# data[].attributes.body
For collaborative learning, I like to make small groups so that everyone has opportunity to participate. Also I do grouping as per the activity. Sometimes students of comparable abilities are grouped together so that they can stimulate each other intellectually and sometimes different ability students are paired to facilitate peer tutoring and learning. I have observed that students enjoy collaborative activities a lot and it helps them develop interpersonal skills,

# data[].attributes.headline
Marion, France

3.1.

Students can work in groups very

early. Teacher's task is always

giving clear instructions and

explanations.

Group work needs constant reviews

and feedback where pupils and

teacher reflect about the

importance of listening,

involvment, encouragement. I

really agree with the girl who

said:"We learn with others and

with ourselves." Indeed, working in

groups develop high social

competences for students

(listening, attention, empathie,,.)

Group work includes some noise,

so in the beginning it's better to

define short moments. All students

don't support noisy environment,

neither some teachers!

I came to reflect with the students

about the use of our voices, they

have to learn how to control the

volume.

About the space, the teacher has to

inform his colleagues about the

passing by of his students.

Colleagues can help in observing

students behaviour. Feedbacks

about these observations are

helpful for other journeys in the

school.

A very important point is that the

teacher says clearly to the students

how much he trusts in their good

behaviour. Confidence mostly

works very well. Broken rules are

discussed in the classroom.

During the schoolyear, the

students try all kind of group

forming: classroom neighbour on

the left, on the right, in front of or

in the back; by gender; in the

alphbetic order; by choice, centres

of interests... If the teacher

explains the aims, good work is

almost done.

# data[].attributes.subject
Marion, France

3.1.

Students can work in groups very

early. Teacher's task is always

giving clear instructions and

explanations.

Group work needs constant reviews

and feedback where pupils and

teacher reflect about the

importance of listening,

involvment, encouragement. I

really agree with the girl who

said:"We learn with others and

with ourselves." Indeed, working in

groups develop high social

competences for students

(listening, attention, empathie,,.)

Group work includes some noise,

so in the beginning it's better to

define short moments. All students

don't support noisy environment,

neither some teachers!

I came to reflect with the students

about the use of our voices, they

have to learn how to control the

volume.

About the space, the teacher has to

inform his colleagues about the

passing by of his students.

Colleagues can help in observing

students behaviour. Feedbacks

about these observations are

helpful for other journeys in the

school.

A very important point is that the

teacher says clearly to the students

how much he trusts in their good

behaviour. Confidence mostly

works very well. Broken rules are

discussed in the classroom.

During the schoolyear, the

students try all kind of group

forming: classroom neighbour on

the left, on the right, in front of or

in the back; by gender; in the

alphbetic order; by choice, centres

of interests... If the teacher

explains the aims, good work is

almost done.

# data[].attributes.headline
Marion, France

3.1.

Students can work in groups very

early. Teacher's task is always

giving clear instructions and

explanations.

Group work needs constant reviews

and feedback where pupils and

teacher reflect about the

importance of listening,

involvment, encouragement. I

really agree with the girl who

said:"We learn with others and

with ourselves." Indeed, working in

groups develop high social

competences for students

(listening, attention, empathie,,.)

Group work includes some noise,

so in the beginning it's better to

define short moments. All students

don't support noisy environment,

neither some teachers!

I came to reflect with the students

about the use of our voices, they

have to learn how to control the

volume.

About the space, the teacher has to

inform his colleagues about the

passing by of his students.

Colleagues can help in observing

students behaviour. Feedbacks

about these observations are

helpful for other journeys in the

school.

A very important point is that the

teacher says clearly to the students

how much he trusts in their good

behaviour. Confidence mostly

works very well. Broken rules are

discussed in the classroom.

During the schoolyear, the

students try all kind of group

forming: classroom neighbour on

the left, on the right, in front of or

in the back; by gender; in the

alphbetic order; by choice, centres

of interests... If the teacher

explains the aims, good work is

almost done.

# data[].attributes.subject
Marion, France

3.1.

Students can work in groups very

early. Teacher's task is always

giving clear instructions and

explanations.

Group work needs constant reviews

and feedback where pupils and

teacher reflect about the

importance of listening,

involvment, encouragement. I

really agree with the girl who

said:"We learn with others and

with ourselves." Indeed, working in

groups develop high social

competences for students

(listening, attention, empathie,,.)

Group work includes some noise,

so in the beginning it's better to

define short moments. All students

don't support noisy environment,

neither some teachers!

I came to reflect with the students

about the use of our voices, they

have to learn how to control the

volume.

About the space, the teacher has to

inform his colleagues about the

passing by of his students.

Colleagues can help in observing

students behaviour. Feedbacks

about these observations are

helpful for other journeys in the

school.

A very important point is that the

teacher says clearly to the students

how much he trusts in their good

behaviour. Confidence mostly

works very well. Broken rules are

discussed in the classroom.

During the schoolyear, the

students try all kind of group

forming: classroom neighbour on

the left, on the right, in front of or

in the back; by gender; in the

alphbetic order; by choice, centres

of interests... If the teacher

explains the aims, good work is

almost done.

# data[].attributes.body
I think eTwinning project and ICT essential for pupils.Hereby classrooms open the door.

# data[].attributes.body
Forming groups of students for work is quite easy when they learnt that is a one day group that reshapes next time, they might be a bit noisy the first time but it is fun to watch them learn a lot about eachother each time they switch group

# data[].attributes.body
Collaborative work is a strategy that helps most of the students. Sometimes there is an issue when the groups are made. If necessary, I change the groups to be more productive. I use groups to perform laboratory experiments and to discuss some topics. The groups does not work when there is someone that do not want to work at all, what is rare, because in group is easy to students being motivated to learn.

