Isabella's+Essay

Isabella Melano Shared Cognitions within Collaborative Work The essay's goal is to undestand in which ways shared cognitions might take part and perhaps influence the development of collaborative work and how technology plays an important part when it comes to both processes. FALE/UFMG March/2012 Shared Cognitions within Collaborative Work For some time the use of technology has been one of the main topics of discussion within the academic environment. Adapting teaching and learning skills to the new technological means has been a challenge to both teachers and students. The proposal of this essay is exactly to discuss how the academic sphere can use the new technologies as tools in order to develop not only colaborative work, but also shared cognitions. The shared cognitions play an important role when it comes to the process of collaborative work. Those cognitions might be, in fact, a guide when it comes to working in groups, specially when using tools instead of face to face meetings. The idea of shared cognitions comes from the cognitive process elaborated within a group. According to the authors of Shared Cognitions and Shared Theories, sharing information during deliberation processes may have implications when it comes to decision making and the majority taking part in the process, which means that individual thoughts and opinions can influence the general opinion when it comes to deciding something. In that sense, each person's background will be, if not taken into account, at least be present during the deliberation. Although deliberation can be an individual process, in our democratic society what so ever is developed in groups, decision making often regards a group of individuals. This process, that once took part only in the political sphere, is now part of our daily lives. From the early start, children are encouraged to share their thoughts among their classmates in order to learn not only to respect the differences, but also to improve their cognitive skills. Being able to work in groups and sharing thoughts helps youngsters to interact better in society. Seeing that working in groups can be helpfull within the decision making process, learning skills and social interaction, schools have for some time encouraged collaborative work among their students, as sharing their thoughts make them work better. However in order to improve and make collaborative work easier, some adaptation was required in the academic spheres, that is collaborative work now goes beyond making groups in classrooms ‍it also continues at students homes. That is only possible through all the technology developed in the last few years. Collaborative learning goes further, it goes to online chats, wikis, forums, peer teaching and many others. In order to use technology in favour of the learning process and not as a diversion, changes had been made when it comes to teaching. The internet and online spaces are used not only as an information tool, but as a meeting area for studies and for‍ peer learning. They‍ are ‍no longer seen as a distraction or disturbance in the learning process, but as a possibility for students to exchange knowledge, students are roused to learn to revise each others work, to learn from others mistakes and to accept critiques towards their work and to discuss topics and add what was shared to their life enciclopedia. Everything presented so far shows that shared cognitions are always present in collaborative work and learning skills and that technology can be used in favor of the learning process. These new technological tools are making the process of learning continuous to students. In this way collaborative learning both facilitates and enriches the evaluation (done by teachers) and the l‍earning processes (of the students).

__ Thesis Statement __ The proposal of this essay is exactly to discuss how the academic sphere can use the new technologies as tools in order to develop not only colaborative work, but also shared cognitions. __ Topic sentences __ - Shared cognition refers to conscious cognitive functioning shared by a group, but it is in fact strongly dependent on individual cognitions. - Being able to work in groups and sharing thoughts helps youngsters to interact better in society. - That is only possible through all the technology developed in the last few years. Tools such as wikispaces, facebook, googledocs, create an environment where studensts can interact and see each others work. - The internet and online spaces are used not only as an information tool, but as a meeting area for studies‍ and for‍ peer learning - Everything presented so far shows that shared cognitions are always present in collaborative work and learning skills and that technology can be used in favor of the learning process.

**__ Last version __** Shared Cognitions within Collaborative Work The essay's goal is to undestand in which ways shared cognitions might take part and perhaps influence the development of collaborative work and how technology plays an important part when it comes to both processes. FALE/UFMG March/2012 Shared Cognitions within Collaborative Work For some time the use of technology has been one of the main topics of discussion within the academic environment. Adapting teaching and learning skills to the new technological means has been a challenge to both teachers and students. The proposal of this essay is exactly to discuss how the academic sphere can use the new technologies as tools in order to develop not only colaborative work, but also shared cognitions. The shared cognitions play an important role when it comes to the process of collaborative work. Those cognitions might be, in fact, a guide when it comes to working in groups, specially when using tools instead of face to face meetings. The idea of shared cognitions comes from the cognitive process elaborated within a set of people. Shared cognition refers to conscious cognitive functioning shared by a group, but it is in fact strongly dependent on individual cognitions. According to the authors of //Shared Cognitions and Shared Theories//, sharing information during deliberation processes may have implications when it comes to decision making and the majority taking part in the process, which means that individual thoughts and opinions can influence the general opinion when it comes to deciding something. In that sense, each person's background will be, if not taken into account, at least be present during the deliberation. Although deliberation can be an individual process, in our democratic society what so ever is developed in groups, decision making often regards a group of individuals. This process, that once took part only in the political sphere, is now part of our daily lives. From the early start, children are encouraged to share their thoughts among their classmates in order to learn not only to respect the differences, but also to improve their cognitive skills. Being able to work in groups and sharing thoughts helps youngsters to interact better in society. Seeing that working in groups can be helpfull within the decision making process, learning skills and social interaction, schools have for some time encouraged collaborative work among their students, as sharing their thoughts make them work better. However in order to improve and make collaborative work easier, some adaptation was required in the academic spheres, that is collaborative work now goes beyond making groups in classrooms it also continues at students homes. That is only possible through all the technology developed in the last few years. Tools such as wikispaces, facebook, googledocs, forums, peer teaching, online chats, create an environment where students can interact and see each others work. In that sence, Students use technology as a tool or a support for communicating with others, they are in an active role rather than the passive role of recipient of information transmitted by a teacher, textbook, or broadcast. Therefore the student is actively making choices about how to generate, obtain, manipulate, or display information. Technology use allows many more students to be actively thinking about information, making choices, and executing skills than is typical in teacher-led lessons. Moreover, when technology is used as a tool to support students in performing authentic tasks, the students are in the position of defining their goals and evaluating their progress. If the students position changes when using technology, the teacher does not stay behind, the teacher's role changes as well. The teacher is no longer the center of attention as the dispenser of information, but rather plays the role of facilitator, setting project goals and providing guidelines and resources, moving from student to student or group to group, providing suggestions and support for student activity. The internet and online spaces are used not only as an information tool, but as a meeting area for studies and for peer learning. They are no longer seen as a distraction or disturbance in the learning process, but as a possibility for students to exchange knowledge, students are roused to learn to revise each others work, to learn from others mistakes and to accept critiques towards their work and to discuss topics and add what was shared to their life encyclopedia. Everything presented so far shows that shared cognitions are always present in collaborative work and learning skills and that technology can be used in favor of the learning process.These new technological tools are making the process of learning continuous to students. In this way collaborative learning both facilitates and enriches the evaluation (done by teachers) and the l‍earning processes (of the students).