Experiencing Group

The assignment we were given was to create a research paper and interactive presentation about a central question around 21st century learning. We were given some basic ideas, such as skills, classrooms, technology, or even a 21st century educator that is making strides in teaching and/or learning. Our groups were decided by our concentration in Education as a major. One group was a group of young men, all majoring in History Education. While another group were Early Childhood/Special Ed majors. Our group was a mixture of subject matter concentrations but we are all Secondary Education majors.

The question we chose to ask was: "What are the advantages and disadvantages of collaboration in the classroom and the workplace?" We decided to ask and answer this question because as future high school teachers; we will need to, not only use collaboration in the classroom, but also prepare our students for the workplace. Also, we as the teachers will also use collaboration in our workplace.

Our group had one big obstacle...half of us commute to campus and the other half live on campus. Communication was our biggest worry. So, we used Google Drive as a mechanism for sharing our thoughts and ideas. We would leave notes about what each of us were doing and leave actual chunks of our paper there for the other group members to critique. This was an easy way to communicate and see what the others were doing. We even had our final product shared between everyone so we could read over, proofread, and edit if necessary. By the end of the project, our shared document was probably six pages of colorful notes, varied sources, ideas, etc. I really like using Google Drive and will use it for now on, even if it is just to save work on, so I can access it on campus, home, or even my phone....THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT!!!

Our presentation used a Prezi, which is cooler that PowerPoint. It was more interactive but I would need to spend more time with it to be as comfortable as I am with PowerPoint.  We had the chance to use the SMART board, but didn’t take advantage of it. 

In the paper itself, I did the part on the disadvantages of collaboration because I personally dislike group work.  But being able to use Google Drive and having great group members; my perspective and bad experiences in group work might be changed and erased.

            As a future teacher, I know I will use collaboration in the classroom.  It is a very important skill for students to acquire.  Collaboration is used everywhere!

Final Paper