# data[].attributes.body
I use TeamUp for create new teams and also drama activities with my students.

I like the video about the team work so much, the students tell us so much about group work. I hope to take also a video with my students and share it on my diary.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
iTEC 5.FAZ HÜRRİYET İLKOKULU -AKDENİZ/MERSİN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
iTEC 5.FAZ HÜRRİYET İLKOKULU -AKDENİZ/MERSİN

# data[].attributes.body
Whereas in group work, the participants draw on the same resources to find a common strategy, collaborative problem solving requires that people share their resources, and their strategies, in order to reach a common goal.

I use Interdisciplinary teaching very often ( English and math, English and art, English and music, collaborating with colleagues in other fields, as I think it takes the “lesson” away from the coursebook and into everyday life, allows for project-based/collaborative work and my ESL students really enjoy it as it also gives them a sense of accomplishment, in a stress-free creative task.

# data[].attributes.body
It is very important for good work in groups to feel fine with each other...Sometimes I don't think about this and try to explain, that it is good experience to work with very different people and to be able understand them, to hear new ideas from them and to have good results on working together...Students laugh, when I ask them: ' Don't be ''a slaker''!'...this means...don't slake other initiative, other ideas,...

# data[].attributes.body
Collaboration is a skill in itself that needs to be learnt and which requires planning and guidance by the teacher. I use Group Work to support students to develop a number of 21st century competences. For example, they support communication skills, interpersonal skills, collective problem solving skills, cooperation, teamwork and leadership. I start with pairs or three students because I think that in general, the bigger the group is, the bigger the chance of inactive group members. I usually mix

# data[].attributes.body
I form groups in more than one way. It usually depends on the content. Sometimes I let my pupils to make groups according to their wishes, sometimes I prepare all groups, especially when I need all groups to have the same level. I also use the lottery for some group work.

# data[].attributes.body
I am a bit reluctant to form groups in some classrooms. There is not the first time who someone complains because they had to do the donkey work to share the mark later.

When doing these activities I prefer students to group on their own, respecting their will of joining those they know will work with them. What I try to avoid is "parasites" joining hard workers, mainly in cases in which the relation does not exit without an added interest.

Anyway, I consider that cooperation and team work should be one of the strategies to develop with our students.

# data[].attributes.body
I think another way of learning is working collaboratively . We should note number, gender, skills, abilities and interests of the participants depending of the project. I think the ideal is to form groups of four as shown in the image. All work on assignments and also help each other.Students are more motivated because they tend to take more creative and use digital resources activities. The teacher must assess the individual and collective work.

# data[].attributes.body
I like very much to work in groups. But some times these groups do not work very well. so, since some time ago I like to work using "students-tutors": "advanced" or older students help other ones. they like t become "teachers" for an hour!! and this works!!

Specially when they can interact in a practice activity, specially if it is with pc or tablets

# data[].attributes.body
Usually I form joint working groups with students who have excellent, average and poor skills, so that the most skilled can involve less skilful. When my students realize group work feel more motivated, and all participate actively and enthusiastically. My students if there is a companion in distress they always try to involve him assuring him and making him share to the activity proposed. In my opinion when forming groups of students who have excellent skills and groups with little ability the results certainly would be different, and there would be collaborative learning.

# data[].attributes.body
It's important to consider the different skills of the students. The menbers of the group must be complementary.

When the students decide about the members of the group, the groups are not usually complementary but they choose peers with their same profile. So, there is always a group whose members have less habilities and motivation. I think students can take part in the group formation, but teachers must stablish some rules.

# data[].attributes.body
When I am forming groups I am very particular in how and why I am doing it. Sometimes I work with the method with homegroups and expert groups, other times I work with a different approach: first one and one, then in pairs and finally in a group of 4 to 6. If they ar eworking on a longer term I am think of how well they complement each other.

# data[].attributes.body
In project based learning I usually select roles to be performed in a group of 4-5. Each member has a role in the group, suggest members for performing each role according to their interests and skills then I let them choose in which group they wish to work

# data[].attributes.body
I like to devide the students in small grou 4-5 people, so everyone can participate. After the task/project is finished I always ask what a certain pupil did in this project and how they divided the responsibilities.

# data[].attributes.body
Three principles should guide team formation: never use student-selected teams; create diverse teams; make the selection process transparent.

Usually, I try to keep in mind the three principles I posted. I try to group them in different teams occasionally, because I want to make them able to switch teams easily and work with everyone. Also, if i let the same team, in time, there could be people who would do all the work and others who would become lazy.

# data[].attributes.body
To form groups in the classroom I usemany tools which is a very useful team to bring the students having the same interests .I used PPT and sometimes few games for working in pair. Sometimes students want to work only with their close friends and ı also allow this in the classrom. Working in a team is great but students need to know their goos abilities for making a great ,,job"with good results.

# data[].attributes.body
I periodically make my students work in groups.( age from 14 to 19) Normally they are formed by max 5 students. I choose them according to whom they attend less so they can develop the knowing of one another but other times I let them choose. Each student has to develope his/her part of the project which at the end is presented using power point but not only I ask them to make a poster so that it can "decorate" the class. They choose their leader and the role they prefer but time after time everybody will experience the different roles. We have only one session of the work at school then they work at home normally comunicationg in a virtual way. Sometimes I make groups of people living far so that they have to develope skills in using Skype or Facebook. At the end of the work they present the project to their peers and it is assessed . I always stimulate them to present thirs work as if they were some important manager trying to conquer their audience. Some of them use music too. It's fun and they can be extremely creative. They teach me the use of program instead of power point.

