The One With Group Projects

I have been thinking a lot about group work and collaboration. Do students really enjoy it? How much of the work is actually done collaboratively? I think group work and project is important for students of all ages. Everyone needs to know how to work with others and work with people of different abilities and levels. This can help with communication skills, social skills and problem solving abilities so it is very important, but how can a teacher ensure students are really working together and collaborating? 

Years ago, students had to go to the library together, make time after class to collaborate and we all know how that ends. Either the work is split up and the final product is not very cohesive, or, one person does the bulk or all of the work for others. Fortunately with Web 2.0 technologies it is easier now than ever before. There are so many social media and Web 2.0 tools that allow easy collaboration. 

Sites like Diigo or Pinterest are places where students can curate information and research and share it in private groups with their classmates. This will allow everyone access to the research and allow group members to leave comments for one another. This eliminates the need to meet up as a group at the library to do research together.

Learning Management Systems like Google Classroom, Schoology, or Canvas have many features where groups can have discussions, share work with others and collaborate.

Students can even create private Facebook groups for their team to share information and resources and collaborate with others.

Google Docs or Slides can allow groups to all work simultaneously on the same document. This is great for final projects, essays and research papers that need to be done as a group. Group members can edit each other's work, contribute to the final product as well as track who has make edits along the way. So long are the days where one person is responsible for taking all the research and information and compiling it into the final product.

As more Web 2.0 technologies for education are created, the easier and more likely students will be to actively participate and collaborate on group assignments. It is so much harder today for students to hide in the back, not contribute and ride the coat-tails of other group members. Teachers have the ability to track progress in any of the tools mentioned above to ensure everyone is an active member and gaining the skills and knowledge needed.