Collaboration fosters creativity, engagement, and meaningful learning experiences. Chapter 3 of “Adventures in Authentic Learning” by Kristin Harrington gives insights and tools on how educators and students can use collaboration in their classrooms.

Sharing tools in the classroom

Harrington goes into some detail about tools that are excellent for interacting with and exchanging ideas with other teachers.

Voxer, a walkie talkie app can be a useful platform for educators. It provides a unique audio communication platform where discussions on various educational subjects can take place.

Facebook Live can be a great platform as well. It offers educators the opportunity to share tips, classroom tours, and explore specific educational groups.

Feedly is another platform that can be helpful for educators. It lets you gather, organize, and read articles, blog posts, and updates from various websites in one place. It simplifies the process of keeping up with the latest content. This makes it easier to explore and engage with content that matters to you.

Benefits of Experts in the Classroom

It is important to use Personal Learning Networks to connect with content experts for educational projects. The incorporation of diverse voices enhances collaboration and serves as a model for students. Your school’s media specialists, instructional and edtech coaches, or STEM teachers are all viable people to reach out to.

The benefits of having guest speakers are endless. Technology expands the opportunities of having all kinds of different guest speakers. Harrington says, “Not only does this enable your students to hear from and discuss projects with distant experts, but it is also a great opportunity to increase cultural diversity in your classroom.”

Video Conferencing Tools

As mentioned before, having guest speakers can be extremely beneficial. Global collaboration in your classroom can be tricky if you aren’t aware of useful video tools.

Skype, Google Meet, and Zoom are all free applications that you can use to make video calls. These platforms are able to help teachers and students connect with guest speakers, find virtual field trips, and connect with other classrooms.

The Importance of Peer Review

Using peer review in the classroom fosters individual and collective growth. It prompts students to reflect on their work and encourages them to analyze their own strengths and weaknesses. Receiving feedback from peers also contributes to building students’ confidence in their academic skills. Engaging in peer review aligns with global collaboration, students are working and collaborating with each other. Providing constructive feedback and communicating ideas effectively are crucial skills. Peer review helps students develop these skills. The approach of peer review in the classroom enhances the quality of learning.

Citations

Harrington, Kristin. Adventures in Authentic Learning: 21 Step-by-Step Projects from an Edtech Coach. Hawker Brownlow Education, 2021.