Lesson 13 Cooperative Learning with the Computer

• Cooperative or collaborative learning is learning by small groups of students who work together in a common learning task. It is often also called group learning but to be truly cooperative learning, Five elements are needed:
  

  FIVE ELEMENTS

1. A common Goal
2. Interdependence
3. Interaction
4. Individual Accountability
5. Social Skills

• It encourages active learning while motivating students; increases academic performance; promotes literacy and language skills; and improves teacher effectiveness.

  SEVERAL TASKS IN ORDER TO ENSURE COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

1. Assigning students to mixed- ability teams
2. Establishing positive interdependence\
3. Teaching cooperative social skills
4. Insuring individual accountability
5. Helping groups process information

Cooperative Learning and the computer

• Researches have made studies on the learning interaction between the student and the computer . The studies have great value since it has been a long standing fear that computer ma foster student learning in isolation that hinders the development of the student’s social skills.

Components of Cooperative Learning

• Educators are sill wary about the computer’s  role in cooperative learning . Thus they pose the position that the use of computers do not automatically result in cooperative  learning. In that case, , therefore, assign the teacher several tasks in order to ensure collaborative learning. 
• Assigning Students to mixed- ability teams;
• Establishing positive interdependence;
• Teaching cooperative social skills;
• Insuring individual accountability, and
• Helping groups process information.