Teaching with Technology - Week 4 Reflection

This week I finally feel comfortable with the collaborative online group work.  This has been a new experience for me learning to use the Web 2.0 tools to communicate with other group members.  I think my discussion board post for this week reflects my feelings about the process I have experienced in this class. 

“When I started this class, I said to myself, “How will I work in a group without ever meeting face to face?  I have never worked in an online group before!”  I have now come to truly love the online collaboration opportunity.  Because of this experience I have embraced the prospect of using technology to collaborate down the road with other educators and with my students, as ‘technology can play a unique and vital role in cooperative learning by facilitating group collaboration, providing structure for group tasks, and allowing members of groups to communicate even if they are not working face to face’ (Pitler, 2005, p. 140).  Since this class began, I have acquired new tools to enhance the online collaborative learning experience.” 

As much as I find myself putting off the collaborative learning opportunities in my classroom, I know that as the video (Project Learning: An Overview ) this week explained, students today need more opportunities for collaborative learning.  I am promising myself to incorporate more collaborative opportunities using technology for the students in my classroom. Just like I was uncomfortable with the online learning in the beginning, with a little practice, anyone can succeed at a new task.  

Edutopia.org (nd). Project Learning: An Overview. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning-overview

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 139-154.