Dr. Orey describes a child's zone of proximal development as that space where learning happens. It falls just below what is beyond their comprehension/abilities, and just above what they already know and can do. This is where the social piece comes into play. The MKO or more knowledgeable other is the person or tool that allows the student to make meaning and build knowledge with new information (Laureate Edu., Inc., n.d.).
There are two collaborative tools that I'd like to explore this week. One is something that I am familiar with, as are my students. The other is one that I have used, but may consider using in a different way.
The first tool that is one I use almost daily in my classroom is KidBlogs. Students love this tool and it is a great choice for collaborative or cooperative writing. The difference between collaborative and cooperative is that collaborative activities engage students in producing a product or solving a problem. Cooperative is when students engage in work together in the same way, but they are also held accountable for individual aspects as well (Orey, 2001). Students use this as more of a cooperative tool that collaborative. They write their own entries, but then students can go in and comment on their peers blog. They use the acronym NOW as a reminder of how to leave feedback. N stands for "I noticed...". Students may comment on use of colorful words, figurative language, or any number of aspects of their peer's writing. O is "offer positive feedback". This is where they say something that they liked about the writing. W is "I wonder...". Students give constructive feedback such as, "I wonder if you could help me visualize your setting by adding more sensory details?" I have found that by giving this format, it allows students the direction they need to help assist each other in becoming better writers.
The second tool that my class uses regularly, but I'd like to explore some ways to use it differently to expand our social connections, is Google Docs. I think it would be really fun to collaborate with a classroom in another state or country to create a report or presentation on the same topic. I'm not entirely sure how I could make this work, but it would be fun to try!
We live in a collaborative society, so it is important that we allow students to collaborate together and learn from and with each other.
Resources
Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Social learning theories [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.eduOrey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that works (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
My VoiceThread: http://voicethread.com/share/6686718/
Image Sources:
www.amazon.com
http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/environment
http://www.leadershipinstitutekc.com/?page_id=137
http://www.cwu.edu/~woodmanb/resourcepage.html
http://healthyhempoil.com/cannabidiol-research/
www.poweryoupractice.com
www.rodneyellis.com
Hi Amber,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post! The Zone of Proximal Development as described by Vygotsky is what I often refer to as "watching the light bulb go on" with my students. As teachers, we work within this Zone of Development on a daily basis with our students.
You have some wonderful strategies you are using with your students to support collaborative learning. I just taught a PD on Thursday about blogging and shared reasons and strategies to use to incorporate blogs with students. I use Weebly, along with many of the teachers in my building. I have heard of Kidblogs but have not used it. Do you like it? I love your acronym NOW and may use it with my students. Thanks for sharing!! I also use Google Docs with my students. I would love to have our classes collaborate with one another through this tool, but i think our district's email addresses are filtered to stop our students from sharing with anyone outside the district. Maybe we can set up a Skype session?? Let me know if you would be interested! This would be a great way to share ideas and thoughts with one another.
Great post!
Stephanie Battaglia
Hi Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment! I love Kidblogs. It is very user friendly and allows me to create a classroom space that aggregates all student blogs to our class feed. I have our feed closed so no one outside our class can see it. The settings can be changed to where parents can be added to the roster as well.
I would love to Skype sometime! I would love to hear about how other classrooms and districts do things!
Amber
Hi Amber,
ReplyDeleteI too use Google Docs in my classroom, but I love the idea with collaborating with other classrooms or students in other countries.
I recently visited a friend of mine from college and she raved about using Kidblogs in her classroom. I was worried that it wouldn't be appropriate for my 8th grade students, but the way you use kidblogs would be perfect. Thanks for all of the ideas for my classroom!