Constructivism and Collaboration

Collaboration has become an overwhelmingly popular term that is used throughout multiple fields and disciplines. It is rare that I can sit through a commercial break during primetime television without hearing this word used as a selling point. So what is all this hype about collaboration?

Howard Rheingold (2008) believes that it is a basic human instinct to “interact and work as a group”. Whether it’s human instinct or common sense, I believe that a group can accomplish much more than an individual. This idea isn’t new. Assembly lines show us that quantity increases when multiple people work together for a common cause. Is this collaboration? This has been known for over a century, so it still doesn’t explain the sudden focus on this single word. The problems facing our world today are too great for any one person to solve. Many are too great for a single discipline to solve. Collaboration is a platform for individuals to come together to produce a creative solution towards a common problem or cause. The quality of the end result is the key to collaboration.

Collaboration isn’t only receiving attention in the business world. Educators are beginning to understand the importance of collaboration as a learning tool in the classroom. The constructivist learning theory “rests on the assumption that knowledge is constructed by learners as they attempt to make sense of their experiences” (Driscoll, 200 p. 387). Students must experience complex problems before they can begin to solve them. Technology provides these opportunities for students. According to Edelson as cited in Driscoll (2005), with technology, “the potential is there for technology to play a “revolutionary role in supporting new forms of learning conversations in educational settings” (p. 398). As new technologies emerge, the capabilities technology will provide classrooms are limitless.

Edutopia and the George Lucas Foundation have discovered that “More than 1200 studies comparing cooperative, competitive, and individualistic efforts have found that cooperative learning methods improve students' time on tasks and intrinsic motivation to learn, as well as students' interpersonal relationships and expectations for success” (Vega & Terada, 2012). The multiple benefits discovered using collaboration in the classroom can be further explored at Edutopia. Educators are responsible for preparing for the future. In order to do this, we must prepare our students for the unknown.

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education

Rheingold, H. (2008, February). Howard Rheingold on collaboration [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.ted.com/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html

Vega, V., & Terada, Y. (2012, 12 5). Research Supports Collaborative Learning. Retrieved from Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/stw-collaborative-learning-research