There are so many strategies that align with the ideas of social learning theory. When students work in cooperative groups, they make sense of, or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others (Johnson, Johnson, & Stanne, 2000). Cooperative and social learning gives students a chance to bounce ideas, gain assurance, new perspective and so many other ideals that are needed in a 21st century workforce.Multimedia projects are like chameleons, they can take on so many contents and give diverse roles to students. I am very excited to try out www.ePALS.com, which would allow my students to collaborate with students in other classrooms and other parts of the world. I have had student groups work with wiki's and podcasts and would also like to try www.coolpages.com and allow them to easily create their own webpage. All of these strategies provide student interactions that can foster learning experiences.
Hi Amanda-
ReplyDeleteI tried to do epals and it would not work for me, like you I was excited to share this with students. My students are really getting into webpages right now in the 4th grade. Many of them have created webpages through www.weebly.com and they get to post their websites in an area in the classroom so they can share them. I think it is great to give them independence and share ideas with each other through there webpages.
Megan- I have heard others say they were disappointed in epals. I am glad to hear your students enjoy webpage building. I have used www.wix.com, it seems to be very similar to weebly. I think you are right when you said it gives students independence! They seem to take great pride in thier projects.
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