Welcome to Unit 4!
We consider the idea of social, or collaborative, learning. Note: This unit is two weeks long. On Monday, March 14, 2016 at 4:00 PM UTC, our Community TAs will host a live event where participants will have the opportunity to receive feedback on their pitches. You can find out more in the Unit 4 forum area. Access information will be provided closer to the date.
Overview & Collaborative Learning: Professor Klopfer introduces the concept of communities of practice, meaning groups of people with a common interest who want to learn about a certain topic or skill by working together. This kind of group can provide many benefits to learning and teaching.
- Samba Schools: Professor Mitchel Resnick, Dr. Cynthia Solomon, and Professor Yasmin Kafai take a closer look at samba schools as a great example of a community of practice.
- Experts on Collaborative Learning: Scot Osterweil, Professor Yasmin Kafai, Professor Kurt Squire, Professor Barry Fishman, Dr. Jeremy Roschelle, and Professor Sasha Barab share their thoughts about collaborative learning (also known as group or social learning).
- Vanished: Caitlin Feeley and Scot Osterweil discuss an alternate reality game, Vanished, that encouraged players to solve problems together online.
- Online Learning: Dr. Justin Reich and Dr. J. Philipp Schmidt provide illustrative examples of how people are taking advantage of the Internet to learn together.
- Overview of collaborative learning
- Seymour Papert was intrigued and fascinated by Samba schools; Professor Mitchel Resnick (LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research at MIT), Dr. Cynthia Solomon (associated with MIT), Professor Yasmin Kafai (University of Pennsylvania) help us understand why. These learning communities bring together people of mixed ages and skill levels to support all learners, resulting in amazing dance performances. It is an interesting model of social learning that is very different from contemporary schools. We present this case study here to inspire you to think differently about collaborative and social learning; it is not just students working in small groups in a classroom.
- A variety of education researchers talk about what they see as the benefits of collaborative learning. They point out a number of tools and learning environments that support and embody collaborative learning, as well as discussing their own related work. Scot explains that he does not think of collaborative and individual learning as completely separate (1:24 in the video).
- Caitlin Feeley, a project manager at Professor Klopfer's lab (Scheller Teacher Education Program/The Education Arcade) and Scot Osterweil talk about Vanished, an alternate reality game in which middle school students all over the world worked together to solve a fictional scientific mystery. They utilized online forums to crack codes, work with scientists, and complete a variety of authentic science-based puzzles, all in service of changing students' attitudes and interest in science.
- Dr. Justin Reich, now Executive Director of the Teaching Systems Lab at MIT, gives a brief history of online learning experiences and MOOCs, then talks about self-pacing, community building, and other factors that are important in MOOC design. While certain things about online courses are innovative, just being online does not inherently change the way courses are taught. However, there is potential to make learning accessible to a wider variety of students.
- Dr. Justin Reich, now Executive Director of the Teaching Systems Lab at MIT, gives a brief history of online learning experiences and MOOCs, then talks about self-pacing, community building, and other factors that are important in MOOC design. While certain things about online courses are innovative, just being online does not inherently change the way courses are taught. However, there is potential to make learning accessible to a wider variety of students.