Le ’ s Talk
THE ESSENCE OF COLLABORATIVE LEARNING
While writing this editorial, I thought of talking about an innovative learning
system known as Collaborative Learning. Collaborative learning means learning
in collaboration. It allows a group of people to share information with each other.
It is a group learning system, where all the participants of a group share their
knowledge, information and ideas on a given topic. In this system, each
individual of a group depends on the other group members for learning. Such a
type of learning is useful for situations where group output is required. It also
crafts fruitful results while preparing for competitive examinations. Collaborative
learning includes debates, collaborative writings, group projects, study tours and
and the likes. Collaborative learning is also called peer learning.
Research shows that collaborative or peer learning shows better results as two or more individuals share
more information when compared to one. Hence, the learners teach each other by clarifying their doubts.
This system of learning has several advantages. It primarily requires individuals to do self-learning. It
also develops the scope of leadership and self-management. It promotes students’ interaction with
faculty members and increases the comprehension of diverse perspectives. It further prepares an
individual for real life situations and helps him/ her place a valid argument. Collaborative learning is a
concept developed by Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky developed the ‘Zone of Proximal
Development’. Vygotsky said that for every learner, there are tasks, which they may or may not achieve.
The ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ lies between these two areas. The proximal zone identifies the
level in which a learner dwells and his/ her process of maturation. Vygotsky highlighted the role of
learning from others rather than learning with an individual effort.
Cooperative learning is a similar team which has identical objectives. However, it is important to highlight
the differences between the two. Cooperative learning needs the individuals of a group to take care of
specific sections and then coordinate with others. Collaborative learning, on the other hand, needs
mutual engagements of all participants and collaboration. As a result, it can be stated that cooperative
learning is more applicable to school students as the learning is of foundation level. On the other hand,
collaborative learning is more applicable to college or university students, where the learning would be
based on a holistic generation of ideas.
Now, we need to understand the ways to get started with collaborative learning. The first step will be for
some member of the group or a teacher to take the leadership role and create a situation of comfort
among the group members through icebreaking sessions. Then, the group leader should assign the task
and give some time for each member to introspect. It is ideal for the group members to divide their
learning responsibilities and set a deadline. The students could further assign penalties for those
members, who fail to fulfill their responsibilities. Few of the roles are to be assigned for each member
and the same could be shuffled with other members at equal intervals of time. Each member of the
group could further rate the other member’s performance over an evaluation sheet. The ideal system of
collaborative learning is to keep encouraging the group members to continue to be a part of the group.
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