details of these activities in this article.
One of the issues that is important to enhance collaborative learning is learn to resolve conflicts. For this it is important that the teacher has already observed how the students solve the tasks and know the style of each one within the group. Then the game of the wolf and the bridge can be raised. It is the famous riddle of the shepherd who has to cross the other side of a river with a wolf, a goat and a lettuce. The idea is not so much to solve the puzzle, but for the children to develop their ideas, be creative and learn to defend their points of view.