Online collaboration and social networking

The incorporation of collaborative learning activities in the classroom can create challenges for both the teachers and the students. Teachers create the activities to engage the students in experiential learning, but collaborative activities are not always successful. Take for instance a ninth grader in a biology class who is informed that she will be working with a group of her peers to examine, observe, and experiment with pill bugs (Armadillidiidae). Each member of the group is asked to bring in fi ve specimens. However, the next day she is the only one to bring in the specimen. The activities based on the specimen include recording, refl ecting, and understanding the pill bugs within a traditional personal journal. This journal is only seen by the student and teacher, thereby removing the collaborative segment of learning. In addition, the lack of pill bug specimens limits the extent to which the group can engage in the course experiment, thereby negating the collaboration, and creates a disconnection between the student and the rest of her group.