I'm Teresa Meli. I teach Business Administration (Economia Aziendale) in a secondary school in Palermo. The course of study of my students includes the school-work alternating, so some activities are conducted outside the school. My teach is often learner-led. Many lessons are held in computer lab. Interdisciplinary is present with Economic, Law, and Informatic. My teaching is based mainly on active methodologies: Learning by doing, flipped classroom, problem solving. The principals Key competences of my teaching are:
Learning to learn
Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship
Digital competence
Social and civic competences
This is my school
I.S. Duca Abruzzi-Libero Grassi Palermo
In my school the classrooms are 1.0 type with desks divided into rows. In some classrooms there are LIM. There are some multimedia laboratories. I work almost always in a simulation lab.
Module 1
What is collaborative learning?
Collaborative learning is a method and a tool through which students team together to explore a significant question or create an important project.
Collaborative Learning happens when students work together in pairs or groups:
• To understand or "make" meaning of a concept or text
• To create a solution for a problem (given in class or self-discovered)
• To explore a topic, a question, an area of knowledge
• To apply the principles learned in their curriculum
• To conceive of new ways to apply the knowledge they have learned in class
• To construct a tangible article or a physical object (for example, a report, a term-paper, a model volcano, a recycled-paper bag, a solar panel, an electric vehicle) out of the course-learning
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-methods-tips/69801-definition-of-collaborative-learning/
Understand how to embed collaborative learning into lesson design
The collaboration has an important part in the development of social skills as creativity (entrepreneurship), communication capacity , digital skills and social responsibility.
Teachers can help students develop these skills supporting their classes with technology , focusing on group/ team work and sharing ideas.
Technology does not have to substitute the traditional content of the lesson but can be used as a "tool" to help the students to solve problems,
If used correctly, technology help to prepare students for their future
Integrating technology into the classroom is a great way to reach diversity in learning methods
Technology gives students the chance to interact with their classmates more by encouraging collaboration
Technology helps students take more control over their own learning and learn how to make their own decisions .
Modulo 1 Learning Activity
Learning activity that requires low level of collaboration among students
Students collaborate within their individual study groups to present a work on business and administration in PPT
Learning activity that requires high level of collaboration among students
Students developed a laboratory activities. They divided in small groups explore, analyse and produce multimedia works that present to the class group.
Module 2
How can you design collaborative learning in the classroom
Last year I shared a project with teachers and students of a first and a second class of my school
THE PROJECT
“I tell you my company”
The project aims at realizing some e-books by involving students (from 14 to 16 years old). The e-books deal with the story of successful local companies, starting from the description of the characteristics of the territory where they operate.
• promoting the use of active teaching methods;
• promoting learning/teaching targeted to the development of competences;
• promoting hands-on learning of technical languages and new technologies;
• establishing collaborative relationships between students and teachers.
Duration: 3 months.
Fase 1: Project presentation; creating groups; identification of the tasks
Fase 2 • Each class identifies the tools needed to collect data during their company visits (such as recorders, camcorders, cameras, note pads, pens, etc.). After having identified the main tasks (such as analysing the territory, identifying successful companies, getting in touch with them and visiting some) • the students divided into groups will carry out an investigation of their territory (key terms: history, morphology, economics, demography). At the end they will share the results of their survey. • Our company!: eventually, each class identifies the local enterprise whose story they will tell about.
(Step 1) The teachers contact the chosen company and ask for their collaboration.
(Step 2) The questionnaire creation: The classes plan and discuss about a (or some) questionnaires they have to use to gather information during their visits. • Data analysis: the data collected are analyzed, studied and discussed. • Designing our ebook (draft). Students share their findings and load documents they like (such as text documents, images, videos that they think are important for the final product).
How to design a “real e-book” (Step 1) The students, introduced by the teachers to free platforms for designing e-books (e.g. Lulu.com), learn how to use high tech potentialities. (Step 2) As they know how to design an e-book, they all discuss and draw conclusions about the e-book they are going to design. (Step 2) In groups, the students will realize a specific part of it. As they finish, they will assemble their files and they will edit the whole e-book together. (Step 3) Publication of the eBook. The e-book will be free published and it will be the basis for the final evaluation of the students.
The link of the presentation of project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3uLIzwGoh0
CLD Collaboration Rubric
http://prezi.com/x2yzyc7_i11p/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share
What is it? The rubric helps teachers guide students in being effective collaborators in a project, and it can be used to assess their performance.
How can use it? The teacher use the rubric to guide students and assess their work
21CLD Learning Activity Rubrics
The rubrics Professor D.Butler explained, guide the teacher in planning activities in collaboration. This guide describes six rubrics of 21st century learning, each of which represents an important skill for students for develop:
collaboration
knowledge construction
self-regulation
real-world problem-solving and innovation
the use of ICT for learning
skilled communication
Collaborative learning scenarios
A learning scenario consists of a description of a realistic situation, accompanied by one or more questions that challenge the learner to respond to some aspect of that situation. At its simplest, a scenario could consist of a single description followed by a single question, but it could also develop in stages with one or more questions at each stage. In the case of a branching scenario, the information depicted at each stage will vary depending on the answers the learner made at previous stages.
