Collaboration: A 21st century necessity and reality

Collaboration.  That is something that has been on my mind quite often after reading both Rainbows End and Crowdsourcing.  Rainbows End has the importance of collaborative work spread throughout the novel.  As both plots unfold, the level of collaboration employed by characters is increasingly more complex and more important to the success of their endeavors.  Even Robert Gu has to learn that he can be more successful in life by working with others instead of constantly pushing them away.  In Crowdsourcing, Jeff Howe shows that, time and again, the amateurs working in the crowd are often willing to collaborate and share their knowledge to the benefit of the entire collaborative community.  This is a key component in crowdsourcing.

I'm trying to look at this course in light of my future career as an English teacher, and I've been thinking about collaboration mostly in context of a high school or junior high context. Why is collaboration so important for kids in school, and how can I best employ it?


We have a cultural myth of the individual in the United States.  Granted, individuality is important, but sometimes we tend to sacrifice the benefits of collaboration, attempting to satisfy our love of strong individual accomplishment.  This practice is propagated early in our education.  As children, we are taught to hide our answers and work alone on projects and assignments.  They often told us that sharing was cheating and immoral.

Now, we find ourselves in a world of greater global communities and a developing view of the importance of collaboration.  A world where the ability to work with others is equally--if not more--important than a degree or skill set.  Students need to learn from day one in school how to work and collaborate with their peers on meaningful projects.  Students who are comfortable collaborating, and can demonstrate successful collaborative projects, will find themselves with an advantage as they interview for jobs.

Collaboration is an important part of a movement to improve education and engaging students.  Teachers are beginning to see the importance of making a transition from being the "sage on the stage" to being the "guide on the side."  Give kids more autonomy and guidance, and they will benefit greatly from group projects that were so scarce when I was in high school.

So ,how do I get my students involved in meaningful collaborations with their peers?  Well, there are many ways, but the most important idea is to let them work and give them autonomy so they can take ownership of their own projects.  Technology can facilitate collaboration greatly.  Amy wrote about peer review and collaboration with cloud technology such as GoogleDocs.  Also, Carlie envisions using technology to make class discussion and activities more interesting to her future students.  I'm still thinking out loud, but I know that I want to incorporate technology to get students excited about their work, and give them the collaborative tools they will need in their future careers.

What have your experiences been with collaboration in school?  What role do you think technology should play in the classroom?