Cooperative Learning
From Web 2.0 That Works: Marzano & Web 2.0
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Provide students with opportunities to interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning.
Generalizations From Research
- Organizing groups based on ability levels should be done sparingly.
- Cooperative learning groups should be rather small in size.
- Cooperative learning should be used consistently and systematically, but should not be overused.
Example Activities
- Project-Based Learning
- Wikis
- Collaborative Writing
Special Note: Cooperative Learning IS NOT only "collaborative groups." Collaborative Groups are one form of Cooperative Learning, and Cooperative Learning is anything that involves students interacting with one another in a learning process.
Recommendations & Ideas
- Use a variety of criteria to group students
- Use informal, formal, and base groups
- Keep groups to a manageable size
- Combine cooperative learning with other classroom structures
Information presented above in the definition is from McREL, and generalizations from research, and recommendations & ideas is from Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement (ASCD)(Robert J. Marzano, Debra J. Pickering, Jane E. Pollock).
Web 2.0 Connections
"Y" Under each category indicates that this tool can be used with this strategy.
"Free +" Indicates that the tool is free at the basic level, but that more advanced versions are available at a cost.
Category Key:
SD = Identifying Similarities and Differences CL = Cooperative Learning SNT = Summarizing and Note-Taking ER = Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition HP = Homework and Practice NR = Nonlinguistic Representation OF = Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback HYP = Generating and Testing Hypotheses QCO = Questions, Cues, and Advance Organizers
| Tool | Link | Desc | Cost | SD | CL | SNT | ER | HP | NR | OF | HYP | QCO | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VoiceThread | [[1]] | Online Collaborative Slideshows | Free+ | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | his online tool allows for collaboration on projects from any internet-connected computer. Products can be very rich visually and aurally, and the commenting feature is excellent. Comments can be made through text, recording on the computer, or calling in via phone (fees apply). | ||||
| Exploratree | [[2]] | Online Graphic Organizer | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Interactive, pre-made graphic organizers that can be edited online | |||
| MixedInk Collaborative Writing Tool | [[3]] | Online Collaborative Writing | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Enable students to craft an essay collectively by remixing ideas & language and rating & commenting on different versions. The tool encourages cross-pollination of ideas through a number of unique features and automatically tracks authorship. | ||||
| MediaWiki | [[4]] | Open Source wiki software | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Wiki engine that powers [http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia] as well as this wiki. |
| Schoopy | [[5]] | School & Classroom Websites | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Great for guest speakers | |||
| MeBeam | [[6]] | Video Chat Rooms | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Great for guest speakers | |||||
| Ustream | [[7]] | Video Communications | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Great for guest speakers | |||||
| Skype | [[8]] | Voice & Video Communications | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Downloads to computer, great for guest speakers | |||||
| iGoogle | [[9]] | Online Personal Homepage | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Integrates with all Google tools | |
| Netvibes | [[10]] | Online Personal Homepage | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||
| del.icio.us | [[11]] | Online Social Bookmarks | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||||||
| [[12]] | Online Messaging | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |||||
| SuprGlu | [[13]] | Online Tool Hub | Free | Y | Y | Y | Combine all of your online tools together in one place | ||||||
| Backpack | [[14]] | Online Personal Organizer | Free + | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |||
| Basecamp | [[15]] | Online Project Collaboration | Free + | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||
| Ning | [[16]] | Community Websites | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Can be used for a classroom website |
| EditGrid | [[17]] | Online Spreadsheets | Free + | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Integrates with Facebook and iPhone | ||||
| TiffanyScreens | [[18]] | Screen-Sharing Presentation App | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||||||
| Diigo | [[19]] | Online Social Annotation | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||||
| iOutliner | [[20]] | Online Project Organizer | Free | Y | Y | Y | |||||||
| Writeboard | [[21]] | Online Collaborative Note-Taking | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Integrates with BackPack | ||
| MyNoteIT | [[22]] | Online Note-Taking | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |||
| stu.dicio.us | [[23]] | Online Note-Taking | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Currently under redevelopment | ||
| pbWiki | [[24]] | Wiki Hosting Website | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| YackPack | [[25]] | Online voice Messaging | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Links directs to YackPack for Educators information | |||
| Ajax13 | [[26]] | Online Graphic Editor | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Requires Firefox 1.5 (or higher) Browser | ||
| SketchUp | [[27]] | 3D Drawing Software | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Integrates with Google Earth | |||||
