Combining what I heard in Rheingold’s presentation and my cynical nature, what I learned is that collaboration is more about survival and the only reason we as humans collaborate is for our own personal gain. That gain may be personal advancement, or feelings of self-satisfaction. Karl Marx, said that humans are intrinsically social beings who cannot survive without the help of others. Marx believed that relations and interactions will be entered into whether we want to or not. And I believe that we all relationships serve a purpose in our lives. If it is a collaborative activity for class, then I’m going to make sure that I get what I need from the group in order to be successful in the class. Constructivism says that I “use” other people’s experiences and understandings to help me learn a concept. This is especially true if I’ve never experienced the concept and have nothing to relate it to. I have to trust this person’s account and learn from them.
I think the neat part about using technology to facilitate collaboration is the ability to form relationships in a manner that is less threatening. For example, use of blogs, wikis, and tweets can let a person integrate into a group at their own pace and create a paper trail. So, there is no more of the alleged “I did my part” pitfall of a group project. Discussion boards, blogs, wikis, tweets etc, all have time stamps to show who worked on something and when. When the last time a document was edited and by whom. This is one of the reasons I like using Google Docs. I can trust that my group members will do their part, and if they aren’t I have documentation to show they didn’t. In this day and age, faculty can create grading schemes that do not punish individuals for others actions when it is beyond their control.
I realize that my blog today is a bit on the dark and dreary side and I apologize for that, but it is what it is. And as I reflect on it, I must say that it has taught me something. My opening statement helps me as a teacher “what I heard….” Too often, I as a teacher fail to realize that what I student hears may not be what I meant, but it is what I said. Emotions and interpretations can affect how and what information is transferred between us.
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Grace,
ReplyDeleteI do think that you bring up a good point. While maybe it is natural for us to gravitate toward others and be around other people, in order to survive, one must either compete or collaborate. I think it depends upon the evironment that the teacher establishes for the classroom. Our Walden learning environment is promoting collaboration by using discussion boards and Google Docs. The kindergarten classroom in which I observed last week promoted competition by tying performance with a prize...the best work gets the prize (there was only one). Just like you said, "emotions and interpretations can affect how and what information is tranferred"...those children got the message that competition is going to get them what they want, even if the teacher's intentions was not that at all. Is that really how we want our students to learn as we face the unique challenges of the 21st century?