Cooperative+Learning+through+technology



//**Cooperative Learning through technology**//

Cooperative learning is a teaching strategy that reflects a student-centered and constructivism approach. Our students benefit from this type of approach and strategies, but we need to be careful and not use it for everything we do. The students learn and express themselves in different ways, as teachers we need to provide them with a variety of tools, strategies and approaches to satisfy their needs. The integration of different educational technologies can help us achieve this goal. Cooperative learning means working together as a collaborative community to accomplish an objective. In this process the members of the community help each other, teach each other and learn from each other to become successful in the realization of the task or project. It is very important that the teacher plan carefully what criteria will use to create the groups and varied the members of the groups based on the purpose and objectives of the activity. Some of the technologies that we can use to create a cooperative learning that is truly successful and collaborative are the use of wikis or blogs for an effective communications between the members of the group and the teacher, this also help us to obtain prompt feedback from all that are involve in the project. The use of student-centered multimedia for presentations or projects, like creating a video will provide the perfect environment for this cooperative strategy. Other resources we can integrate are web resources like the use of keypals, the new version of penpals through the use of e-mail; web-quests, these provides inquiry-oriented activities that allow students from multiple locations work together to solve a problem or create a project. Also you can use web-enabled multiplayer simulation games to develop the cooperative learning strategy. All of these software and educational technology tools will help us integrate technology in a cooperative learning approach that will satisfy the different needs our 21st century students. Access the link below to learn more about the benefits of cooperative learning :

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