Learning collectively is the way forward in this age of innovation, development and ideation.
Education is evolving and so is the attitude and thought process of students. The conventional medium of education might equip them to survive in the world, but the 21st century demands skills that empower them to master every aspect of life, from life skills to digital skills, to face the challenges of unknown possibilities that the future holds.
21st-century skills are embedded in all aspects of the teaching-learning process. These skills encompass the 7Cs: communication, collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving, creativity and innovation, change, citizenship, character; 3Rs: reading, writing, and arithmetic; and 2Ms: motivation and meta-cognition.
Collaboration is one of those 21st-century skills, the merits of which provide learners with life skills such as taking turns, sharing, following rules, negotiating, and compromising. It is the learning that involves being in a group to solve a problem or understand an idea, and when used effectively in the classroom, this type of learning ensures that the students remain engaged in content, from thinking critically to sharing ideas with their peers.
Facilitating children on how to collaborate and create multiple learning experiences stands as a remarkable method to develop an adaptable classroom and build confidence in them Collaborative learning refers to encompassing a variety of educational approaches involving an allied intellectual effort by either students or both students and teachers together.
The benefits of collaborative learning include increased student engagement, societal responsibility. The latter facilitates dialogue, deliberation, and consensus-building. Fosters interpersonal communicative skills, critical thinking and analytical skills, develops a broad outlook as students from various backgrounds discuss and interpret matters.
How to execute collaborative learning
Assign diverse groups
School mentors need to pay utmost attention to group formations to maximise the benefits of collaborative learning. Usually, learners tend to collaborate with those who are close to them or easy to work with, which results in some students being left out. So teachers must create heterogeneous groups with varied strengths, weaknesses, abilities, backgrounds, and social capacities. Encouraging diversity within groups promotes a dynamic learning community where students encounter diverse opinions and perspectives, which resembles real-life workplace scenarios.
The ideal group size should vary from four to five.
Establish a deep understanding of collaborative work
For a successful collaborative learning activity, students should also be apprised of the ground rules and instructions to be kept in mind while working together. These rules should specify the language, behaviours, and task allocation suitable for teamwork. To enable students’ ownership of their learning, they can even be involved in drafting the collaborative working rules, from objectives and strategies to execution, presentation, summarisation, assessment, and reflection.
Incorporate self and group assessment
Providing learners with a platform to assess and reflect on their group members’ performance and their own promotes a sense of responsibility, ownership, and accountability during the collaborative process.
Techniques to implement collaborative learning
Discussions on a daily basis ignite sharing of ideas and opinions.
Daily discussion questions
A topic or an issue from their surroundings that they need to be aware of can be assigned daily or on alternate days to a group of two or more people. This ignites the sharing of ideas or opinions. Such topics used in classroom settings help engage students in meaningful discussions. Role-playing, enactments, theatre, and drama are examples of collaborative learning where individuals display the information and knowledge gained through acting and role play. These activities, involving high energy and a fun element, are known to increase engagement among team members.
Rainbow Research
This strategy caters to larger groups, where learners are divided into groups of seven, and a colour of the rainbow is assigned to each member. The team members share their inputs on a particular topic and then shuffle members to form new groups. Prior knowledge is merged with new information, resulting in more enriched presentations.
Story Weavers
In this strategy, a situation or topic is given, and learners share their real-life examples and anecdotes, which are further collaborated and presented, giving a real-life connection – an important part of any kind of learning.
In the era we are living in, it becomes imperative that schools prepare learners for the 21st-century workforce, where they emerge as highly collaborative, curious, and life-long learners, better equipped to confidently conquer hurdles and strive towards becoming global citizens.
