Module 3

Howard Rheingold: Way-New Collaboration (video)

In the video, Rheingold presents a timeline of how people evolved in becoming social, collaborative beings. One of the timeline milestones is marked by agriculture which gave people a way to grow socially, intellectually, and technologically. Since energy wasn’t being used to escape predators or to follow herds of animals, people could then become engaged in sharing work. sharing ideas, and creating a structure of leaders, followers, and workers. These social groups led to some type of government where someone or a few people made/led decisions in which the group would follow. Survival often depended on the ability of a person to live and interact within a group. Intellectual curiosity was nurtured by the ability to stay in one area and having one’s basic needs met. With the exchanging of ideas, tools were developed to help the members of a group to be more productive and to have a more comfortable life.

The cognitivist supports the idea that learning is social and the learner uses the world around him. The world around him could include life experiences, books read, movies watched, and trips taken. Learning takes place through sensory input. Technology does play a role in the constructivist framework of learning and collaboration. YouTube, School Tube, Kids Know It Network, My Learning Tube, Neo K12, Encyclo Media, Educational MiniMovies, Watch Know, Zui Tube, United Streaming are just some of the video sites in which to learn or to submit a learning video. When wading through the good and unproductive comments on some of the video sites, the video’s creator has the opportunity to refine his/her end product and to respond the critic. How can these videos support collaboration? Well, when viewing videos, it’s easy to find an idea that you can use in your classroom. When watching YouTube tutorials, I found the elements that I liked and those I preferred to avoid. Now, when creating a video or conducting a video search, I try to use/find the tutorial videos that are most beneficial to me. I find that tutorial videos with no one speaking don’t support my learning. I have to see and hear the instruction taking place.

The cognitivists would probably agree that digital books also use what we know and then share that with others, who then refine their products and share those with others, so that a cycle of learning and sharing prevails. Calameo has lots of examples of books that could be useful in the classroom. Some of the features of the different books can be used in a new way and then refined even further. I made a geometry book that explains and illustrates a right angle, obtuse angle, acute angle, and a straight angle. I had refined what I wanted to do by viewing samples of books online. UDL Bookbuilder also provides great examples of teacher-created and student-created books that can be viewed and then refined.

Although the online video hosting sites and the digital book making sites are incidental in their collaboration, these tools do provide a starting point for many. A more direct means of communication and collaboration is the wiki and the blog. One can gain many ideas, post those ideas, and participate in a give and take relationship with one or more people. I’ve bookmarked several that I try to revisit from time to time. I just discovered a blog when looking for online art sites where students could create and then print. (I needed an entry in computer art for the North Georgia Fair and starting my search a few days ago.) Mrs. Smoke, an educator, has a blog called Making Teachers Nerdy and the post was titled “45 Websites to Create Art Online”. Mrs. Smoke’s list contains a brief explanation and the grade levels in which the site is most appropriate. I intend to use a few to get student art and then to later use some of the sites for future projects. Many people have posted comments stating that they have or will use these links in the classroom. From personal experience, I know that even positive statements about my accomplishments creates a desire for me to go to a higher level of performance.

Have I answered how technology can be used to facilitate collaboration? Well, I think I have. Collaboration is exchanging ideas so that a product reflects the efforts of the people involved or the suggestions and criticisms relayed to the creator. Collaboration can even reflect the ideas gained from collaborative projects.

Rheingold, H. (2005). Way-new collaboration. Retrieved on October 14, 2010 from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html