I want to tell an episode: my 14 age old students had to make a work on the traditional dishes of the countries of the UE ( as you know in Milan there is the Expo on how to feed the Planet) and in a group a girl had been assigned by her peers the food in Romania, she began shouting she couldn't, pleading me she had to change. She arrived telling me that her father hated them so she couldn't. I gently refused her request and told her she had to accept the decision of her peers. The students proposed to dedicate ,at the end of the presentations, some time to bring and eat together the food they woulf prepare according to the country they reseached on. I agreed and a little miracle happened, the girl who said to have problems brought a delicious traditional Romanian cake and everybody enjoyed it, she received special compliments from one of her classmate: he come from Romania. This is what I call hope for the future. :-)

# data[].attributes.body
In the class, when I want the pupils to write or to solve a question quickly, I like to do it with pairs. And then, they have to explain/introduce their results to the pair next to them.

# data[].attributes.body
When I go to create a working group I select a leader and a coordinator. Usually I choose the leader among the students who have more learning disabilities. Let them know and share the aim to reach and give them a dead-line. Work group does not work when you have identified the right leader and when the working group is too large.

# data[].attributes.body
I like to form small groups, so everyone can participate, so the groups with 2-4 pupils are the best. After the task/project is finished I always ask what a certain pupil did in this project and how they divided the responsibility. I always tell that everyone needs to know what others did, so I assess their part of the task and also how much they know what others did and about the task in general.

# data[].attributes.body
Usually I use to form heterogeneous groups with odd number of participants, mainly with 3 or 5 students, depending of the size of the class and of the resources available or topic/activities proposed. I try to do some group work, after profiled all class in order to know better if the groups created are heterogenous. Teamwork abilities is very important on XXI century society, so usually I let my students self-organize in groups, controled by me ofcourse.

# data[].attributes.body
I have upper classes students, aged 16-19 ; I normally prefer they work in pairs because most of the work in the lab is about  coding, design  databases and implement website or sw application and I think  that this is more effective than bigger groups.

Depending on the tasks assigned either I let my students choose who they wont to work with or I divide the class in groups. In both the cases I have to balance them in interpersonal skills and  knowledge,

I think that collaborative work  on one side is very useful for weak students who feel  more confident , creative, free and can have an active role. On the other side who prefer working on his own has the chance to acquire skills like: shared responsibility, self-criticism,  negotiation, teamwork, communication, listening.

Moreover students can be more creative and can developing self-evaluation skills, as they have to evaluate their work.

For me the biggest challenge is to monitor the involvment of each peer in the team work and to be sure that each one is active and collaborative.

# data[].attributes.body
It's very important to create

heterogeneous groups with 3-5 students.

# data[].attributes.body
Most of the times forming groups depends on the class and more precisely on the number od students. In the beginning of the school year i leave students make their own groups for a month. Next month i form the groups that I want based on the learning objectives, student's needs, skills and interests. Nevertheless, there are projects during the school year that I allow students make their own groups.

# data[].attributes.body
I use group work very often, because I believe we become more creative while mirroring our own ideas with another person. The (postitive) resistance in other students suggestions makes one think of a new possible solution. Therefore the forming of groups are very important, even though it´s hard.
I prefer smaller groups because of the possibility to overview the process and make the formative assessment easier. To avoid passive members in group I try to In the last year I have made it more optional to my students (13-16 yo) to form groups of their own choice. The group sizes are flexible (2-5 members) and I also allow students to work on their own. My experience is that they choose to collaborate. Sometimes the end product is individual but the process is (almost) always a result of collaboration.
Maybe my, slightly lazy :), way of handling it is possible only in schoolforms used to collaborate processes. Of course I´m more steady when forming groups in younger ages, but the goal is to make the students realize the value of collaboration themselves.

# data[].attributes.body
I still don't have a formula for forming groups, it depends on the class and the learning objective. Usually I work with small groups, two or three students, and they can decide the group formation. But, I tried something new this month and they liked. I prepared the students individually, it means, each one read and search about one of 3 themes. Then, I divided the class in 3 big groups, all groups had students that studied the same theme. They discussed their theme and then I mixed the groups, so each group had some member that knew one of the themes, they had to find relations among the themes. After all, each group prepared a presentation with the vision of all the themes and the relation among them. I can say it was my best practice for forming groups this year :-)

# data[].attributes.body
It depends on the class in my case. In some, I can form mixed groups and they work just fine, in others, I find students who are more comfortable working on their own or tend to do all the work in the group and so the other team members don't have a chance to contribute. I usually ask these expansive students to supervise and assist other teams or to help me review, evaluate, or even to team up with me:)

I don't like big groups, so 4-5 students is also my limit. In rare cases, we have even worked with groups of 6-8, but not very often. I allow my students to choose their own teams sometimes, after explaining what roles they need to fill in. Sometimes it works, in other cases or classes there are students nobody wants, in which case I team up with them and give them a slightly easier task. It has worked. But if I see the problem persists and it happens again, I will choose the teams, by using something as simple as picking up their names from a hat.

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I always join students with different dominant personal and working characteristics and learning styles: a practical worker, an explorer more tuned into the theoretical aspects, a leader, a good worker (a Doer) and someone with a more creative mind-set (a Dreamer). Many times a student has more than one of these characteristics while others only have one. The most important is for them to work interdependently. With this mixture of characteristics it is easier for them to share their work and to guaranty that they will develop their work up till its successful completion. The tasks and the groups are thought of as a way for all their members to learn or help the others to acquire skills like: shared responsibility, self-criticism, give feedback, negotiation, consensus, interpersonal skills, teamwork, leadership, communication, listening, self-evaluation and collective problem solving skills.

Normally I do not like to have groups with more than 3 students. Sometimes a group with 4 students permits one or another to be more lacking in his/her work and I have to be constantly speaking with them and readapting their role after each session’s assessment.

