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Social Learning Theory

I was hesitant to put students in social learning situations due to classroom management and noise issues. I discovered that the noise buzzing in my classroom means my students are actively engaged in their cooperative learning groups.

"Cooperative learning is not so much learning to cooperate as it is cooperating to learn." (Pitler, 2007). Social learning helps students become more engaged and develop deeper understanding of a subject. "Technology can play a unique and vital role in cooperative learning by facilitating group collaboration, providing structure for group tasts, and allowing members of groups to communicate even if they are not working face to face" (Pitler, 2007).

Some of the resources given in the reading this week suggested that students work in groups to make web pages, wikis, blogs, and multimedia videos. I liked the resources for teachers, especially the rubrics for cooperative projects. These rubrics not only grade the finished product, but also allow each member of the group to get a grade based on his or her level of participation. A teacher with very little experience in student cooperative groups could use these pre-made rubrics and suggested cooperative learning resources successfully.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2000). Bridging Learning theory, Instruction and Technology. Baltimore: Author.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Comments

  1. CathhgyJune 7, 2009 at 11:32 AM

    Donna. I like the rubric use as a way to convey to students what is expected. Some students are willing to participate, but don't have the confidence to just jump in. Some students don't really want to participate, but will be more likely if there is an easily understood grade associtead with the assignment. Cathy

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  2. susanJune 7, 2009 at 11:11 PM

    Donna - I too was hesitant to put students in social learning situations. I have learned to embrace the noise as porductive not chaos. I used to perform for my observations...giving my administrator the quiet, perfectly orchestrated lesson, until I had an administrator that got excited about my "loud" lessons. The energy you see from the cooperative lessons is infectious. Even my principal likes it.

    I like rubrics because they are a concrete way to tell students, "this is what you are being graded on." It should not be a mystery to students what they need to do to be successful at a project. This also models communication as they need this to work cooperatively.

    Two great ideas. Do you think it is possible to overuse either of these?
    Susan R.

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  3. Sara Catherine VaughanJuly 3, 2009 at 5:16 AM

    Donna - when I first started teaching, we got in trouble if we were making too much noise in our rooms... we were told to keep it quiet and focus on more teacher directed lessons. When Whole Language was introduced, we began to expand our learning situations to help encompass all of the senses and use groups to shape our learning environment.

    I have used a rubric where the students were given a chance to grade their peers while working on a group project. I gave it to them ahead of time and it did help increase participation on all parts because they knew that a portion of their grade was being given by their teammates.

    Thanks for your post!
    Sara Catherine

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