The typical way of learning in a classroom is still a great way to learn and to get an education. There are plenty of people who do not have that luxury. However, just like with anything else in life, there is always room for improvement.

Collaboration is an important aspect of education and it is still something that educators are learning about. Collaboration allows us to:

• Express our ideas
• Receive feedback on ideas from others
• Ask questions
• Get more involved
• Be creative

In a normal classroom setting, group work is the main way children get to collaborate with their fellow students. There were always more way to collaborate but it just took something to jumpstart ideas from educators and even students.

Benefitting from the pandemic

This article, from 2022, dives into how the pandemic really gave us an opportunity to start collaborating with each other from home and not being face-to-face.

Almost all classes all over the world had top be stopped and everything was online. This forced schools and teachers to switch up their way of teaching. They were forced to use online learning tools. Two big examples are Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams. Many of these online learning tools have different features to let students work along with each other and even speak without being in the same room together. Virtual breakout rooms let students do this while learning.

In these breakout rooms, students are in these smaller groups all trying to finish whatever assignment they were given. The breakout rooms are perfect for them to

• Practice communication skills
• Learn to work within a team
• Work on ability to compromise and lead

Even after the pandemic when school and classrooms went back to being fairly normal, the tools being used were not just forgotten. Teachers and students were able to see how much more learning can be done with online tools. I would say that learning has definitely changed for the better since the pandemic.

Another online tool used to help students is a video game. That game is Minecraft. I personally am most surprised by this because of how much I used to play it. I would have never thought that this would be accepted in education because video games are generally seen as something bad. Many say that video games are the cause of many negative things, including your studies.

Minecraft has been used so much by educators that Microsoft took notice and developed a version just for that. It is called “Minecraft: Education Edition.” The main purpose for having students use Minecraft for school is engaging students in the learning process and content creation. Creativity is the soul of Minecraft. The limits of the game is up to your imagination.

Building Croydon

This next article explains the challenge set out by the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

Sadiq Khan has a goal to tackle air pollution and reaching net zero carbon by 2030. His challenge for students in London is to reimagine Croydon Town Centre, but to make it greener and safer. This really allows students to get creative in their ideas to design the future of London. The age range for this is 5-24 years old and you can work alone or collaborate with friends. Once you have your city built with your ideas, you have to make a short video to go along with it. Your world can potentially be seen by the world when it is all presented.

I think this is a great idea for a great cause. Minecraft: Education Edition is also being provided to all school across London. This is a great chance for students to show their creativity and to work along with others to build something special. This is also just one example of how important collaboration can be for students to learn and to make a difference.