Collaborative Group Members:
- Laura Dowling
- Lucy Herring
- Fumie Kimura
- Gary Vrinten
The assumption of roles and responsibilities of each member within the group seemed to be a natural process that mirrored the development of our project. Every member played a crucial role in contributing to the open exchange of ideas, knowledge, and processes leading toward the end product.
Initially our communication through e-mail was a discussion of a thematic unit that could be incorporated into the various subject areas and grade levels of each participant. The objective of this approach was to encourage ownership in the project and to draw from the available expertise. This goal proved to be unrealistic due to the diverse professional backgrounds of those involved. Individual ownership in the project and personal meaning was incorporated through the acceptance of a theme that was perceived by all to be, interesting to teach, exciting to learn, and just plain fun.
The next step was to describe the learning outcomes that would guide the construction of the unit. A comprehensive list of many possible objectives pertaining to this theme was developed. The list was culled to its present form through discussion, and finally, on a web page where each member voted on the remaining possibilities and rationalized their decisions to other members by commenting where appropriate.
Within our discussion of objectives, we considered how each of these objectives would best be met. The underlying thread of our conversations concerned the rationale and teaching methods most appropriate for our target class. As the project progressed we found, discussed and then linked appropriate web sites to our lesson page. When the objectives were well defined and agreed upon, the most effective teaching strategies were in place in rough form on our student site.
The final phase in the completion of this effort was the discussion of learning theories, rationale and stated objectives directly pertaining to the EDUC 6100 project. Each member volunteered to research and write different sections. All members were aware of the section the others were writing, and we exchanged pertinent information and web sites in order to continue the collaborative effort through this support.
It is a necessary inevitability that a group of people working toward a common goal have a leader. Someone who is committed to the task, organized, has excellent interpersonal skills and understands the intricacies of group dynamics. We were privileged to have such a person in our group. Right from the beginning of our project Laura Dowling assumed her natural role as organizer and leader. Her skills and aptitude with e-mail, web pages, and people made this project a most worthwhile and enjoyable learning experience.
We all contribute what we can to build the castle. When we are done, we each have a castle of our own.