# data[].attributes.body
1. It depends on the class. Some classes/students allow us to mix them and they interact nicely. They share ideias and work as a team. Others students are rather critical about the strengths and weaknesses of their peers and they prefer to work at their own pace and they don't like to mingle. My choices are always related to students' personalities and working styles. Nevertheless, I only accept 4/5 students in a group.
2. To be honest, and as far as I'm concerned students only keep focused if evaluation/assessment is revelant. I usually give my students the criteria assessment scales(after being discussed and negotiated) and they assess each other as well as their performance as a team/group.
3. For me, the biggest challenge is monitoring their "collaborating" engagement and their commitment to the fulfillment of the task given. Additionally, I think it's difficult to monitor the assessment of their peers (sometimes fairness is overridden by their emotions, especially if they are working with colleagues they really don't like that much).

# data[].attributes.body
How do you form groups of students for group work and why do you take this approach? Based on your experience what strategies of forming groups work and which do not work? Why?

As I have an aged-mixed classroom, when we do collaborative activities, I try to form groups including students of all ages, , but when I work just with one course, a make the groups according to the task they need to solve,

Under my point of view a group will not work if you put together students with similar features, because they will start doing other things instead on focusing their attention on the tasks proposed, It is not also advisable to put in the same group friends, for the same reason I mentioned before. so that, sometimes is very difficult to create perfect groups

# data[].attributes.body
My experience is that collaborative work in groups is favoured by weak students who have a chance to be helped. Some students prefer working independently. But we must teach all to work in groups. Everybody knows what it is like to work and discuss with your colleagues at work. We have to teach skills for that our SS.

I find a very good idea to start with pair work and than to make a group of two pairs. I use that for discussions but not for groupwork when creating an outcome. I could try.

Normally I let my SS to choose who they want to work with but also appoint them to groups but I take into account if they get on well with each other personally. Or I make mixed groups based on SS's abilities.

Again- good planning is the key for success. I also agree that collaboration is a sklil that needs to be learnt and includes vital social skills.

SS can also assess their work. The T should have the final say in the mark.

# data[].attributes.body
When I do group work, I divide my students into groups using one of the following ways:

-they choose who they want to work with (this is ok if the task isn't very demanding and everyone can do it)

-groups are formed randomly (using alphabet, slips of paper with different colours, numbers, etc.)

-I divide them into groups (this is something I prefer.)

I like to be the one forming groups because I know all the students, their strenghts and weaknesses, so I try to make mixed-ability groups, with stronger and weaker students working together. In that way the stronger student(s) can be the leader(s) in the group and assign tasks to others. The weaker students can help do the job by doing less demanding tasks within the group or by personalising the tasks for them.

# data[].attributes.body
I've used cooperative learning for a tinkering project. All pupils were divided in 5 groups of 4 members. In each group every pupil has a role connected wit the profile. In this case a collaborative learning project was based on the process of forming group. I had to consider the different skills of my student in order to let them develop other skills, share appropriately ideas and resources, for a learnig and positive collective learning experience and for the whole week and they will wfor effective collaborative work.

I know that an effective collaborative learning involves establishment of group goals. In thatcasethe project goal was to think and make a play which can move. The quality of interactions.  Interactivity and negotiation, with my support on time in feedback were important in this project of tinkering.

# data[].attributes.body
Group work is a methodology that provides a meaningful improvement to the students.

I think groups should be heterogeneous, the ones that has more skills with the ones that don’t have them. It is important to mix them in order to encourage and foster the relationships among them. It allows to work better together and to be more efficient.

# data[].attributes.body
they form their group as they like  (+ they stick to it and are motivated - the good ones come together)

by accident (counting or something like lottery ticket)

Puzzle (giving them torn postcards or fotos that they have to put together)

learnings styles

fixed groups for a concrete period

groups with differernt tasks and roles

groups with the same characteristics (born in June)

students with the same potential

students with laptop, tablets or mobile phones

# data[].attributes.body
I have to say that I haven´t a big experienci forming groups for group work. When I teach, my students are in groups of two or three but they didn`t work in the same group. Since I'm working in my school, my students prefer a traditional way of teaching and due to the internet isn't allow, sometimes is too dificult to work in groups in my subject. I'm thinking in the possiblity, after this MOOC, to work in groups sometimes and I'll choose the groups thinking that they have to be similar in their habilities to work, but it would be that I'll have some problems because there are difference between them, they are inmates and living inside a prison has to be extremely dificult.

# data[].attributes.body
This year i organized Group Work Tasks in four specific tasks.
On the first group task I allowed students form groups on their own (normally 4 groups of 4 students). I elected 4 leaders and they can select their team (3 students) for the first task.
On the second group task all the members of the group will switch (except for the leader) to work on another group. But those 3 members leaving the group, cant go to the same group.On the third group task the same thing happens, but the members leaving the group cant go to a group they already worked in.

On the fourth and final task, the same thing happens.

Using this method all the students work with each other and with different leaders allowing them to adapt to different scenarios, work environments and collaborative work.
Each task requires an final presentation where one member of the group talks and answers questions about their findings to the rest of the class.

# data[].attributes.body
This year i organized Group Work Tasks in four specific tasks.
On the first group task I allowed students form groups on their own (normally 4 groups of 4 students). I elected 4 leaders and they can select their team (3 students) for the first task.
On the second group task all the members of the group will switch (except for the leader) to work on another group. But those 3 members leaving the group, cant go to the same group.On the third group task the same thing happens, but the members leaving the group cant go to a group they already worked in.

On the fourth and final task, the same thing happens.

Using this method all the students work with each other and with different leaders allowing them to adapt to different scenarios, work environments and collaborative work.
Each task requires an final presentation where one member of the group talks and answers questions about their findings to the rest of the class.

# data[].attributes.body
This year i organized Group Work Tasks in four specific tasks.
On the first group task I allowed students form groups on their own (normally 4 groups of 4 students). I elected 4 leaders and they can select their team (3 students) for the first task.
On the second group task all the members of the group will switch (except for the leader) to work on another group. But those 3 members leaving the group, cant go to the same group.On the third group task the same thing happens, but the members leaving the group cant go to a group they already worked in.

