Collaboration

There is nothing more fun than collaborating whilst learning. Learning is and should be a social activity. Students crave this social interconnectedness., especially during times of confinement. However, teachers and students have heard it before - "I prefer to work alone", "I'm not advancing as I'm doing work for others", but there are ways an optimal environment can be managed.


Here are some suggestions to consider:-

  • Embed the group work within individual work. This way, if a student opts out of doing work, and prefers leaving it to others, they will still be responsible for submitting a finished product.
  • Differentiate the individual work - give opportunities for the motivated students to take different paths. Give choices.
  • Teach teamworking skills. Establish roles. Rotate roles.


The following provide some examples. Do you have any more examples to add?

Statistics Revision - One slide and topic allocated per student

Statistics Tools and Interpretations - N2

In preparation for an exam, I asked students to choose one topic we had studied and to share their knowledge and understanding of the topic using illustrations.

Group Eco-school Challenges

Use of a spreadsheet to record and collate data

Group ePortfolio Documentation

Use of a website to document research activities

Wearable Technology Collaborative Research

Use of Word Online to edit and complete a document

9 Collaborative Sensors Worksheet

Animated GIF Collaboration

Using Powerpoint or keynote, students worked on the file together to produce this animated GIF to show where the CPU, memory and storage fit on the motherboard.

Mind Map Collaboration

A team of 4 students worked on this mind map in Popplet. The different sections were colour-coded per student. In this case, students had to classify and organise devices into input, output, both, or internal component groups. This is a GCSE activity (Year 11 Computer Science) but students as young as 7 are able to complete this activity in this context.

A virtual wall of work

Use Padlet to get students posting their work on a virtual wall, then comment on each others' work

Thanks to https://itisallaboutart.wordpress.com/ for this great padlet which shows a collaborative mind map.

Comment on a social topic, then comment on each others' comments

Use Flipgrid to get students speaking and thinking constructively