Technology's role in Facilitating Collaborative Learning

     Over this last week-end, I read with interest a story in the New York Times.  Published on 1/16/2112, the story is titled "Split by Race and Wealth, But Discovering Similarities as They Study Steinbeck." The article describes an 8th grade project that has classes in two neighboring schools - one in Plainfield and the other in Westfield - reading John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.

     The story caught my attention for a couple of reasons.  I went to elementary school in Plainfield, so there was a personal connection to the locale.  It was definitely a long time ago, but still, it's hard not to pay extra attention when reminded of old haunts.  More significantly, I also was interested to see how technology was being applied to this collaborative learning project.

     The Times article describes two middle school classes, one in the more tony Westfield and the other in the economically-challenged Plainfield, following a parallel curriculum in the reading of Steinbeck's novel.  The classes read the book on the same schedule though in-class conversations differ.  The article points out that teachers with their students will focus on characters and plot developments that resonate in their respective lives.

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Eleanor Hemphill, in back, talking about the novel at Cedarbrook K-8 Center in Plainfield, N.J.

     Though this jointly read book project will culminate in visits to each others' schools, the Times article points out that along the way questions and insights were shared by students via Wikispaces and Skype.  Unmentioned, though likely true, is that students at the schools connected via Facebook as well. Technology has a unique ability to facilitate collaborative learning because so many of the traditional barriers (e.g.: cost, convenience, asynchronous schedules) to distance collaborative learning are eliminated.  But it's interesting to see that applied technologies are not the center of the article.  In fact, they barely warrant a passing mention.  It's a sign of how much social media sites and other technology tools have become part of the way people collaborate.

Matthew Kalafat discussing “Of Mice and Men” at an intermediate school in Westfield, N.J.

       The Times piece clearly shows that this project was created with specific goals in mind.  Yes, students would be reading Of Mice and Men  to become familiar with a classic American work.  But as one of teachers states, “If you become experts in Steinbeck, beautiful, but that’s not my goal,” Matthew Kalafat, a Westfield teacher, told his class of 13 students — 11 white, 2 Asian — holding well-thumbed hardcover books in first period the other day. “This is just a tool to get us to understand our world.”

     The article strongly suggests the students are learning more about their world.  Technology in the form of Wikispaces and Skype, and perhaps in the form of Facebook and an e-reader, is helping teachers and students to reach goals.  And that's the true promise of technology in schools; it's a set of increasingly powerful tools that can help teachers and students reach learning goals.

(Note: Pictures and captions from NY Times "Split by Race and Wealth, But Discovering Similarities as They Study Steinbeck" 1/16/2012)