On the fourth and final task, the same thing happens.

Using this method all the students work with each other and with different leaders allowing them to adapt to different scenarios, work environments and collaborative work.
Each task requires an final presentation where one member of the group talks and answers questions about their findings to the rest of the class.

# data[].attributes.body
I usually use 'Collaborative Learning' through my lessons to create a combining theme in the classroom. Recently, i've been using 'TeamUp' tool that i learned from an education-week about 'New Approaches to the Education' in Rize, Turkey. With this tool, you can write every little detail about your students, and the tool can make pairs related to the information you give.

# data[].attributes.body
Group work enhances collaboration capabilities of students and solidarity. This is because they have to learn to understand others, to accept the ideas of others and deal with the difference of opinions on the topic to work. Normally I let students form their own groups. As a result of this organization groups are unbalanced, the best students tend to stay with the best, and students with more difficulties are together in another group. Result of this I seek to give more support to the group that got the weakest students or define different goals.

# data[].attributes.body
I can form groups of 2-4 maximum. Big groups don't work, since there is or are always some students who don't work at all and take profit of the others.

I also like letting students make their groups so as they can find more comfortable working with, but others I pair them up. Of course it all depends on the project we are working with.

# data[].attributes.body
I usually work at two hour per week in groups or in couples, especially, for those activities required to prepare students to exams or for activities that are needed to study an argument on depth.

I usually create groups formed by different genders and diverse abilities and skills.

# data[].attributes.body
The most frequent way I group students to work with devices in in pairs. Depending on the activity, I pair them up according to the device they have, either notebook or tablet, and if it a tablet it also depends on the operation system.

In general we start working as a whole group, looking at the screen for general instructions and demonstrations. Sometimes students lead the class, some others the teacer does it.

# data[].attributes.body
I usually group together students of both genders of different abilities and skills. Students like having a good friend in their group, but if they don’t work on task I don’t put them on the same group again. I think that when they work with their friends they are more likely to listen to each other. On the other hand working together as a group is a great opportunity to make new friends. I avoid having groups of the same gender because they turn it into a competition and I don’t want to promote gender stereotypes.

# data[].attributes.body
Team work has more benefits but also some inconveniences.

When pupils are in a team work they are more less inhibited , more creative because it lookslike a game. But an advantage could be that they collaborate to work, and this is good for them to discuss the possible problems about the project and resolve together.

Here, the role of teacher must survey and guide all the team activities.

Iusually let them group by preferences, because they know better how works their colleagues, but in some cases, I make the groups teams, where is necessary.

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I usually take over different approaches to forming groups, free choice which i prefer best, assigned, leveled, interest which is mostly popular and so on. It really depends on the project the class level and the interest.

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I use mostly team-up where students can also add their voice records that is a positive element when you work with young children since they write very slow and that is time consuming. I also use stixy and mikogo for collaboration of the group at home, since their tasks are mostly for the whole week and they will work after school when they are seperate at home.

Here are some tips for creating a groups for effective collaborative work.

1. Establish group goals

Effective collaborative learning involves establishment of group goals, as well as individual accountability. This keeps the group on task and establishes an unambiguous purpose. Before beginning an assignment, it is best to define goals and objectives to save time.

2. Keep groups midsized

Small groups of 3 or less lack enough diversity and may not allow divergent thinking to occur. Groups that are too large create “freeloading” where not all members participate. A moderate size group of 4-5 is ideal.

3. Establish flexible group norms

Research suggests that collaborative learning is influenced by the quality of interactions.  Interactivity and negotiation are important in group learning. You may want to establish rules for group interactions for younger students. Older students might create their own norms. But remember, given their durable nature, it is best to have flexible norms.  Norms should change with situations so that groups do not become rigid and intolerant or develop sub-groups.

4. Build trust and promote open communication

Successful interpersonal communication must exist in teams. Building trust is essential.Deal with emotional issues that arise immediately and any interpersonal problems before moving on. Studies found that students who provide and receive intricate explanations gain most from collaborative learning. Open communication is key.

5. For larger tasks, create group roles

Decomposing a difficult task into parts to saves time. You can then assign different rolesThe students might have turns to choose their own role and alternate roles by sections of the assignment or classes.

6. Evaluation

Individuals should also complete surveys evaluating how well the group functioned. “Debriefing” is an important component of the learning process and allows individuals to reflect on the process of group learning.

7. Consider the learning process itself as part of assessment

Cooperative learning helps children develop social and interpersonal skills. Experts have argued that the social and psychological effect on self-esteem and personal development are just as important as the learning itself.It may be beneficial to grade students on the quality of discussion, engagement, and adherence to group norms.

8. Consider using different strategies, like the Jigsaw technique.

The jigsaw strategy is said to improve social interactions in learning and support diversity. The workplace is often like a jigsaw. It involves separating an assignment into subtasks, where individuals research their assigned area.  Students with the same topic from different groups might meet together to discuss ideas between groups.

This type of collaboration allows students to become “experts” in their assigned topic. Students then return to their primary group to educate others.

9. Allow groups to reduce anxiety

When tackling difficult concepts, group learning may provide a source of support.  Groups often use humor and create a more relaxed learning atmosphere that allow for positive learning experiences.  Allow groups to use some stress-reducing strategies as long as they stay on task.

10. Establish group interactions

The quality of discussions is a predictor of the achievement of the group.  Instructors should provide a model of how a successful group functions.  Shared leadership is best.  Students should work together on the task and maintenance functions of a group. Roles are important in group development. Task functions include:

Initiating Discussions

Clarifying points

Summarizing

Challenging assumptions/devil’s advocate

Providing or researching information

Reaching a consensus

Maintenance involves the harmony and emotional well-being of a group. Maintenance includes roles such as sensing group feelings, harmonizing, compromising and encouraging, time-keeping, relieving tension, bringing people into discussion, and ore.

