Collaborating on a debate assignment with Google Docs and Social Bookmarks
This evening I'm in Denton, Texas, and my son is back in Edmond, Oklahoma. He needed some help with his advanced debate class assignment, in which he's researching the definition of "Objectivism" and writing some attacks as well as defenses for it. Thankfully, as a 7th grader he knows how to use both Google Documents as well as Delicious social bookmarks.
He called me this evening after our weekly K-12 Online Conference organizer Skype call, and I helped him brainstorm ideas for his assignment. It was REALLY cool for both of us to work synchronously on the same Google Doc, and watch the text in real-time which we were both adding to the document. It was also great to see the social bookmarks he'd already saved on his delicious account for "objectivism," and make some suggestions for other sites he could utilize.
Steve Wheeler shares a presentation Web 3.0: The way forward?. Steve takes a three-fold view of web development: 1.0=linking, 2.0=participation, 3.0=existing data reconnected for smarter uses. Stephen Downes responds "let me be the first to name the new web: Web eXtended (or just Web X)…idea of Web X is that it combines web 2.0 (social web) and web 3.0 (semantic web) to create what I have called, in the past, the semantic social web. But it's more than just that, because it takes these and moves them off the web and into your hand. And more than just that, because it's the web of data, the geoweb, augmented media, the 3D web, and more. The eXtended web - the web, extended from the internet, into your life."
Building positive group work ethics in project-based learning
Teach_Tec 4 Nov 2011 8:59 AM 0
Can you think of a job or profession that is done alone? No co-workers to consult, no team responsible for contributing different pieces of a project, no meetings (well, maybe that might be okay ; )
It's hard to come up with many. Artist? Author? (at least during the initial writing process). We could probably come up with a few more, but the list is relatively short. Working in teams, collaborating with others in our work and life is fundamental. Not only do we gain social benefits, but the ability to combine the strengths of a team most often leads to a better end result.
Though we've all heard that initial reaction from students as a group project is introduced: 'Can we pick our own groups?' or even worse, 'Do I have to be with him/her?' The skills of working effectively in groups need to be coached, practiced and encouraged. So when you see reflective comments such as these (from real students) it is encouraging:
"A good team looks like a team that is on task, getting along and sharing." (5th grade)
"A good team looks like a friendly team with members working together. I have learned practical skills that will help me get a job." (5th grade)
"A good team looks and sounds like they are working together, improvising, compromising, discussing ideas calmly and working out disagreements." (6th grade)
"In the real world you may have to work with people you do not like and you need to know how to still be productive." (6th grade)
So how did these students get here?
Pauline Roberts, a 5th and 6th grade teacher at the Birmingham Covington School in Bloomfield Hills, MI has made developing these skills a priority. The unique program she and her colleagues have collaborated on at this 3rd - 8th grade public school is called ENGAGE. The focus is to embed 21st century skills across multiple grades and all parts of the curriculum with a specific