This post is in response to Sharidyn Schillers blog post 2:

Blog 2

Really interesting points you make here Sharidyn! I really like how you clearly outline some of the main points of what cooperative learning is all about and you make a great case for how this could be applied to a lesson plan on cyberbullying! Specifically, you mention a brainstorming activity where peers are able to generate and bounce their ideas off one another. Encouraging students to do this, in a cooperative way, could really give students a safe place to explore, enhancing everyone’s experience and learning in the process. 

Additionally, reading your post made me reflect on how cooperative learning differs from direct instruction (DI) approach (the topic I wrote about for this blog post). DI is generally more structured and focused on teaching a pre-determined script whereas cooperative learning allows for more flexibility, which could be very valuable when talking about sensitive topics (such as cyberbullying and mental health). However, I also think these approaches could complement each other as well, see example below: 

  • DI could be used to establish a good foundation for the learner by using a clear plan full of “big ideas” and important concepts
  • Then, cooperative learning could be used in the “learning activities”. For example, like the brainstorming mentioned above. 

Thanks for sharing!