11. Keep in mind the diversity of groups

Mixed groups that include a range of talents, backgrounds, learning styles, ideas, and experiences are best. Studies have found that mixed aptitude groups tend to learn more from each other and increase achievement of low performers. Rotate groups so students have a chance to learn from others.

12. Groups with an equal number of boys and girls are best

Equally balanced gender groups were found to be most effective.  Some research suggests that boys were more likely to receive and give elaborate explanations and their stances were more easily accepted by the group.  In majority male groups girls were ignored.  In majority girl groups, girls tended to direct questions to the boy who often ignored them.  You may also want to specifically discuss or establish gender equality as a norm.  This may seem obvious, but it is often missed.  It may be an issue you may want to discuss with older students.

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In my classes I always use groups of 3 students. Generally I use formal groups trying to be well balanced attended to abilities, motivation and other skills: One of the pupils has good collaborative skills and usually helps others, other pupil that need help, and the third one that need not much help, but can collaborate with others. Sometimes I create adhoc groups for some pojects based on skills, interests, …

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I usually form groups taking into account the abilities of the students. I try to mix them in a way all the abilities are present in the group: a good reader, a good painter, agood boss, ... but it is difficult at the end becuase the groups have to be big and that is an obstacle to finish assigments on time.

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I form groups considering with the students abilities. I think peer teaching is very important and i couple together students with succeded and less skilled. But i also pay attention that all group members must learn from each other.

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I prefer smaller groups. Usually I let the students decide who is going to work with whom. I think it depends of how used students are to work and form groups. If they do that regularly and in different subjects there are no problems at all.

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First I ask every student to write down the names of 3 other students with who he wants to be in the same group. From this task I can see the sociality of every one in my class. Then I try to mix the different genders, learning profiles and social types and make groups.I also try to satisfy them by putting them together with one of their choises.

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Dana Moraru - Introduction to collaborative learning

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Dana Moraru - Introduction to collaborative learning

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I would like to divide my students in group each time, but only some classes are appropriate for this approach. But when I do it I choose to mix them after their intelligence type, because I consider that in this way anyone can learn something from anyone.

This is my teaching style so far, but I'm not sure that I'll do the same if I'll use tablets in learning proccess.

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I teach Technology to 12-16 year old students and use the project base learning.
The students work in groups of 4 members where they have different roles. Every two months we change the roles into each team so that they can assume the different responsibilities along the course.

Each team have to develop a project usually elaborating a model.

About the strategies I use to form the teams, I tend to make groups as diverse as possible (gender, skills,etc) and let the students choose their groups if they fulfill these rules.

Finally I would like to share with you two tips about the work in teams:

1- It´s essential the students know what it´s expected they produce.

2- When we are working in a project that will be last for a long period of time I divide the work in different task and put a date of delivery for each one so they work better to perform the final project.

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I usually dived my students either in pairs or in groups of 3-5. When we study e.g. English the students prefer to work in pairs as they find it easier to discuss the exercise.

I prefer smaller groups, as the all the students need to participate, in bigger groups it is easier to just "disappear" and let the rest of the group work

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Some of my classes preffer dividing for the teams themdelves (it is secondary school) sometime they use some kind fo games for froming groups, sometimes they use numbers and 2 of them choose numbers without knowledge who is who.

But some groups needs my help and I consider their skills. Both of this way works well in my groups.

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Usually, I form groups of three or five members. I avoid the even numbers for no subdivisions within the group.
I also often appeal the pair work, to do exercises or small work in class.
I think that students with more difficulties should be spread in the other groups, but it is not always easy it happen. Most times respect the will of the students in forming groups.

When they work upset with people who do not like, sometimes the discussions are difficult to overcome.

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From my experience, children tend to choose partners learning there friends. I think the role of the teacher working collaboratively, is to build heterogeneous grou And roles within the group matches could give the child and each child will find himself in the group

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The number of students in the groups depends on the activity or tasks but mostly I prefer the groups consisting of 4 students. I use TeamUp because it is easy to form groups of students having the same interests. In addition, I tell my students that they are going to evaluate their own and each other's effort in the process. I give them the evaluation form and let them see how they are going to get assessed. This helps them focus on the group task.

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I usually form group of 4 students. I take care so as students in the same group are not all same gender and I also take care that not all students are in the same level. I put students that need help and support, with students that are more independent, so they can help each other. Last year, I had split my class into boys and girls and had a test on the smartboard. I gave them time to prepare the answers in groups and then i had a stopwatch running and they took parts on the board, answering the questions. If the team member succeeded the team won 2 points, otherwise the other team had to answer the same question. Although the enjoyed the process I had regret doing it as boys were very competitive and they only cared to win.

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As our school is so small (there are only 4 students in the largest class), I normally do not have any choice - either my students work in pairs or the whole class together.
The situation is a bit different when we have whole school camps or other activities. Then we sometimes have mixed age groups so that older students can help younger and even teach them something. Sometimes, when our aim is that all students are equally involved, we have groups according to students' age so that the youngest work together and older form their own groups.

An iPad tool for forming groups:

http://splaysoft.weebly.com/groupmaker.html

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I always form heterogeneous groups, in order to give chances to all the students. The on who are advantage can help the other and reinforce their knowledge and the students with academic need are helped. Learning between equals is always more meaningful.

From my experience what I've learnt is that homogeneous groups not are meaningful and groups with a lot of components in its

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I tend to use mixed ability groups mainly, although with tablets it is now easier to develop more personalised exercises which can take into account different levels and abilities. I shall be attempting to use groups of similar ability students. I am interested in using teamup to avoid students being 'left out' when groups are chosen.

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When I use collaborative learning in school I usually form groups in two different ways.

