Collaborative+Learning+through+Web+2.0

**"I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to to provide the conditions in which they can learn."** **-Albert Einstein**

We have discussed the ideals of 21st Century Learning, and how they will be integral to the mission of the ICHS, and now it's time to turn focus on the tools through which we, as educators, can create true 21st Century Learners. As previously covered, 21st Century learning is essentially based on what are referred to as the 4Cs:

**Critical Thinking** **Communication**  **Collaboration**  **Creativity** ICHS teachers will hold these principles at the very core of their teaching, and will strive to provide students with the necessary tools to fully engage and impact the world around them. Essentially these are the **skills to find information, connect with it, synthesize it and problem solve with it. **

These skills, are all predicated by a strong basis of truly collaborative learning, and because of the nature of the educational system that remains so ingrained in our society, I would argue that the classroom teacher has the opportunity to be the first, and most central, example of collaborative learning. Through the student-teacher relationship, students begin to understand relationship-building, and how to build strong collaboration for the development of ideas and understanding. If teachers do not provide an environment where students can be truly collaborative, they will prevent students from achieving any of the other skills required.

The reality of students in today's world is that they have a massive wealth of knowledge and tools at their fingertips, through phones, laptops and tablets. They use these devices on a daily, even hourly basis, and yet for the most part these powerful learning are used primarily for updating Facebook statuses. The following video is centered on University students, but the figures and message remain entirely relevant for Secondary students.

It is often said that teachers come from a different generation, and are simply not able to keep up with the tools available to them thanks to Web 2.0. But the beauty of collaborative learning, is that __**we don't have to be!!**__ Teachers only need to provide students with the flexibility to be creative, to break down the barriers between the technology and networking tools they use in their personal lives and bring them to bear in the educational sphere.

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