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Evelyn Lloyd's Learning Diary for the Collaborative Learning Course

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Evelyn Lloyd's Learning Diary for the Collaborative Learning Course

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Module 2
I have never used this type of rubric and look forward to seeing concrete examples of applying it to class activity. I am still baffled by the idea of assessing collaborative work and am anxious to find out more.

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Collaborative learning in the classroom takes place more easily when there is a goal to be reached together like an end product. If this is a video, then all kinds of skills come into play, and the students generally have no problem in assigning different roles to different people depending on their specific skills.

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Module 2 Embedding CL into lesson design

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Module 2 Embedding CL into lesson design

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Hard not to agree with these questions and I respect the research behind these statements but know that real collaboration can sometimes be difficult and also that technology where I live always needs Plan B as we can never depend on a stable connection or a whiteboard that works. The premise that practice makes perfect is one of my favourite beliefs and so I hope to learn how to blend plenty of occasions for collaboration into my lessons. I agree with Daniela that the sense of satisfaction in class when students gain a degree of independence and can observe their own work is authentic.

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A foreign language teacher's experience of C.L:

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A foreign language teacher's experience of C.L:

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This teacher really put her finger on my own problems when using collaborative projects in the classroom. Our teenagers, especially the younger ones, are not used to taking responsibility for their learning paths and they tend to get excited which puts the volume up. However, with practice and discreet or even non discreet reminders, this problem can be solved. The big challenge is assessment as the teacher said. Last year my students presented their work in groups using a multidisciplinary approach but it was very difficult to give individual assessment and project work is often relatively time consuming. I too hope to get ideas for strategies to assess group work in a satisfactory way.

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Collaborative Learning through project work

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Collaborative Learning through project work

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I have never used the technique of circle time and find it a good idea to be used in the future. I know my students enjoy working in groups and help eachother a great deal more in order to complete the task.

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Module 1,5. Collaborative teaching and learning

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Module 1,5. Collaborative teaching and learning

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In my school it is not difficult to collaborate with other teachers and I am fortunate because I also have an extra mother tongue English teacher for some of my classes so we can be quite ambitious when planning activities and have a lot of fun comparing notes

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Low level of collaboration
Used to teach  a short sequence of actions. A class of 14 year old students divided into groups of 4. Each group wrote a sequence of actions with a story line using "First" "then"  "finally" etc.. Then each group mimed their story and the other groups guessed the sentences. Only one group found it difficult to collaborate and was not happy with the  result.
HIGH LEVEL
I taught Internet info about the 60's and the class divided itself into groups according to their taste and then produced scenes for a short video, music included that shows the groups each describing their topic in an imaginative way: Girls dressed in flowers and sunglasses to present Woodstock, the Vietnam war with gunfire and pictures, suggestive music for Marilyn Monroe and my blind student typing on "the first Olivetti typewriter".
From the rather chaotic preparation the video clip is highly satisfactory and produced more cohesion among the students.

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Collaborative Learning in a Flexible Classroom

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Collaborative Learning in a Flexible Classroom

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I see that like many others my school unfortunately does not cater for varied seating arrangements and the technological facilities are insufficient. We have a whiteboard in class but no internet connection. However group work is common and the students move the desks to accommodate their activity.

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I consider these questions important and have realised while teaching that the sharing of responsibility makes the task so much more worthwhile. Digital natives will always have the edge over someone from my generation so I am very used to turning to my students when producing material using technology. Group dynamics are important too but it is important to allow the students time to iron out their problems during collaboration and always, always be very clear about objectives when giving instructions.

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I like Anna often allow my students to work in groups they decide on. As for peer assessment, I am interested in her method of random name picking and am not really familiar with this method of assessment either way although I always ask for feedback. My experience is limited to Edmodo which I have used for projects, but often have to rely on work from home as at school we have technical problems.