| Thinkature | [[28]] | Online Collaboration & Whiteboard | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||
| ScanR | [[29]] | Online Scanner, Copier, Fax from Phone or Digital Camera | Free + | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||||
| Google Maps | [[30]] | Online Maps | Free | Y | Y | Street-level or Satellite views | |||||||
| Google Earth | [[31]] | Dynamic Global Geographic App | Free | Y | Y | Downloads to computer | |||||||
| Flickr | [[32]] | Photo Hosting Website | Free + | Y | Y | Y | Y | Part of Zoho Suite of Online Apps | |||||
| Zoho Wiki | [[33]] | Wiki Hosting Website | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Part of Zoho Suite of Online Apps |
| Zoho Writer | [[34]] | Online Word Processor | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Part of Zoho Suite of Online Apps | |||
| Zoho Sheet | [[35]] | Online Spreadsheets | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Part of Zoho Suite of Online Apps | ||||
| Zoho Show | [[36]] | Online Slideshow Presentations | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Part of Zoho Suite of Online Apps | |||||
| Zoho Notebook | [[37]] | Online Notebook | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Part of Zoho Suite of Online Apps | |
| Google Presentations | [[38]] | Online Slideshow Presentations | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Also contains Documents & Spreadsheets | |||||
| Google SpreadSheets | [[39]] | Online Spreadsheets | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Also contains Documents & Presentations | ||||
| Google Documents | [[40]] | Online Word Processor | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Also contains Spreadsheets & Presentations | |||
| WordPress | [[41]] | Blog Hosting Website | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||||
| Technorati | [[42]] | Blog Search Engine | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||||
| EduBlogs | [[43]] | Blog Hosting Website | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||||
| bubbl.us | [[44]] | Online Brainstorming | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||||||
| Blogger | [[45]] | Blog Hosting Website | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||||
| Gliffy | [[46]] | Online Diagramming Software | Free + | Y | Y | Y | |||||||
| Rubistar | [[47]] | Online Rubric Generator | Free | Y | Y | Y | |||||||
| Wikispaces | [[48]] | Wiki Hosting Website | Free | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
Examples from teachers, students, classrooms, schools
Please click on the "edit" tab to share your examples here.
Contributor: Stephanie Sandifer
Students in our World Geography and World History classes used Google Docs to do collaborative writing projects for the annual History Fair. Students were able to monitor each other's contributions to the group writing and the papers were shared with the teacher through Google Docs so that she was able to monitor participation as well by viewing the "revisions" of each writing project. The students and the teacher were very impressed and pleased with how Google Docs enabled them to collaborate more effectively and efficiently.
'Contributor: John Peters
Students in my Health Science Technology classes used VoiceThread to support our CT&E Secretary who was nominated for Paraprofessional of the Year at our high school. This was the first project that my students collaborated on and created a nice project. The students took the pictures of all of the teachers who are making comments, then set up the VoiceThread accounts for each teacher, then the took a laptop with a web cam and had the teachers make a comment about our CT&E Secretary.
The result was that not only was our CT&E Secretary awarded the Paraprofessional of the year for our high school, but was also selected as the Paraprofessional of the year for our entire school district!
johnpeters@herefordisd.net
Twitter: johnpeters
Contributor: Susanne Nobles
Students in my AP English Literature class tackled Things Fall Apart in seminar groups. They read and prepped for each discussion before class using these guidelines. They then ran their discussions in class with one person taking notes on the Google Doc and the others focused on their own ideas and the text. The result was engaged in-class cooperative learning and also engaged out-of-class cooperative learning as they reflected on their group ideas using the Google Doc.
snobles@fredericksburgacademy.org
Contributor: Jennifer Clark Evans
Students in my American Literature class studied "Black Ice" by Lorene Cary in literature circles by using a wiki to post their individual and group work [1]. Students created individual pages and a page to record group notes, as well as used the discussion boards to post their own questions and answers to teacher prompts.
jclarkevans@fredericksburgacademy.org
Contributor: Robert Walling
Students in my fourth grade class and responsible for working together in small groups to plan, write, edit, and record a section of our class podcast. We select a theme for our podcast, perhaps a science or social studies unit we are working on. Each group works together to perfect their section of the podcast to effectively present their understanding of the subject manner.
rwalling@amphi.com
Contributor: Angela Stevens
With the leadership of the Instructional Technology Specialist (me) and the "Technology" Vice Principal, or teachers planned the whole-campus staff development via Wikispaces. We began by planning the areas our school needed to focus on; we also planned by strands (or themes) we felt some teachers might like to concentrate on. After attending sessions teachers were asked to reflect on the session they attended (what they learned, liked or disliked, and what they need further help with). Our intent was to model what we would like to see teachers doing in their classrooms - collaborating and differentiating instruction. The professional development seemed to be popular so we will be planning something similar for this year.
