Collaborative Work in Schools
School Administrators are constantly working to build collaborative relationships to increase student achievement and build relationships amongst colleagues to increase the success of the school and district. "Collaborative learning has an increased presence in pedagogical method in preparing today's professionals in working together in solving problems." (Ioannou 2011) The use of collaborative learning has become hot topic amongst educators especially using some online tools such as wikis, Google Docs, Edmodo, Tackk’s, one note, and the use of online discussions boards to think and work together. "Collaborative editing tools such as Google Docs and wikis aim to provide an accessible way to publish, collaborate and exchange ideas over the web." (Ioannou, 2011) Building collaborative groups is key as administrators to focus on the new wave of student centered learning. “In recent years education has been undergoing a shift from teacher‐centered and instruction‐based curriculum implementation to student‐centered and inquiry‐based learning. Students are routinely required to engage in collaborative learning activities such as group projects, presentations, group discussions, and peer evaluations that require significant collaboration and communication with classmates Collaboration 2.0. Given the wide range of Web 2.0 applications available, choosing a suitable online platform to facilitate collaboration with and among students could be a difficult task for a course instructor. While appearing to be fundamentally different, both tools facilitate collaboration, include a history function for both document revisions and information about who made the changes, and are relatively simple for students to implement and use. The results could provide useful information for course instructors in selecting an appropriate online platform for facilitating student collaboration”. (Kai-Wai Chu, Kennedy 2011)
“The use of technologies has the potential to harness cyberspace in a more interactive and collaborative manner, increasing individuals' social interactions and active engagement. Among Web 2.0 technologies the wiki family is considered the poster child example, and has been described as an ideal online platform for collaborative use. Wikis are easy to use because they do not require additional software and are easily accessible. Wiki users can create wiki pages and fill them with a variety of content (e.g. text, images, graphs, and maps). They can then edit the content as needed or desired, while the application tracks the revisions made. Through the use of a wiki, groups of people with a common goal can work collaboratively and simultaneously on a project by jointly creating one single (potentially) hypertext document, thus facilitating knowledge construction”.(Kai-Wai Chu, Kennedy, 2011) 6 tools to boost learning
“Another Web 2.0 technology that has the potential to promote collaboration is Google Docs. Combining a suite of tools including web‐based word processor, presentation, spreadsheet, and online forms, Google Docs allows its users to work on collaboration projects by importing existing documents or creating new documents effectively and flexibly. This suite of tools allows multiple authors to edit a document stored on a Google repository by using a simple browser‐based editor simultaneously. Users can contribute and fine‐tune the contents while simultaneously allowing others to read the existing material and the changes as they are made”. (Kai-Wai Ch, Kennedy, 2011)
As school Administrators working collaboratively on-line or in person is vital to the schools success. Using online collaborative programs has endless uses, such as team building, student centered learning, problem solving, brainstorming. Incorporating collaborative work is essential for struggling learners and getting the most out of students.(Word Count 618)
