ubdtopbl

COLLABORATION & COMMUNICATION (created by Andrea Tovar)

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills @ p21.org couples collaboration with communication. Collaboration is among one of the 4Cs identified as a critical 21st century skill. Collaboration is manifested when students work in teams/communities to conduct inquiry and create deliverables/products about their learning.  Members of the collaborative give each other meaningful and positive feedback on their work-in-progress and in the culminating deliverable/product.  Their knowledge and ideas are shared within a community of learners model. Collaboration is demonstrated through the project  by working with adults who serve in the capacity of mentors, learning facilitators, and as experts beyond the classroom. Students grow in their practice of collaboration coupled with developing their communication skills through project based learning and assessment.  International/global and multilingual collaboration and communication through social networking tools is encouraged.

Tools for Student Socio-tech Collaboration:
http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=94408 (local, national, and international communication)
http://www.voki.com/Voki_for_education.php (utilize speaking avatars as a social media tool for communication)
Glogster.com (to design posters, post online, or print)
Storybird.com (to collaboratively create online books/text for all ages)
Prezi.com, VoiceThread.com or SlideRocket.com (for collaborative and progressive 'edgy' presentations)
Edublog.org, Kidblog.org, Weebly.com and Blogger.com (for collaboratively creating student websites, deliverables, or digital portfolios of work)
Tagxedo.com & Wordle.net (to create collaborative wild word clouds)
makebeliefscomix.com & xtranormal.com (for collaborative comic booking)

Tools for Teacher Socio-tech Collaboration:
http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=94408 (local, national, and international communication)
http://www.voki.com/Voki_for_education.php (utilize speaking avatars as a social media tool for communication)
classroom20.com (for those interested in Web 2.0 and the use of social media in education)
Dropbox.com (to collect and store student work)
Edmodo.com (to collect and assess student work as well as to connect with other educators)
cilc.org (This is the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration -great resource to connect with other teachers interested in online cross-classroom interactions)
http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=261&Itemid=120 (p21's collaboration and communication page)
twitter.com or tumblr.com (for updates on students' collaborative work progress)
Twitter:
  • #edchat (general education chat on Tuesdays)
  • #elemchat (elementary chat on Saturdays)

Please view Dr. Teresa Foulger's PBL pg. for additional socio-tech & collaborative website links and examples.



EXPLANATION:

Collaboration can be taught & assessed in student's projects through the use of collaboration rubrics (K-2 elementary and upper-elementary & secondary). Each major product/deliverable or performance in a PBL project will need it's own rubric. The following subskills are associated with effective project collaboration:
  • Takes responsibility for the quality and timelines of  his or her own work; uses feedback; stays on track during group work
  • Accepts shared responsibility for the work of the group; helps improve the quality of the work and understanding of other members
  • Manages project by identifying and prioritizing goals and tasks, creating timelines, organizing resources, and monitoring progress.
  • Respects the ideas, opinions, abilities, values, and feelings of other group members
  • Works well with diverse group members
  • Encourages group cohesion by using conflict management strategies

Rubrics are to be utilized as formative assessment tools within the PBL framework. As part of the teaching and learning process, students may use them to assess where they are in their product or performance task.  Students may use the feedback they gather from self, peer, or adult feedback.  Writing your own rubrics with student feedback is also encourage. 

Feel free to create your own collaboration rubrics with this tool:http://pblchecklist.4teachers.org/index.shtml.
pbl_collaboration_rubric_upper_elem_ed_and_hs_2011.pdf
File Size: 842 kb
File Type: pdf
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pbl_collaboration_teamwork_rubric_k_2_2011.pdf
File Size: 412 kb
File Type: pdf
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EXAMPLES:

Visit these K-12 project sites to view collaboration in action:

http://www.projectapproach.org/
http://www.cilc.org/search/collaboration.aspx?id=1582
http://www.wested.org/pblnet/exemplary_projects.html
 http://www.voki.com/Voki_for_education.php
http://www.ehow.com/info_7949506_long-projects-fifth-grade-math.html
http://teacherbridge.cs.vt.edu/public/ projects/Web+Pals/Home
http://p21.org/
http://www.bie.org/

Sources:

Hallermann, S., Larmer, J., & Mergendoller, J. R. (2011). PBL in the Elementary Grades: Step-by-step guidelines, tools, and tips for standards-focused K-5    projects (p. 50).  Novato, California: Buck Institute for Education.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2004). Overview: Communication and Collabortion. Retrieved 19 June, 2011 from: http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=261&Itemid=120

MODIFY YOUR UNIT:

Now integrate evidence of collaboration into your unit by drawing from the socio-tech websites you've visited.  Feel free to use the PBL rubrics and/or rubric website above to help you tailor your authentic assessments of collaboration. Visit Pam Roggeman's PBL page for more information and examples of authentic assessment of collaborative PBL work.

JUSTIFICATION: Record in your PBL journal the following, under a header marked Collaboration:

What changes did you make in your unit to address this element of PBL?

What value did this change provide?

What perspective(s) were important in your decision to make these changes? (use 3S and 4Cs models)

Did you purposefully eliminate anything?