Social Learning Theories

Collaborative learning is a powerful strategy to implement in the classroom that allows students to work together in various ways. "The instructional strategy of cooperative learning focuses on having students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning," (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, pg 139). As a teacher, there are many instructional strategies that can be introduced that promote students actively engaging in lessons together. Such activities as creating videos and completing or creating WebQuests are valuable tools students can learn how to use together.

Videos can be created by students using various programs such as Garageband, Voicethread, and iMovie. These programs are very user friendly and allow every day people to create podcasts and videos that can seem complex in nature. Photos, music, recordings, videos, and dialogue can be added to these videos using all of these programs to enhance the project. "Creating a video is a complex task that requires many roles and responsibilities,"(pg. 141). This is a great way to assign students certain roles when working together. When students each have active parts in the learning process, collaboration is bound to run smoothly. A helpful tool to be sure that students stay on task and understand the learning objective and standards is to provide a clear and concise rubric. Rubrics allow students to see exactly what they are responsible for. I believe that students should only be shown the highest category in the rubric so they all know what is expected of them. I do not find it necessary to show them what they need to do to get lower scores because they should all strive to complete the necessary requirements.

Another valuable tool that promotes social interaction between peers are Webquests. "WebQuests are inquiry-oriented activities that allow students in a class or from multiple locations to work together to learn about a particular subject or to tackle a particular project or problem," (pg. 145). I use WebQuests a lot in my fifth grade science and social studies class. What I like best about Webquests is that it requires students to use higher level thinking and problem-solving skills to complete the Webquest. They can also take students on journeys to see places or things that they may never actually see in real life. Recently my students completed a WebQuest on frogs where they were actually able to dissect frogs and study the parts of a frog.

There are many ways to promote the Social Learning Theory in the classroom. Using technology is a great way to increase interaction between students.

References:

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007).Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.