Collaboration (A constructivist learning tool)

The day that an infant entered the world, is the day that he/she became natural to the reaction of the elements of life, as the medical personnel or representative thereof, welcome him/her with a gently slap on the buttocks. A response mechanism is automatically triggered, as the young child cried, signifying a connectedness to life and to people. This is the first sign of interactivity to the world. Overtime, this instinct is developed, as growth and maturity sets in. With this growth and maturity, coupled with interactivity and connectedness, socialization is formed. It is with this socialization tendency that individuals communicate, as they aim to relate to each other. This relation breeds cooperation. Howard Rheingold, in his TED Talk video on Collaboration, said that ‘cooperation, collective action, and complex interdependencies play an important role’. This role of collaborating with each other is significant, if interactivity is to be sustained, and the group, with its dynamics, is to be established.

In the theory of learning from the constructivist perspective, the approach to learning emphasizes authentic, and challenging projects that include students, teachers and experts in the learning community. The goal is to create groups or learning communities that are more closely related to the collaborative practice of the real world. Working collaboratively, allows individuals to develop their own framework and perspectives, such as modeling, discourse, and decision-making. The real world phenomenon acts as a guiding principle for individuals to ‘meet and greet’ each other physically, mentally, and technologically. The physical contact allows for the expression of emotions, a vital ingredient in life that is necessary for the release of tension and anxiety. In the mental issues, the ‘meeting of the minds’ allows for learning to transpire, thereby empowering the learners to fulfill their mental desires, as they seek to attain full learning capacity, which, of course, is unattainable, like full employment is, to the macroeconomic structures of government. Rheingold also spoke about the use of technology in the process of collaboration. Among his highlights are Google bloggers, Amazon, EBay, and Wikipedia.

Technology today plays a vital role in cooperation and collaboration. These two terms are buzz words for the constructivist. For individuals to collaborate, they must first cooperate. They should not see each other as rival competitors. A major collaborative tool used in today’s technology is Web 2.0. There is a large number of Web 2.0 tools; some of the more popular ones include Blogger, Podcasting, Social bookmarking, MySpace, YouTube, Delicious, Digg, Twitter, Flickr, Wikipedia, and Facebook. Many of these tools serve as Social Networking Technologies (SNTs), where individuals collaborate with each other via the Internet. During this collaboration, learning is occurring, and so the parties involved, benefit from the process.

Reference

Howard Rheingold on collaboration