1. If learning is long term (such as project) I normally let students to create their own group. In that case collaborating during a year, communication, splitting work and eventually working after school is easier.

2. If learning is a short term (one school hour) than it is my decision how the group will be formed. Sometimes alphabetically, odd and even numbers, left half and right half of the classroom (front, back), boys, girls, or some other idea that comes on my mind at particular moment. The only rule I stick to is that forming group is never the same.

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It depends on the task or my knowledge about the students skills, whether I form groups randomly or according to their learning ability.

In my opinion the most effective one is grouping students based upon their skills, because then each group member can participate in group work and can have challenging task.

I usually organize my students in pairs, as a common way of working in class.

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I like using group work in class. I think that this type of work improves the way the students understand the contents and empower their creativity thanks to the sharing of ideas. To organise the groups the teacher should take into account the maturity of the students he/she is working with. They students should be allowed to work in groups decided by themselves if they are responsible enough. If it is not the situation, the teacher should organise the groups taking into account different criteria. In this sense, the ideal number of people in a group work is around 4 or 5 people, Groups should be mixed,boys and girls in the same group ,and also should try to create balanced groups. Each group should represent the whole class so in each one should be students with high abilities , with medium level and with low level in order to achieve this goal.

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I know three ways to divide students into groups:

teacher assigns pupils to the groups,

students form teams on their own,

division into groups is carried out at random

Working with the youngest pupils in integrative class, I usually make the division into groups. For each group I choose a student who will be able to lead the team. To each team I try to assign pupils who have difficulties in learning and children with disabilities too. Sometimes I decide myself at random assignment of students to groups. I choose that form when I organize an art lesson or when I invite parents to class. They provide support for groups they are assigned to.

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Groups consist of 4-6 students working on tasks that encourage them to cooperate and have different roles within the group. Each team member has their own task, different from the others. If each member of the team does not make its job, the task team as a whole can not be executed.

The success of the team depends on the success of each of its members. Team work is better than group work cause students working in teams are better motivated. My students knows that the good teamwork requires :

-that the students help each other and they need to encourage each other; -they need to accept different opinions, listen to each team member, avoid personal attacks and insults; - that attention has been paid to each member of the team; - that everyone participates and do the best they can -that the problems openly express; -that everyone stuck to the rules.

Before they start with the work I read with students all the instructions, in addition to clarify and emphasize what is important, or what instructions might not write. It is important for students to understand written instructions at the beginning of labor.

Problems that can occur group work are one works for all, schedule time, poor functioning of the division of labor, students are not motivated, some students do not participate in the work. Those are the main reasons my students work as a team, each has his role and I alway say all for one, and one for all ....

They know they will evaluate their own work and work of other teams in the end so they are pretty good motivated. Of course, chosing the topic is great motivation for the students. If they are working on something they have interest in then that is the best motivation you can get.

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The groups established according to the aktivity.Selektion have 4-5 group .But liked Team Up will apply with my students.

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When we have groups, usually students can choose the members.

For pairs I give them numbers and students with the same number are a pair.

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It depends on the task whether I form groups randomly or according to their learning ability. In my opinion the most effective one is ability grouping, because then each group member participate in group work and can have challenging task. It is inefficient when the groups are made by themselves because they tend to choose friends and some students more likely participates less than the others. Thank you for introducing application TeamUp. I used it last week with my 7th grade students and it was really quick way to form groups.

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Usually, my students form  groups of four students. Sometimes their work in pair. Sometimes I form a group. Actually, the grouping depends on the task.

It is important to give each of the students in a group a responsibility.

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I usually leave my pupils to create their own groups of four for one month period. The second month they must change and create group with totally different classmates and by this way all of my pupils will form groups with each one in the classroom. The positive in this way is that they're prepared to work with anyone, as they can't avoid to be in the same group with someone they dislike, but the negative is that the formed groups sometimes really can't work and collaborate.

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Working in teams is a form of organization of the class that provides maximum development of children in all fields. Τhe perfect size for student groups is 5-8 students.

Most models of collaborative learning support creating heterogeneous groups in terms of performance, because they believe that they could allow weak students to benefit from "good" to such a composition, and that develops trust and rapport between members of different social classes

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Module 3 - Forming groups for group work

In my work with students I often use work in pairs and group work.For this kind of preparation I often use working with or without computers.
For previous group work the teacher should have made good preparation in which he would have inserted tasks for groups.
These tasks should be interesting enough to keep the attention of students.
Almost always I divide students 3-4 students and each student has its own task.
Among students there is mutual cooperation.
When that group collaboration will add using tablets work will be even more interesting. The teacher should prepare interesting applications and interesting tasks with them.

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It always depends what my goal is and what I want to achieve. Rarely groups are random and spontaneously created.
When students work together, everyone have task and each member is important for work at the end. I created little diary so I can keep up with group forming. At the end of the school year each student has worked with everyone ;)

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I recently promoted at my school and in my classroom group work but do not have much knowledge about the most appropriate way to do it .The groups are  I tried in several ways:
Allowing students to form their own groups. This leads logically that the more friends simpren want to work in the same group and that some students have difficulty relalcionarse Solons stay and I have to internvenir .
It has the advantage that normalemente groups are formed and students who have similar tastes and abilities.
Then I tried to form groups by drawing lots. In some cases this has worked especially because it allows students to interact with peers who previously barely known. This way of doing groups has the disadvantage that there are students who do all the work and another student that does not contribute or do not allow him to contribute his ideas.

So I am still trying to find the best way to make groups

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I get students to work in pairs. I find this useful as they can help each other perform science experiments and I can ask the group questions rather than pick out individuals in class discussions. Students prefer this as they are not put on the spot and they have someone to help them generate an answer. We also generally receive better answers to questions. They can decide between them what roles to take e.g. speaker.

I have found with groups of more than 3, there will some students who will do little work and let the others do it all for them.

