Collaboration in the past was limited at best, due to the costly restraints of time and space. Districts needed to pay for travel and provide time away from the job, which limited the amount of collaboration possible. This excluded a great number of educators who could not be replaced if absent from the classroom.
Technology has provided us with the ability to communicate, curate, collaborate, and (most importantly) create with any number of educators, globally, at any time, and at very little cost.
victims of its dated mindset: if it was good enough for me, it's good enough for the kids. The idea of collaboration requires a mindset of believing there is room to learn and grow. It is also a belief that we are smarter collectively than individually.
Students working in cooperative groups can create a Scoop.it! about a topic of interest or study.
Teachers can create Scoop.Its! about topics they are studying for professional development.
Teachers can create Scoop.Its! about topics their students will be studying.
Students and Teachers can look at existing Scoop.Its! to connect with others who share their interests and learn about interesting things. Here are some interesting Scoop.its! that I found about learning innovatively: