Larissa's+Essay

This kind of technique can help students in classrooms to improve their ability of dealing with different situations
 * ====Thesis statement:====


 * ====Topic ideas:====

helping each other in a group, solving problems and using tools on the Internet

 * First Version:**

Collaborative working is the act of people working together toward common goals. Working in a collaborative environment can be hard or, in some other way, complicated, but it is a good opportunity to improve the quality of the project itself if it is done correctly. Even though some people may think that working collaboratively can be a waste of time, since a few peers cooperate, this kind of technique can help students in classrooms to improve their ability of dealing with different situations, such as helping each other in a group, solving problems and using some tools on the Internet. Working with different people and different opinions in a group might not be so simple even being very common; however, if it is a group, all the members should help each other to achieve the best result, avoiding unnecessary discussions. First, a leader should be chosen in order to improve the organization of the project. It does not mean that he/she will be responsible for everything, since each member will have a function inside it. The leader’s responsibility is checking if people are executing their tasks well, but always working together with all the other members. Everyone in the group should discuss and distribute tasks based on each person’s abilities. Second, members should participate in an active way sharing opinions and information, exchanging knowledge, discussing if it is necessary and fulfilling the deadlines.

Collaborative learning activities immerse students in challenging tasks or questions (SMITH & MacGREGOR, 1992). Through these activities, students deal first with problems, instead of beginning with facts and ideas and then moving to applications. Therefore, they have to be prepared to organize themselves better and think of what is going to happen next. Moreover, students are more involved with what is going on with the project in this kind of work and they have to find a way to solve all the problems that may appear, organizing the best way to make the project better.

There are some tools on the Internet that can be really useful to help the process of working together and organizing the project through using some tools such as Wikipedia, Google Docs, blogs, Facebook, e-mails. These tools are useful since they can make group work more productive, alleviate problems with group members who are absent (or who do not participate), and cost nothing to use. It is important to mention that the group has to determine which technologies will be used to facilitate the project collaboratively.

Collaborative Learning can help students become better students because they have to deal with different people, different opinions and different situations, which prepare them to jobs, to work in groups, and also to respect others. If the whole group work in an active way, the chances of achieving excellent results are really good.

REFERENCE:

1) SMITH, Barbara L. and MacGREGOR, Jean T. // What is Collaborative Learning // . 1992.


 * Second version: **

The Collaborative approach deals with how students work together toward common goals. This environment where knowledge and tasks are shared can be difficult or complicated,since not all members of the group cooperate. However, it is a good opportunity to improve the quality of the project itself if it is done well. This kind of technique can help students in classrooms to improve their ability of dealing with different situations, such as helping each other in a group, solving problems and using tools on the Internet.

Although dealing with different people and opinions is an everyday activity, it might not be so simple. In order to achieve the best result of working collaboratively, all the members should help each other. First, a leader will be chosen with the objetcive of improving the organization of the project. It does not mean that he/she will be responsible for everything, since each member will have a function in the group. The leader’s responsibility is not only checking if people are executing their tasks successfully, but also working together with all the other members. Everyone in the group discusses and distributes tasks based on each person’s abilities. Second, members participate in an active way sharing opinions and information, exchanging knowledge, argumenting and fulfilling the deadlines.

According to Smith & MacGregor (1992), "Collaborative learning activities immerse students in challenging tasks or questions". Through these activities, students deal first with problems, instead of beginning with facts and ideas; then, they move on to the applications. Therefore, students are more involved with the development of the project, solving the problems that may appear and focusing on improvements. Consequently, they have to be better prepared to organize themselves and think of what is going to happen next.

There are tools available on the Internet that can be really useful to help the process of working together and organizing the project, such as Wikipedia, Google Docs, blogs, Facebook, and e-mails. These tools are facilitators in the process, since they can make group work more productive, alleviate problems with group members who are absent (or who do not participate), and cost nothing to use. It is important to mention that everybody in a group has to determine which technologies will be used to make the project collaboration easier.

The approach of working collaboratively is a technique that can help students work in groups, solve problems and use Internet tools. When dealing with different people, opinions and situations, the learners prepare themselves to work cooperatively and respectfully even beyond classroom limits. Through this educational approach, chances are that good results will frequently be met based on what this essay has presented.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">REFERENCE: 1) SMITH, Barbara L. and MacGREGOR, Jean T. // What is Collaborative Learning // . 1992.