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Usually there are 4-5 children in one group and I make groups myself. They are kindergarten children so this way it is easier. :)

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Since I am not so expert in forming groups, when I want my student to work in groups I have two choices: let them chose or I chose...

I think that sometimes, expecially when they have to develope a project that has to be finished also at home they have to chose because a lot of them have classes of sports in different afternoons and so, if they self-organize, probably they chose someone to work with easily....

In classroom I decide to chose the components of the groups expecially when they have to solve something that involves different intelligences...

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M 3.1 How to form groups for colaborate learning? Pavel Mátl, CZE

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M 3.1 How to form groups for colaborate learning? Pavel Mátl, CZE

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When we do group work in my lessons I try to make groups up to 3 members to ensure active all students. Also I try to make groups with one stronger student and do not leave the same groups for another lesson.

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The collaboration in the learning process, as well as among students but also between students and teachers is very important. The creation of working group is not simple task, and should consider several different aspect in order to achieve the learning goals (the level of the skills, the gender, the habits of the students and their interests). Group work is great for socialization, self-learning, encouraging creativity of the students, but also very challenging for allocation of responsibilities of each member of the group.

During my classes i very often work with pairs or small groups of students (3-5) with equal number of boys and girls, and same level of their skills and interests.

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I'm considering different learning styles, social skills, cognitive skills and communication skills when I form groups in my classroom. I teach pupils with autistic spectrum diagnosis and there are lot of things I have to anticipate to prevent problems.

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On my ICT class students work in groups of 4 or 5 to develop collaborative learning. Groups have to be different in members for the four collaborative works proposed. Usually I don't have to interfere and they make the groups very easily. This approach is explained in the beginning of the semester so they have a group when we are starting a new activity and no class time is lost. I think this approach develops different skills since they have to work with several colleagues, some of them are not on the closer group of preferences outside the class.

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I form up groups using some tools being lile "TeamUp". Then I modify to have homegenous teams.

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Making groups is always a difficult task to me...The way I use to form groups changes according to the activity I propose. I usually try and make groups as heterogeneous as possible, but sometimes I leave the pupils free to form groups the way they like, just giving them some advice or making a few arrangements at the end, if needed. Both ways have pros and cons, but they both work!

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Before setting groups in class, first I see what are the goals of the coming activity – what are the teaching points and what kind of final

product I expect. This makes all the difference in the way I group students. Sometimes I group them in mix ability groups so that students can help each other. Sometimes I group them according to their level so that they will be given a task that is specifically designed for them and therefore every member must contribute. If I always group them in mixed ability groups, the consequence would be that some students always do the work themselves while some others  take it easy and get lazy. Sometimes I do let students to form groups themselves so that they can work with closer friends. Even though I note the conflicts that students might have with one another and who works with whom and who not, I don’t give it too much importance when I come to group students. Why? Students need to be prepared for their future- when they start their career. Usually we don’t choose our colleagues ourselves and we have to learn to cope with difficult colleagues.Students try to tell me that they don’t feel comfortable to work with this student or that. But I always tell them “When you grow up you don’t choose your colleagues at work yourself. And when you grow up you don’t select the neighbours that come to live next to you. We have to learn to live with everyone, to work with every one and if there are any conflicts we have to find a way how to solve them.” And in reality they do find a way to cope and sometimes manage to surprise me with the end product.

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As far as I am concerned I could group students by two ways: 1. Letting students choose their group. Doing groups by the teacher according to the task and the skills needed in order to do the work. So it's obvious: there is not just one adequate way of grouping students. It depends on the activity, and it depends on what we expect students to do. I have two daughters. I know very well that they prefer free forming, that is, letting students form groups, is a very good option so that students can work effectively, as they group according to their affinity, and they feel comfortable like that. However, it is important to keep in mind that collaboration is the most important in group work, so we must focus on that when forming our groups.
So, as far as I am concerned, most strategies of forming groups can work as long as we are aware of what kind of group we want to form and what our expectations are
Collaborative learning involving pairs or small groups of students takes place very often in my Primary classroom.  I have found this method of teaching and learning to be very effective as students enjoy the activities much more because of more participation.
I never use the same method for grouping.  Sometimes I group students according to mixed skill levels, so that the stronger students are encouraged to help other members in their group, who would require some more prompting and guidance. Other times, I pick randomly using the school House colours (red, blue, green and yellow), mixing two colours in  a group or opting for members within the same colour.Students' register numbers encourage sorting by even or odd numbers.For certain topics students are grouped according to their interests.  This works with topics in creative writing, journal entries or environmental studies. These variations have worked as there is no set pattern or group and therefore students get to work with all the members of their class. Something I like to keep inmind are conflicts between peers or groups of students who love to chat away.  These are never put in the same group/pair.Students are always keen on collaborative working and they ask for it themselves as it gives them the opportunity to development many other skills that traditional learning does not encourage.

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I think that there some activities to do in groups and others alone. Sometimes I want to verify the abilities of each one. But, when I'm accompanying in one project, I prefer to invite them to form groups in relation of their interests, or considering multiples intelligences.

I like to combine groups of different years but with some subject that they choice to investigate and produce content. This project: “Y tú, ¿quién éres?” / “And, who are you?” is an example. This wiki was made by 8 students of 4th year, 5th year and 6th year from the secondary school and one graduate student.
organized creative responsible participatory respectful best mates free

This website was made by a group of student with a self organization to distribution of tasks in relation of their digital abilities and topics of interests: http://www.gigantesdecristal.com.ar/

In this project, “The little red hen”, students created a film and one e-book: http://www.webconectados.com/2014/10/the-little-red-hen-otro-ejemplo-de-narrativa-transmedia-en-nivel-inicial/

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In my opinion, an important question is: must teachers group students following some defined criteria or should they leave students to combine as they want, so as to improve their natural reciprocal affinity?