{"id":228,"date":"2014-03-03T04:20:01","date_gmt":"2014-03-03T04:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smartdesks-computer-office-furniture-blog.dev\/?p=228"},"modified":"2021-07-14T12:29:29","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T12:29:29","slug":"an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"An Educator\u2019s Insights on K-12 Collaborative Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Collaboration is trending these days, especially in the education industry. In K-12 and higher ed, some educators strive to foster group interactions in class; others prefer a traditional lecture approach. This week, we spoke with middle and high school teacher Mosie Choudhry<\/strong> for her professional, empirical opinion on the subject. Read on to find out how she balances her pedagogy as both “sage on the stage” and collaborative learning facilitator.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/em>SMARTdesks: <\/b>How do you see classroom dynamics shift when you ask your students to work collaboratively?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>MC<\/strong>: It depends a lot on the group and the work. With older students, I find that individuals fall into their “roles” unless I intervene. For example, there’s usually a “can-do” kid who will push the group to be productive and stay on task. This will free other members to under function. Or there will be bickering among two+ “Type A” types. But if I carefully choreograph the groupings AND offer specific roles with job descriptions, it can be very rewarding.<\/span>
\nFor example, with illuminated poetry [(in which students superimpose poetry onto video and images to reveal their interpretation of the text)], I found that the outcomes were much improved by assigning a content director, an art director, a researcher, and an editor.
\nSMARTdesks: <\/b>What kinds of work do you find most conducive to group work?
\nMC:<\/strong> Projects. My first mentor, back in 2000, used to call group work: “group work, AKA the blind leading the blind.” When the aim is to deliver content, I still prefer the sage on the stage.
\nBut I’m a big proponent of project-based learning.
\nSMARTdesks: <\/b>So, in project-based learning, should the goal be defined by the teacher?
\nMC:<\/strong> For younger students, yes. I’m not 100% comfortable with student-directed learning, but that’s because I’m a control freak. I like to bring my experience in effective management to bear.
\nSMARTdesks:<\/strong> Is collaborative learning a tremendously different process in middle school than it is in high school?
\nMC:<\/strong> I don’t have a statistically significant sample to draw from at this point, but I would say that the biggest difference is that in middle school, social concerns press heavily on the kids’ minds to the point where it can be a hindrance to productive group work. I find that pairs work really well. For example, I’ll pair kids to create a research query or review the previous night’s reading. I’ve grouped students for more extensive projects, but it takes a lot of work. The cost\/benefit ratio has to be carefully analyzed.
\nSMARTdesks:<\/b> Then are you more a proponent of letting the students sort themselves into teams, or because of that cost\/benefit ratio, do you think it’s more effective to do that yourself?
\nMC:<\/strong> I always do it myself. Control freak.
\nI have never once seen students make wise choices. They want too much to work with their friends.
\nAnd by work I mean play. And by friends I mean people who may have similar strengths and deficits so might not be the best people to learn from. Google Docs has elevated my ability to do group work. I can intervene by dropping in on a doc and keep kids on task.  It allows me to allow students to move physically out of the classroom and still manage their work. Kids know there’s a record of their work, too, which takes things up a notch. It’s so rewarding to be in an environment in which kids have grown up on Gdocs. It means they’ve grown up on collaboration. They don’t mind in the least that writing is a very public activity. It brings up the quality.
\nSMARTdesks: <\/b>Has specific furniture and technology ever helped or hindered your efforts? How? <\/b>
\nMC:<\/strong> Heavy, clunky furniture is bad. It’s outdated.
\nMost classroom furniture I’ve encountered is designed for pen and paper. I like lightweight desks that work well with laptops. Since students work comfortably with laptops in their laps, they don’t always need a big heavy desk with an affixed chair.
\nSMARTdesks: <\/strong>Do you have any tips for teachers looking to diversify the sage on the stage, and get into collaborative classroom methods?
\nMC:<\/strong> Yes: script the collaboration as much as possible, at least the first time. Prescribe roles with job descriptions. Use Google Docs to enforce accountability. [For some tips, click here<\/a>.]