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Project in Greece. 6 to 11 year old children Module 3

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Project in Greece. 6 to 11 year old children Module 3

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I found the project and the efforts to evaluate fascinating and I will definitely remember some of the points made, eg. telling the students beforehand that they are going to be assessed both individually and as a group. However, although I found the peer assessment successful, I wonder how the answers given to her questions (Did I listen? Did I contribute?) when self assessing should then be evaluated. In short, I feel that we teachers, although we realize the importance of collaboration, are still seeking answers to our questions about how exactly group work can be assessed.

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I found that Antonio's projects were very stimulating both for the students and for the teachers involved, and he managed to transmit the atmosphere of excitement when true collaboration takes place. The benefits he listed are very clear to me but as always, though he showed the templates used for assessment, I feel that this is the elusive part of the project and as for the last question, whetherthe process or the product is most important, perhaps the answer is that these two are not separable entities. That is to say, the more satisfying the process, the better the final product will be.

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I find assessing group work really difficult although I have done so in the past when having to give a mark for power point presentations. The mark was given to the group and the students themselves compared the presentations and discussed the positive and negative aspects of each one. This class had very strong members who were allotted to all the groups so that weaker students were not left to their own devices.There was some competition but the final assessments were shared and discussed with all class members and everyone seemed to benefit. I feel now that the assessing process was arbitrary and I will make an effort to be more scientific in my approach to group assessment.

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In this field I have SO much to learn. I am familiar with rubrics and checklists from years of preparing and examining for Cambridge exams, but have never involved the students in the design of rubrics and am still rather confused as how to apply rubrics and checklists to assessing group work. As I said, I need to work hard.

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Have you heard of all the platforms and digital tools mentioned by Reyhan in the video, and what are your experiences of using them for teacher collaboration? Do you agree that not all teachers have the required skills to take advantage of digital technologies? Reyhan mentions social media networks, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, as particularly useful spaces for teacher collaboration and professional learning. What are your experiences of social media networks for teacher collaboration and professional learning? What emerging digital technologies are you aware of that can help teachers collaborate more efficiently?
I have at least heard of the digital tools mentioned and have used Facebook and Edmodo for teacher collaboration but realize that I could be doing a lot more. I have turned to the British Council and now the European Academy for help with professional development and find at times that my IT skills are sometimes insufficient.

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Do you agree with the benefits and challenges highlighted by Professor Butler? Do you collaborate with teachers in your own subject group, across age groups or across themes relevant to the whole school, and if so how?
The questions strike a chord with me at last at school because we as teachers feel the need to work together on common themes with our students and prepare them to present their material. As yet, we are only starting to implement these ideas and so far there has been little organization between teachers to find time to collaborate in a meaningful way.We have Department meetings at the beginning of the school year and discuss some of our important themes to be developed during the coming year. I agree wholeheartedly that the benefits often outweigh the challenges, but feel that we could use more support of collaborative practice.

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I thought the list of skills and conditions gave a good idea of the complexity of collaboration. You need knowledge, attitudes, skills, motivation, an ethical dimension, personal skills, to name but a few. I would add imagination to the list though maybe it is there embedded somewhere along the line. Our school values collaboration up to a certain point since it is quite traditional and hierarchical too. Many of my colleagues are sceptical about collaboration bbut if the truth be told they are sceptical about a lot of things, and yet surprisingly helpful when they can be persuaded to lend their skills. I think humility is essential when approaching colleagues and hope to be more involved myself in the near future.

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My use of technology is not great and I would like to take more advantage of it than I do now. I have used Edmodo for years but have done little sharing of projects. Even sending and displaying would be an improvement on what is going on now in my classrooms. I have used whatsapp to connect with colleagues as well as groups on Facebook but although tempted, have never joined Twitter which however I knew gives good opportunities for CPD.

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Yes, time is always a problem and we have very little to meet and discuss things in our school although some of us willingly discuss our problems in the classroom and compare strategies but very rarely do we collaboratie in the true sense as I am beginning to understand from the course. I personally am really curious at the final exams when I examine with teachers from different disciplines as I often see the students themselves from a different point of view. As I say, we tend to collaborate very well but ona superficial level and really would need more time and thought to make our experience more worth-while