Digital Learning: Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning is a way of taking learning from a passive to an active activity. Through collaborative learning, students are more engaged and think critically. According to the Center for Teaching Excellence at Cornell University, collaborative activies are typically based on the following four main principles:

1. The learner or student is the primary focus of instruction.
2. Interaction and "doing" are of primary importance.
3. Working in groups is an important mode of learning.
4. Structured approaches to developing solutions to real-world problems should be incorporated into learning.

Through collaborative learning activities, students are able to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world scenarios. Additionally, students are better prepared to work with others in a team or group environment. Both of these skills are essential to future employment.

The tools on this page focus on collaborative learning. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Library.

In addition to the mindmapping programs found on the Digital Learning homepage, the tools below can allow groups of students to collaborate on ideas as they move toward a finalized project.

Pearltrees is a social bookmarking program that can help you collect links and organize them in a web. It is collaborative in that others may view your pearltree and assist you in adding more links to the tree, thus your tree grows with links you might not have discovered yet. Additionally, you can work on a single tree with a group of people, creating a fun, collaborative group project. Below is a brief tutorial on how to use Pearltree. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dusty Folds.