Collaboratove Learning

Collaborative learning is an educational approach to teaching and learning that involves groups of students working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product. Collaborative approaches to learning includes the sharing of information, resources and experiences through interaction whether by online computer discussions such as forums, wikis, chat rooms or by phone or face to face conversations. This can include learners evaluating one another's ideas and providing feedback to each other and working towards a common goal. Collaborative learning in online study groups is increasingly becoming an instructional approach of choice for online courses and is more often being used in face to face education.

Collaborative learning involves joint intellectual effort by students or students and teachers, or by students being facilitated by teachers, collaborative learning activities can include collaborative writing, projects, problem solving, debates, study teams, and other activities.

There is controversy whether this paradigm is more beneficial than it is harmful. Some students are introverted and prefer to study alone and others lack motivation and do not participate. Also collaborative learning redefines the traditional student teacher relationship and a collaborative approach to learning can create an issue of learners sharing information that is not correct or that has been qualified.

However, on the contrary there is much support for collaborative learning and it is believed that the active exchange of ideas within small groups not only increases interest among the participants but also promotes critical thinking. According to Johnson and Johnson (1986), there is persuasive evidence that cooperative teams achieve at higher levels of thought and retain information longer than students who work individually. Shared learning enhances communication and social skills, providing students an opportunity to engage in discussion, take responsibility for their own learning, and thus become critical thinkers (Totten, Sills, Digby, & Russ, 1991).

This essay will argue that collaborative approaches to learning are beneficial for students' learning's by creating critical thinking, enhancing communication and social skills and increasing engagement thus allowing students to achieve at higher levels of performance and self-esteem.

It is suggested by some that a collaborative approach to learning is not effective and in fact can be harmful and that there are a few disadvantages to collaborative learning. One of the disadvantages that have been presented is the impacts that collaborative learning has on the classroom, the teacher's role, the information being shared and how this is evaluated.

Since collaborative learning generally grants the students more control over the flow of information, there is the possibility that the focus of the instruction may veer from its intended