Remember those beloved group presentations and projects in school? The feeling of hearing about a group project in class and getting paired with your friends—or meeting someone new?

While group projects seem intimidating for some and exciting for others, they actually serve a greater purpose. Peer learning, or collaborative learning, is gravely beneficial to K-12 learners, helping them become well-rounded students, individuals, and civilians.

What is collaborative learning?

Collaborative learning is a form of active learning. Students collaborate with a group of fellow students and work together towards a common goal. It allows students to exchange thoughts and develop an understanding of the concepts they’re learning in class. When collaboratively learning, students review what they’ve learned and clarify any misconceptions amongst each other-–even if they don’t know it.

The benefits of collaboration in the classroom

Collaborative learning happens in all different shapes and forms. The most common ways we see it are in small group projects, discussion groups, peer reviews, and workshops. Group learning is optional in some settings, like in online schools, but they’re still good fun and a great learning experience for students.

Benefit 1: Development of soft skills

Collaboration in the classroom–whether virtual or in-person–aids social-emotional learning. When students work together, it fosters decision making, problem solving, cooperation, leadership, and confidence. Students also learn accountability and how to establish teamwork. Since group work emulates a workplace environment, students gain the skills future employers are keen about!

Benefit 2: Encourages socialization

Collaborative learning encourages socialization! It creates a low-stress environment and students come out of their shells. If a student is too shy to speak in front of the class or to the instructor, they may be more comfortable in a small group setting.

This learning experience also allows students to develop interpersonal relationships through group work. Additionally, as more minds come together, group members may offer new ideas which may help a student struggling to understand what they’re learning.

Benefit 3: Improves understanding

Students learn and retain information better through active learning. Cooperative learning provides learners an increasingly positive association with schoolwork. Instead of lengthy lectures, or passive learning instruction, learners find new ways to think about their learned material and have fun bouncing ideas off their peers. They get creative and learn more—it’s a win-win.

Benefit 4: Increases student engagement

As students work together, they actively engage in conversations and the material they’re learning! These conversations can take place in the classroom, in discussion forums, in virtual meetings, or anywhere you think of.

Collaborative learning in every classroom

Whether your student is attending school online or in person, you should encourage them to partake in any collaborative learning opportunities available to them.

At Laurel Springs School, the #1 self-paced, mastery-based school in the U.S., students have optional collaborative learning opportunities to engage in such as virtual and in-person events, clubs, iClasses to learn new topics amongst their peers and different instructors, and even 22 Workshops for Academy students where students engage in a lively discussion about their course.

To learn more about how your student can collaborate in an online learning setting, contact an Admissions Counselor today.

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