Communication, Interaction and Collaboration

Competence Goal 2

You understand how interaction affects learning

 2a) You consider the communication skills needed in teachers’ and students’ work and the importance of interaction in learning and collaboration

2b) With the help of examples, you consider the implementation of student oriented approach and dialogue in face-to-face encounters and group situations.

2c) Using examples, you consider how to act in challenging interaction situations.

2d) You use your experience, scientific literature or other reliable sources of information in your reflection.

To build a community, we need communication, engaging dialogues. This can only happen if we care for our students and also for our subject. Communication is an important skill Interaction and collaboration among students is crucial for the learning to take place. Teacher's role varies from that of a lecturer, facilitator, mentor, guide and  tutor depending on multiple factors like learning outcomes, methods used for teaching, theories guiding the learning process. He/she plays the role by asking questions, providing information or topics for discussion or brainstorming,  and challenges/problems to solve etc. 


The students work individually or together in groups and come up with ideas and suggestions to solve the problem and come up with solutions. This can also be done by giving/showing the students something to think and talk about it with one another. 
A very important aspect of being a teacher is that you keep track of the activity being done in the classroom and the interaction that is taking place. There are multiple factors to consider:
  • Is the discussion going in the right direction and if not what steps can you take to keep it on track?
  • Is the class/group activity dominated by few people and others are just listening? How can you involve everyone? For example, some students may be shy and not good at voicing their ideas verbally but they can write on a notebook or Padlet. Teacher should think about alternate ways of involving students.
  • Are you keeping track of the questions that might arise during the discussion?
  • Are you Giving enough importance to the activity being done by the students? for example the material produced by students during a discussion like notes on a Padlet or other materials. are you talking enough about them? Are you giving proper encouragement or feedback? Are you relating it with your own experience or ideas?
  • Are you probing their mind or triggering them to think about a particular topic or providing food for thought to think about. For example, the video demonstrates how teachers can use an image in a classroom to initiate a healthy debate among students.
Bell Hooks says in her book Teaching to Transgress (1994) that:
 “As a classroom community, our capacity to generate excitement is deeply affected by our interest in one another, in hearing one another’s voices, in recognizing one another’s presence.”
Communication and interaction not only play a crucial role in the learning process but are the foundation on which human learning is built.



Neurologist and educator Judith Willis (2014) says, ”The highest-level executive thinking, making of connections, and ‘aha’ moments are more likely to occur in an atmosphere of ‘exuberant discovery,’ where students of all ages retain that kindergarten enthusiasm of embracing each day with the joy of learning.” Fun experiences can increase levels of dopamine, endorphins, and oxygen – all things that promote meaningful learning. As a result, students are more alert and the information that’s being presented to them is attached to their memories as a positive emotional event. 

Challenges might appear during the lesson and especially online. There is a chance that a link will not work for someone or the network issues may arise. For example, during the very first webinar, one student in the group could could not access the tablet link because of some technical reasons, so I asked her to share her ideas verbally and I wrote them for her on the tablet for the group discussion. 
Another very challenging situations for the teachers especially in the online situation is to deal with the lurkers (students who do not participate actively and are lurking in corners). Some solutions as shared by  Davidson (2015) are:
  • Think-Pair-Share (ask the students to think on the topic individually, pair them up and they share their ideas with one another).
  • The Exit Ticket (last three minutes of the class are for the students to write any question that was unanswered or they want answered. they hand the slip to the teacher or leave it on the table for the teacher to collect and thus those things can be discussed in next class)
References

Hooks, B. (1994) Teaching To Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Routledge
Willis, J. (2014) The neuroscience behind stress and learning. Edutopia. 
Davidson, C.N. (2015) Why Start With Pedagogy? 4 Good Reasons, 4 Good Solutions. Retrieved from Why Start With Pedagogy? 4 Good Reasons, 4 Good Solutions (hybridpedagogy.org) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts