Thursday, September 24, 2015

LESSON 13: COOPERATIVE LEARNING WITH THE COMPUTER

Content:
            A lot of countries who tried to apply the use of Information Technology in SCL are finding it hard to provide individual unit for the students. That is why the book suggested a very good way of engaging the students to the ICT’s without compromising the quality of their work and that is Cooperative or Collaborative or Promotive Learning. So this is learning by small groups (utmost six members) who work together for a common task. In here we are to consider five elements: a common goal; interdependence; interaction; individual accountability; and social skills.

This cooperative learning is accompanied with the computer. Students working with computer in groups will cluster and interact with each other for advice and mutual help. Psychologists believe that with this phenomenon, computers foster positive social behavior which is very useful in the real arena.
            Truly, it does not mean that when a computer is present there can be cooperative learning right away. With that comes the role of the teacher to guide and facilitate the learning goals that the students should achieve. Specifically a teacher should: assign students to mixed ability teams; establish positive interdependence; teach cooperative social skills; insure individual accountability; and help the groups process information.

Experience:
            We are exposed to this type of learning. In school, we are always group in most of our activities especially those that require the use of computer because not all of us in class have one. This is I think good for those who are also mentally challenge where they can be helped and cope with those who are already advanced. In our experience in school, our collaborative work really matters. If one of the members will not work, the product is not that good. That is why though we are in a group, we are still given specific task for us to be responsible in our own learning and be responsible in the group as a whole.

Reflection:
            Cooperative Learning is not new to us especially that our facilities in school are also limited. But looking at the positive side, working with a group with use of computer develops our communication skills, social skills, and also taking responsibility of our assigned task in the group. Being in a Cooperative Learning is an authentic training for us since we are also in a collaborative situation when we are to work. It’s just amazing how educators find ways to integrate computer in the learning arena of those who have limited access to technology.

Application:
            Cooperative Learning is very much necessary in this 21st century since our goal is to have a globally competitive individuals. In cooperative learning we are all exposed to working with other people and learn to communicate our ideas to them. With the integration of computers to this kind of learning, we are not just solving the problem of scarcity of the computers but as well as we are trying to uphold the social, mental, emotional and all aspects of a student. In connection, this is a challenge for us teachers on how we can better use Cooperative Learning in a way that we cannot compromise the quality of learning of our students.


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