How Technology Can Enhance Classroom Collaboration

Photo courtesy of Santi Vedrí on Unsplash

By Lilian Nyaranga
One of the emphases of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) in Kenya is the group-oriented approach to learning. 

This means that collaborative environments in the classroom need to be strengthened.   

Effective collaboration enables the learners to gain key 21st-century skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, communication and creativity. Besides these, they also learn soft skills like being respectful, open-minded, accountable, tolerant, and team players, preparing them for the future.

Collaboration requires high-level participation from learners and proper guidance and monitoring from a more knowledgeable person working with them.

However, creating a collaborative environment may look good on paper than when practised in reality. Moreover, it becomes more complicated considering the large class sizes, limited space and resources.

 Technology is a tool that can help address this challenge if well implemented.

Today I will be looking at how technology can be used to spur student and teacher collaborations.

Technology and Student Collaboration

There is no denying that children love technology. They can spend endless time just glued to their device's screen. The majority of them use technology more for entertainment than educational purposes. We have read numerous reports of how this trend is having an adverse effect on them.

According to a research conducted by Innovative Teaching and Learning (ITL) project,  teachers reported using technology with their students was mainly more for consumption than creation.

But this doesn't have to be the case. Technology can be an excellent tool for learning in and out of school.

 The good news is that the growth of smartphones in Kenya has been exponential over the past years, making it a market leader in internet penetration. Teachers and parents can leverage this using the available technology tools and free online collaborative platforms.

From the use of Microsoft Office to videos to educational gaming tools, there is no limit to the options that are out there. With proper control, monitoring and supervision, learners can be guided through sharing resources, ideas and learning in collaborative platforms like WhatsApp, Skype, Google Classroom, or Google drive.

Technology enables learners to collaborate with peers within the same school, from different schools or countries, on a particular topic or project of mutual interest.

The flexibility of technology allows learning to take part at any time and place. Thus a teacher can have regular lessons in class, and part of the lesson can be done outside the class using technology. This model of learning is called blended learning, (Look out for my next article on this model)

A teacher's role in student collaboration using technology cannot be gainsaid.

Consider a teacher who has just completed a math topic on Pie Chart in class 7. The teacher wants the learners to carry out further research online. In addition, he wants learners to better understand the importance of learning about pie charts. 

This teacher cannot just put his learners in groups and instruct them to conduct their research online. An avalanche of information online would confuse and overwhelm the learners. 

 Instead, by carefully crafting guidelines for the math groups, he can make their research more focused and lead to more meaningful learning. 

This link shows how the teacher can guide learners through multimedia to research and collaborate on this topic. The groups then can engage in lively student-led discussions on a collaborative online platform.

Technology and Teacher Collaboration

As teachers, sometimes we feel so isolated within our classrooms. Time and space to interact with other peers are limited.

How, then, can teachers leverage technology to share resources, best practices and new ideas to improve learning in the classroom?

The research by ITL shows that innovative learning happens more in environments where teachers report more frequent collaborations on teaching practices and mutual support toward improving them.

Most teachers in Kenya belong to WhatsApp or Facebook groups that are subject, grade, or type school-specific. However, most of these groups focus more on giving updates on government directives, school events, job opportunities and sharing of professional documents. There needs to be more sharing on professional development or innovation.

There is a need to go beyond just sharing resources in collaborative platforms. Teachers must use technology to create and share innovative learning ideas with other teachers. Teachers must start thinking about creative teaching skills and activities, document them and share them on collaborative platforms. I get more inspiration after learning about other teachers' best practices in class.

Documenting best practices can also earn teachers money. Platforms like teachers pay teachers or TES  are good examples of how teachers make money by selling their creativity to other teachers.  

There are several free collaborative tools out there. While popular apps like WhatsApp are easily accessible for teachers to share resources and ideas and mentor each other, they are subject to abuse. It is common to see teachers share posts, videos or discussions unrelated to the group's purpose. It is challenging to navigate the conversations or retrieve a resource after some time.

Facebook can be a better alternative. However, we all agree that being on Facebook can be distractive even to the most disciplined among us. Hence I would not recommend it for serious engagements.

I have used free collaborative tools like Google Drive and Skype and learning management systems like Google Classroom. These tools are more focused on helping teachers and students to grow and learn from each other leading to improved learning experiences in the classroom. The apps of these tools can also be easily downloaded from Android and iOS Play Stores for mobile devices. I will be sharing about these tools and more on this forum.

Technology allows educators to collaborate not only locally but also globally. Edmondo and Empatico are platforms that aim to connect educators in classrooms worldwide.

Please feel free to write a comment below. I would really love to hear from you. Share any collaborative tools you have used in the classroom that have worked for you.

Lilian Nyaranga is a former high school math and chemistry teacher, an Edtech enthusiast, a published author, a learning designer and a game-based learning developer. She is currently the Founder of Elimu Shop, an education company in Nairobi, Kenya, that creates innovative game-based teaching and learning resources that make learning math and sciences subjects fun.

Follow her on Facebook and  LinkedIn

Website: www.elimushop.com