Big Idea #6

What is the role of collaboration in understanding?  This question reveals my social constructivist nature - how much do we build understanding through collaboration, interaction, etc.  And if it helps increase understandings and knowledge then what is the responsibility, and how do we build in collaboration in learning particularly in virtual environments?  And if it helps in learning, how can it help in teaching?  As librarians we are often collaborators in teaching, so it helps to understand or at least considered its role in teaching and learning.

I think that collaboration is integral to understanding.  We can all “know” something, but can we truly understand it if we haven’t looked at it from other possible angles, or discussed or questioned it with someone else?  I don’t think that we can have really learned until we have had the opportunity to interact with another.    The AASL standards state, “Learning is enhanced by opportunities to share and learn with others” (p. 3).  We build our understanding by discussing, questioning, and exploring ideas.  In order to comprehensively study and understand a topic, we must reach out to collaborate with others.

In response to Big Idea #1, I stated:

“While reading Chapter 2 of Understanding by Design (2005),  I couldn’t help but think that one way of defining understanding is understanding=interpretation.  Understanding brings us meaning, and that meaning differs according to our own experiences and ways of looking at things.  We all aren’t going to necessarily come to the same conclusions, or even take the same path to those conclusions when trying to achieve understanding.  The process and accomplishment of understanding, I believe, is unique to each learner.  There is not one goal toward understanding-there are many goals and understanding happens in layers.  Each layer that is constructed brings the learner to another level of understanding that is distinct.”

I think that collaboration is one of the layers that is necessary in order for us to understand.  Collaborating opens up doors that might otherwise stay closed.  Since each of us has such a unique and individual learning style, we will be able to learn something new from interaction and collaboration, therefore making our understanding even stronger.

As I have previously stated in my self-reflection on how I learn, I feel that I do my best learning and understanding while teaching, since I am engaged in collaboration with students.  Their questions, comments & responses challenge my own thinking and understanding, which is why I agree to the student-centered classroom approach as opposed to the “sage on the stage.”  How can you learn anything if there is no interaction or collaboration?  Lecturing and spewing out information without room for inquiry does not lead to learning or understanding.  I think that building collaboration in learning within virtual environments is in some ways easier than in the classroom.  Creating a sense of community through discussion forums, as well as group or partner projects, is how to build collaboration.  Sometimes within the classroom, dominant personalities take over, leaving students who are intimidated to not comment or share their opinions within the class.  I find that this isn’t the case within online learning, since a student is more likely to receive responses from multiple individuals, one of whom might share the same perspective.  In this sense, it makes students more comfortable and likely to share and participate in whatever discussion is taking place.

As soon as I began thinking about my Unit Plan topic and how I would approach it, my first instinct was to call my good friend (who also used to be my coworker in the middle school where we both taught) to bounce some ideas off of her.  She listened as I explained my ideas and how I would approach the assignment.  She offered comments as well as questions that made me think of additional questions and ideas that I wanted students to explore within the unit.  This is a perfect example of how collaboration plays a positive role in teaching. If we were teaching this unit together, we would both be coming from our unique perspectives as both learners and teachers, therefore creating a learning experience for students that would encompass all learning levels and styles.  Most, if not all teachers, do not exist and teach within a vacuum.  A good teacher learns, borrows, and builds upon other teachers’ experiences, whether good or bad, in order to create a classroom that is conducive to learning.

American Association of School Librarians (2007).  Standards for the 21^st-Century Learner.  Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards.

McTighe, J. & Wiggins, G.  (2005).  Understanding By Design.  New Jersey:  Pearson.