Course objectives
You already know how important it is for your students to develop the skill of collaboration.
Collaboration in the classroom refers to teaching situations that emphasize group learning. Students in collaboration classrooms are encouraged to think critically, troubleshoot problems, and share feedback. Collaborative classrooms encourage deductive reasoning and collaboration between students and teachers, which are valuable tools to prepare students for careers.
But, do you teach your students about it actively?
Are you already promoting “collaboration” in your classroom?
Do you think your students really understand the importance of this basic skill?
Let´s check out together some of the benefits of teamwork:
- In order to solve problems, it is helpful
What will students do when stuck at work?
Perhaps they have made great progress on their Marketing project and now they have encountered a roadblock that refuses to go away. Their ideas are running out, progress has slowed, and they’re running out of time.
Are they giving up? Of course not! They learned to ask for help or take another perspective. They might set up a brainstorming/whiteboarding session with their team or ask a colleague for their opinion.
Having learned how to collaborate, they can resolve such a problem!
2. People (and organizations) work together more effectively through collaboration
Imagine your students are working in a hotel and they are about to have a big event and things are not going as planned. In this situation, it might be crucial that different departments which are not closely related have to work effectively together.
As a result of the mixed skill set, they will be able to overcome the problem, as it is often necessary to have people with different skill sets and areas of expertise working together.
This team might include hotel managers, catering and facility managers, and perhaps someone from outside the organization.
Three (or four) different teams have been brought together, a common purpose has been established between them, and the connections they have established will be beneficial to all of you in the future.
Briefly, collaboration has allowed them to break down some organizational walls and build stronger connections between departments.
3. People learn from each other when they collaborate
Learning from people with different backgrounds and skill sets is one of the best parts of working collaboratively.
Your students should treat collaborating with team members or even different teams as a learning opportunity.
This means asking for feedback and opinions, sharing knowledge, getting a better sense of how your collaborators work, and learning more about how they approach projects. Taking time to learn from colleagues is not only a benefit of working together, but also a way to create an environment where employees are constantly learning, developing, and growing.
Collaboration not only provides a chance for teams to share mistakes, successes, failures, workflow, and other knowledge—it also allows one team to gain insight into another team’s perspective.
4. It opens up new channels for communication
Business success depends on finding new ways to communicate and share information, which is why collaboration is crucial to create bonds between departments.
Your students may be familiar with tools such as an intranet at their workplace.
The purpose of these channels is to essentially open up your organization so that teams from all departments can communicate with one another and learn what is being done by others through news updates, announcements, events, discussions, etc.
As a result of learning about collaboration, they can utilize a variety of methods to communicate.
5. Students who collaborate are more productive workers
Collaboration is simply more efficient for many types of projects. In case of a complex and demanding project, your students have to be willing to admit that they will need help. It’ll take a team effort. That’s where collaboration comes in. By working collaboratively, we are able to divide up a heavy load, come up with creative solutions to tough problems, and gain a better sense of the big picture.
When a classroom is collaborative it can help your students become comfortable with a collaborative work style, thereby helping your students to work efficiently in their work life.