\nSMARTdesks: <\/b>What would be your vision for optimal collaboration to traditional learning ratio in middle school environments in particular?
\nMC: <\/strong>It would depend on the material. For social studies, which is really content-driven, the sage on the stage happens about 60-80% of the time. This can take the form of an interactive lecture, but you can’t expect the kids to generate content. For English, I use a lot of group work: reading groups, project groups, and in providing writing feedback. I also did a cool project in social studies in which students in groups of 3-4 studied objects at the Met and presented research onsite at the museum. Again, the roles were heavily micromanaged by me, but the students had a lot of room to overachieve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Collaboration is trending these days, especially in the education industry. In K-12 and higher ed, some educators strive to foster group interactions in class; others prefer a traditional lecture approach. This week, we spoke with middle and high school teacher Mosie Choudhry for her professional, empirical opinion on the subject. Read on to find out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[201],"tags":[49,52,53,97,113,114,132,155,158,177],"class_list":["post-228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture-at-school","tag-collaboration-technology","tag-collaborative-learning","tag-colloboration","tag-google-docs","tag-k-12-collaboration","tag-k-12-learning","tag-mosie-choudhry","tag-project-based-learning","tag-sage-on-the-stage","tag-teamwork"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Educator\u2019s Insights on K-12 Collaborative Learning - Smartdesks Knowledge Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Educator\u2019s Insights on K-12 Collaborative Learning - Smartdesks Knowledge Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Collaboration is trending these days, especially in the education industry. In K-12 and higher ed, some educators strive to foster group interactions in class; others prefer a traditional lecture approach. This week, we spoke with middle and high school teacher Mosie Choudhry for her professional, empirical opinion on the subject. Read on to find out […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smartdesks Knowledge Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-03T04:20:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-14T12:29:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mira Korber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mira Korber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/\",\"name\":\"An Educator\u2019s Insights on K-12 Collaborative Learning - Smartdesks Knowledge Center\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-03T04:20:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-14T12:29:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/#\/schema\/person\/8ee759343d842e243672f85816bafb7a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Educator\u2019s Insights on K-12 Collaborative Learning\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/\",\"name\":\"Smartdesks Knowledge Center\",\"description\":\"Smartdesks Knowledge Center | Your one-stop resource for case studies and classroom floorplan inspiration\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/#\/schema\/person\/8ee759343d842e243672f85816bafb7a\",\"name\":\"Mira Korber\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/author\/mira\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Educator\u2019s Insights on K-12 Collaborative Learning - Smartdesks Knowledge Center","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Educator\u2019s Insights on K-12 Collaborative Learning - Smartdesks Knowledge Center","og_description":"Collaboration is trending these days, especially in the education industry. In K-12 and higher ed, some educators strive to foster group interactions in class; others prefer a traditional lecture approach. This week, we spoke with middle and high school teacher Mosie Choudhry for her professional, empirical opinion on the subject. Read on to find out […]","og_url":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/","og_site_name":"Smartdesks Knowledge Center","article_published_time":"2014-03-03T04:20:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-14T12:29:29+00:00","author":"Mira Korber","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mira Korber","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/","url":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/","name":"An Educator\u2019s Insights on K-12 Collaborative Learning - Smartdesks Knowledge Center","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-03-03T04:20:01+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-14T12:29:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/#\/schema\/person\/8ee759343d842e243672f85816bafb7a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/an-educators-insights-on-k-12-collaborative-learning\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An Educator\u2019s Insights on K-12 Collaborative Learning"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/#website","url":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/","name":"Smartdesks Knowledge Center","description":"Smartdesks Knowledge Center | Your one-stop resource for case studies and classroom floorplan inspiration","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/#\/schema\/person\/8ee759343d842e243672f85816bafb7a","name":"Mira Korber","url":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/author\/mira\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":302474,"href":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions\/302474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartdesks.com\/knowledge-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}