How to Collaborate with Technology
This wide-ranging conversation with Elliot Soloway, Professor of education, engineering and information at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor was fun. Elliot is a passionate and insightful technologist and researcher who shares how we can collaborate with technology to solve hard problems.
In this episode:
- Moving toward social learning.
- How do you teach students to collaborate effectively?
- How learning analytics will improve teacher effectiveness.
- Collabrify – a suite of tools for classroom collaboration.
Kids, not Computers
“Making kids smarter is more important that making computers smarter.”
That’s the reason that Elliot switched from his research in artificial intelligence to researching how technology can help students learn. Elliot describe some of his decades of research with technology and education.
The value of a Tool
Tools allow us to do things that were previously impossible. Getting technology into the hands of students empowers them to do previously impossible things. When we collaborate with technology we can solve difficult problems.
Welcome to the Web first World
Elliot and I discuss the transition of technology away from software-specific applications to web-first applications. Web first tools are the future of education, Elliot believes. Students in Elliots mobile app development course at the University of Michigan are recognizing the significance of the web-first ecosystem and are developing for the web rather than a specific operating system.
Collaborate with Technology
Elliot explains the progression from web 2.0 (asynchronous posting) and web 3.0 (social learning). The increase in tools that support collaboration with technology and allows us to solve difficult problems. While we know that collaboration is important, it doesn’t always come naturally. Elliot suggest that teachers need to teach and model collaboration for their students before it will lead to increased learning
Be sure to check out the other five episodes of season 1 of the Chromebook Classroom Podcast! If you enjoyed this podcast, give it a rating and review!
