So how important is collaboration in the classroom and how does technology such as the interactive flat screen and the tablet enable collaboration?

The Ability To Collaborate In The Classroom Is Essential

Anyone who has hunted for a job will recognise the condition, ‘must be able to work as part of a team’ in the skills and requirements area of the job details. It would be no exaggeration to say that over 90% of jobs have this requirement. The ability to collaborate is essential for anyone entering the work force, which makes it essential in the classroom too.

New Collaboration Possibilities With Interactive Technology

The tablet and the touch monitor have opened up exciting new possibilities for collaboration in the classroom. Pupils can collaborate with each other through the use of tablets or iPads but can also collaborate with the teacher, who can mirror information on the interactive touch screen onto their devices. But here’s the really exciting part: pupils can now collaborate with pupils from other schools in practically any area of the globe, through the internet. This will add fun to the learning process. Pupils can learn about other cultures, not through a school book but first hand by working with pupils from around the world. It will also give them an enhanced sense of their own culture and background.

Collaboration At Home

Another possibility opened up by the new technology is collaboration at home. Traditionally, homework is the hardest part of education, especially at primary and secondary level. Simply put, it’s a drag. Homework won’t ever be the same again when pupils can collaborate with the teacher and each other at home. It will take the burden of homework away and replace it with fun and excitement.

Organic Solidarity From Collaboration

The importance of collaboration has long been recognised in the classroom. Everyone will know the experience of being separated into groups of three or four or more to work on a problem. So why is collaboration so important? For an answer we might look to the great sociologist Emile Durkheim. According to Durkheim we live in a society defined by ‘organic solidarity’. This means a society in which we are all interconnected and increasingly so. Society depends on this interconnectedness. Traditional society is more ‘mechanical’, which means people tended to be more self-sufficient in their occupations. Modern society is one big web of interconnectedness – a giant exercise in teamwork and collaboration.

This interconnectedness is increasing with the advent of Information Technology so it is important to ready the pupils and students of our schools for this growing, organic society and the best way to do this is by exercises in collaboration through tablets, iPads or interactive touch screens like Clevertouch.

Education Is The Key To The Future

We have seen how the touch screen panel and the tablet offer exciting new possibilities for collaboration. The old pedagogical model of education is being replaced. Things are moving fast and it’s hard to see exactly where we are going to but increasing connectedness in the classroom and between classrooms can’t be other than a good thing. Education is the key to the future and hopefully tomorrow’s workers will collaboratively improve on what we have today.

To find out about our range of interactive touch screens and how they can be used for collaboration in the classroom give us a call now on +353 1 466 0515 or contact us online.