CIT Events
Flattening the Classroom: Building Collaborative Learning Environments
Net Gen students are active and prolific participants in flat-world phenomena in their personal lives: posting updates to Facebook friends scattered around the globe, playing online games with teams crossing international time zones, and collaborating on digital works bearing the imprint of multiple contributors. At the same time, the global economy demands students who can think creatively, build collectively, and adapt willingly to change. Are we fostering those skills in the classroom?
Join us September 23 and 24 for "Flattening the Classroom: Building Collaborative Learning Environments," the 2009 Educause Learning Initiative (ELI) Online Fall Focus Session. Hosted in Adobe Connect, this virtual event will be much more than just a "usual" online seminar. You'll exchange ideas and collaborate interactively with the ELI community - all without leaving your campus. You'll also receive all the resources and guided activities you need to help frame discussion and organize team events.
We'll explore an approach to learning that engages students in the active construction of collective knowledge, empowering them to build meaning together, and challenging them to examine issues from multiple perspectives. We will work together to:
- Develop an understanding of what it means to effectively collaborate in the classroom
- Create a framework for the design of meaningful and purposeful activities in the classroom
- Reflect on the potential for social learning to promote critical thinking and spark student discussion
- Explore emerging practices for designing collaborative environments in physical spaces and virtual environments
- Consider assessment strategies for collaborative activities
The events in this series are webcasts presented by ELI and locally hosted by CIT (in other words, we will gather together physically on campus, in 039 Bostock Library, to view the online sessions broadcast by ELI). Please register for the individual sessions which most interest you (or all of them), so that we can plan how much space we will need for each session and the follow up discussions.
What is collaboration?
Diane Chapman, Teaching Associate Professor, North Carolina State University
All collective work doesn't equal collaboration. Every group effort doesn't yield optimal results. Collaborative learning requires intentional structure, ongoing facilitation, and post-process critical reflection. It also necessitates participant buy-in; belief that what can be learned together truly does surpass what could be learned individually, as well as understanding that creative potential unleashed contributes to each person becoming more than he or she was prior to the experience. Despite increased inclusion in learning designs, meaningful and effective collaborative learning experiences remain relatively elusive. Virtual environments add both challenges and opportunities. This keynote address of the ELI Focus Session engages participants in exploration of issues central to collaborative learning.
| Registration | Date | Time | Location | Presenter(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closed | Wed 09/23/09 | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Bostock Library Room 039 | Staff, Center for Instructional Technology |