A scenario has three core components:
A description of a situation
A question with various options
Feedback on the options selected or, in the case of a branching scenario, a jump to the next stage in the scenario
The first and third of these could be presented in a wide variety of forms:
Simple text
Text with one or more images
Audio with images or animations
Video
The question and options will normally be presented textually, to provide the learner with as much time as they need to reflect on their decision.
Interactive capability
A learning scenario is by nature interactive – a case study with questions built in. Although, in this Practical Guide, we are focusing on fully-interactive scenarios, it is worth mentioning that very similar results could be obtained by combining a more conventional case study with some means for collaboration, such as a forum, a blog or a classroom discussion.
Applications
Principle-based tasks: A learning scenario is most commonly used to help a learner gain insight into key principles that influence the problem-solving and decision making elements of their work. The focus here is on tasks that cannot always be accomplished through the application of a few simple rules – there is a need for critical judgement to be applied. In these cases, a strategy of guided discovery is usually applied. The scenario is positioned early in the solution, before the formal presentation of learning material. It provides a chance for the learner to experiment with different approaches and to reflect upon the possible outcomes.
Rule-based tasks: However, a scenario could also be used as a means for practising a simpler, rule-based task. Here the strategy is more likely to be instructional, with the scenario coming later in the solution, after the rules have been explained.
Scenario-building tools
Scenarios can be produced quite simply in tools such as PowerPoint, using hyperlinks to jump from slide to slide depending on the learner’s selections. Further functionality can be added by converting the slides into Flash, using tools such as Articulate or Adobe Presenter.
http://onlignment.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/A-practical-guide-to-creating-learning-scenarios-v1.1.pdf
Modulo 2 Learning Activity
Module 3
How can you assess collaborative learning?
Module 3 Learning Activity
My lesson plan integrates collaborative learning and assessment. I intend to use that lesson with my students in the classroom before the end of 2016 or early next year.
My lesson plan includes learning activities designed to develop students’ collaborative learning skills:
In my learning activity the students require to work in small groups, they share responsibility and make substantive decisions together. Their work is interdependent.
In my learning activity the students have the opportunity to use ICT, learn and practice basic skills. The Student group work can result in the production of:
• proposals
• reports of case studies
• video presentations
My Feedback on productivity and the process:
• Evaluate students on their contributions to processes and the final product..
• Use rubrics.
• Communicate clearly to students at the beginning how you will calculate their grades.
Student learning is difficult to evaluate.
Reviewing the student’s work (digital and no digital) at the end of each phase of learning activity, I provides an immediate feedback on the their comprehension.
At the end of each phase I will ask the students to provide a feedback on using Collaborative Learning to respond to the following two statements:
1. Collaborative learning is:
- Strongly agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
- Strongly disagree
2. Sign one of this option:
• It is valuable to me to have a few minutes to think independently about a new ideas
• It is valuable to me to have a few minutes to discuss a new ideas with a group
In my teaching I use different tools and resources on line to help my students to collaborate
http://digitalfilms.com/index.php?act=3 video creation
https://storify.com/ storytelling
http://www.toonytool.com/ comics
https://sway.com/my digital storytelling app
https://www.flipsnack.com/ to create flip books online for free.
http://www.sfogliami.it/ to create flip books online for free.https://wordpress.com/posts/omoeconomicus.wordpress.com?verified=1 to create website
.https://app.wisemapping.com/c/login to create mapping
http://focusky.com/ To Create presentations and animated videos
https://www.powtoon.com/my-powtoons/ To Create presentations and animated videos
I connect and collaborate with my students and my colleagues on Edmodo, Facebook, Twitter, Google Drive
Module 4
How can teacher collaboration facilitate collaborative learning?
To establish group goals. Effective collaborative learning involves establishment of group goals, as well as individual accountability. This keeps the group on task and establishes an unambiguous purpose.
2. To keep groups midsized. Small groups of 3 or less lack enough diversity and may not allow divergent thinking to occur.
3.To establish flexible group norms. You may want to establish rules for group interactions for younger students. Older students might create their own norms.
4. To build trust and promote open communication. Successful interpersonal communication must exist in teams. Building trust is essential.
5. To create group roles for larger tasks. The students might have turns to choose their own role and alternate roles by sections of the assignment or classes.
6. Assessing the process itself provides motivation for students to learn how to behave in groups. It shows students that you value meaningful group interactions and adhering to norms.
7. To consider using different strategies, like the Jigsaw technique. The jigsaw strategy is said to improve social interactions in learning and support diversity.
8. Allow groups to reduce anxiety. When tackling difficult concepts, group learning may provide a source of support.
9. To establish group interactions. Roles are important in group development.
Module 4 Learning Activity
Learning Design for: Entrepreneur simulation
https://v.gd/vsuACT