Collaboration in the Classroom 

Last week our learning focused on collaboration in the classroom.  Many participants discussed the differences between cooperation and collaboration and explored how collaborative activities might engage and motivate students.  Participants also created fantastic artifacts and explored how digital tools might increase opportunities for collaboration in the classroom.

While participants used a variety of tools, Padlet was the most popular. TJ shared the Padlet that she created for her 8th graders as part of their QR Code Scavenger Hunt.  And Vivian created two Padlets for her classroom. On the first, she posted videogames students could use to learn more about algebra and on the second they posted their responses about the game. Vivian explained that using Padlet allowed her to meet her students’ diverse learning styles and to “give them exposure to other ways in learning and practicing math skills.”

Many conversations also revolved around if Instagram was appropriate for the classroom and if so, how it could be used. Steve and Sarah demonstrated how Instagram could be used to document skits and interpretations of stories.   

Storybird was also popular with many teachers in English language arts exploring how it could be used for creative writing.  However, Jaclyn (a high school student) created a story in Storybird for her AP Statistics class on experimental design.

For more great projects, please explore the discussion forum!