Collaboration

Answer the following questions to determine your strategy for assigning and assessing collaboration in your PBL instructional unit. Each answer should be approximately 1 paragraph in length.  In order for the teachers working in my PBL instructional unit to experience authentic collaborative learning, I plan to have teachers explore the various uses of the technologies that are available to us in our school building. This would include digital cameras, MovieMaker and various software programs. These technologies will be explored via the internet. After viewing the possibilities, I would like teachers to select a grade level technology focus and develop a grade level training schedule. The technology focus could last the length of a grade level project or over a several weeks. The training schedule for teachers should include days and times as well as follow up training. This collaboration would allow teachers to meet the 2008 ITSE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•T) and Performance Indicators for Teachers of exhibiting leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion while participating in shared decision making and community building, and enhancing the technology skills of others.  After reviewing various lessons and technology options, I would encourage teachers to brainstorming and matching technology options to grade level standards and their previously taught lessons. After infusing technology into the lesson, teachers will need to determine the best way to train teachers in the building. My role as facilitator is to use higher level questioning strategies to promote “out of the box” ideas while monitoring the county and state guidelines. · What criteria will you use to assign learners to collaborative groups, including a rationale? What will be the size of the collaborative groups you will include in your unit? To create the collaborative groups for my PBL unit, I would assign teachers based on their grade levels. Each grade level would have the opportunity to explore the use of technology in the classroom and would select a grade level project. This would allow teachers with the same common planning time to share ideas and help with troubleshooting as needed. As we progress through the year, subsequent groups could then be based on technology integration interest. Interest grouping would allow various grade levels to meet and collaborate on the use of a particular technology on their grade level. As I plan and preview the materials for this PBL, I would like to have teachers explore the following websites to generate ideas that will be developed into classroom lessons that integrate technology. The following website outlines technology standards for students in elementary school. [] [] The following websites can be used to explore lessons that integrate technology. [] [] []
 * Incorporating Collaboration **
 * How will you facilitate an authentic collaborative learning experience to promote deeper student engagement with content skills and concepts?
 * As members of collaborative groups, how will you support students’ efforts to identify solutions to the problem you are using as the framework for your PBL instructional unit?
 * Which digital tools and websites are you considering for collaboration in your unit?

I feel the best way to assess learners in the area participation is through a rubric. Rubrics provide a clearer picture of expectations. The use of rubrics for assessment of self and peers takes the guesswork out of the process (Palloff and Pratt, 2005). Providing a rubric to assess collaboration provides “good” feedback and should align with the overall goal of the project. __References __ International Society for Technology in Education, (2008), National Educational Technology Standards, retrieved April 17, 2010 from  [] Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2005). //Collaborating online: Learning together in community.// San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). //Building online learning communities: Effective strategies for the virtual classroom.// San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
 * How will you assess participation of the students in their collaborative groups? //(In Module 4, you will create assessment rubrics in which you will include this element.)//