Group projects are often dreaded by students who simply view them as extra work because it seems that more often than not you have a slacker among you. As a teacher, group projects can be hard to administer as you are not only teaching the subject matter, but also how to work with people, manage time, effectively criticize, divide responsibilities, etc.
Technologies can help but can also hinder the learning process. There is the learning curve and issue of access to the technology. There is the group vision that needs to be created and maintained throughout a project which can be harder to figure out when working remotely from each other. There also can be a lot more "big brother" going on when a teacher (and anyone else) can see who's been doing what and when.
Scott set up a wiki for our group project: a resource for Middle School teachers that would like to teach reader's theatre using technology. It sounds really cool, but I'm totally the novice in this and feel slightly out of my element as I try to figure out what I can possibly do to help... eeekkk! Working on a wiki with a subject area novice, Scott is brave. I'd like to do some interviews - maybe as podcasts (or perhaps vlogs) - with teachers that are currently using podcasting in their classrooms. I think it would be especially useful if we actually had middle school teachers to interview. Wonder where I can find some of those?
1 comment:
You bring up good points about group projects (the Slacker, the Know-it-all, the Whatever Guy). I've found it to be really helpful to have very specific jobs outlined ahead of time. I give each kid 2 grades: an individual grade, and a group grade (b/c I still think it's important for kids to learn that in the real world they will be a part of groups whose product is a reflection on them, fair or not).
Personally I can't help you out with the middle school teacher thing, but I think there one or two of them around here somewhere. :)
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