Two "P"s in Collaboration

Collaboration is an essential element in designing a powerful learning environment for schools. When designed properly, a collaborative network will cultivate relationships that thrive on the exchange and formation of knowledge. An effective platform will provide students and teachers the opportunity to reflect, discuss, agree, debate and challenge their existing knowledge. How is collaboration designed? P U R P O S E Purpose can guide decision making. It is the motivation to improve. It is why you take action. It gives meaning to your actions. Collaboration will not exist without a meaningful purpose. When students are involved in academic goal setting they take ownership of their education. Standards based goal setting gives students and teachers a clear picture of where they currently stand and where they need to be. Once they understand what needs to be learned, the standards and goals have meaning. It gives them a purpose. P L A T F O R M Collaboration occurs through communication. The proper platform will allow individuals or groups to interact. Whether it is a face-to-face conversation or an online application, there needs to be a vehicle for collaboration to occur. It is important to choose an application that will allow students and teachers to build a strong personal learning network of users that will work together to collectively increase their knowledge. This way you can build a learning community where knowledge grows exponentially.