Collaboration

Howard Rheingold (Rheingold, 2005) expresses that humans have a basic instinct to interact. I believe this to be true. We live in communities, attend schools and places of worship, where there are other people to communicate with. It is important for students to learn independently and create their own opinions or theories about what they've learned. Yet they need to be able to interact with others to benefit from various perspectives. They need to be able to share and seek the advice of others to verify that their thoughts are following the correct path. A prime example of this is Wikipedia that was created by Jimmy Wales (Wales, 2005). Howard Rheingold discusses this "radical idea" as an example of people who want and need to collaborate.

 
 

Rheingold gave an explanation about collective action, were people participate in activities that enrich others and benefit themselves. Initiatives to get people to vote, or raise money for a worthy cause, are additional examples of people having that basic instinct to work for a cause collaboratively.

 

Rheingold, H. (2005, July). Howard Rheingold on collaboration. Retrieved April 12, 2010, from TED Ideas worth spreading: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/howard_rheingold_on_collaboration.html

Wales, J. (2005, July). Jimmy Wales on the Birth of Wikipedia. Retrieved April 12, 2010, from TED Ideas worth spreading: http://www.ted.com/talks/jimmy_wales_on_the_birth_of_wikipedia.html

 

Interesting Blogs:
Collaboration:Latest MetLife Survey Confirms the Power of Teacher Collaboration
="http://teachingquality.typepad.com/building_the_profession/2010/02/latest-metlife-survey-confirms-the-power-of-teacher-collaboration.html">
Archive for the ‘constructivism’ Category
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