Collaborative Learning - Students Teach

i like the strategy that the teacher in the video used. i think it can be applied to classrooms in singapore. Often times, students are not interested in the teacher teaching so why not get their friends to teach them?

So for art, for example, if i would like the students to learn about different artists in the same era, all i have to do is give them the name of the artist and they will go find information on the artist. At the end of the class, one person in the group called "experts" will go to different tables and talk to them about the artist that they had found out about. 

 
Collaborative Learning is a relationship among learners that requires positive interdependence (a sense of sink or swim together), individual accountability (each of us has to contribute and learn), interpersonal skills (communication, trust, leadership, decision making, and conflict resolution), face-to-face promotive interaction, and processing (reflecting on how well the team is functioning and how to function even better).

 Some benefits that i found interesting:

• Students will be able to celebrate diversity.  Students will learn how to work with different people and they will learn how to react to diverse responses when they arise. 
• Acknowledgment of individual differences. When questions are raised, different students will have a variety of responses. Each of these can help the group create a product that reflects a wide range of perspectives and is thus more complete and comprehensive.
• Interpersonal development: Students may learn how to relate to other students and that might boost up their EQs. This might be particularly helpful for students who have social difficulties. Collaborative Learning provides structured  interactions with their peers.
• Actively involving students in their learning. Students will take ownership of their own learning and in return will also take the responsibility of their classmate's learning.

• more opportunities to provide a feedback platform. they will be able to get more feedback from a small group about their responses or their actions during their group work.

I'm guessing that collaborative and cooperative Learning is intertwine and one cannot happen without the other. They are both important to the classroom and to the student. Some people believe that collaborative learning allows the teacher to escape responsibilities. 

Other drawbacks that i could for see would be that often in a group of mix abilities students, usually in the end the low achieving students will let the high achieving students to do the rest of the work thus learning will not be done.

Research suggests that cooperative and collaborative learning bring positive results such as deeper understanding of content, increased overall achievement in grades, improved self-esteem, and higher motivation.