Managing Group Learning with 3-5 Computers

Expected result (goal):
This is an effective rotational grouping scheme for students when they do project based lessons involving technology. It is recommended for use when there are at least 3 - 5 Internet accessible computers in the classroom, but may be adapted to other configurations. It requires students to be organized into cooperative or collaborative learning groups who are responsible for pacing themselves while completing all components of the lesson. 

(Read more about Cooperative and Collaborative Learning)

Area of concern: 
Management Strategy - Group and Rotation Patterns
Instructional Strategy - Managing Cooperative / Collaborative Learning Groups, 

Grade levels:
3 to 5, 6 to 8, 9 to 12

Location:
Classroom, School Computer Lab, Computer Lab shared by small group of teachers, Grade Level Computer Lab

Procedure: 
Pre-Lesson Organization: Choose a lesson or group of activities that can be successfully done by small groups of children utilizing a computer and other class materials. The lesson should have several varied activities, including an Internet component, and be written with clear directions so students may work interdependently and monitor themselves. (Read about Traditional vs. Cooperative Learning Groups.) In order to institute a group classroom management system to insure that everyone has equal access to the materials and computers needed to complete the activities, divide the class into groups with one group assigned to each computer that is available within the classroom. These groups will be responsible for completing all aspects of the lesson and for pacing themselves to finish within the time allotted. Each group will follow the directions and complete all activities with minimum guidance from the teacher. They will maintain a daily work journal and also rate themselves on the way they interacted and functioned as a group. The teacher will give them a rating on their journal and their group behavior using rubrics. 

Careful thought should be given to the make-up of the groups to ensure that they will be able to work well together and have all the necessary skills to do the lesson requirements as an interdependent team. 

(Read about how to purposefully group students in Homogeneous or heterogeneous groups? or you can do random grouping.

Lesson Introduction:

  1. Explain the lesson goals to the students and model appropriate outcomes or products, if desired. 
  2. Review any computer or safely concerns with them and pre-determine the time to be allotted for the lesson before allowing them to begin. 
  3. Announce the members of each group and instruct them on the procedures and jobs that they will be responsible for each day: 
    • One person in the group will be the recorder each day and keep track of who is doing each task in a short daily work journal entry and note the progress made as the components of the lesson are completed. 
    • Each day, another person, or team of persons, will be in charge of accessing the computer for directions and information to share with the group. 
    • Someone else will be in charge of obtaining reference books, lab or art equipment, writing or other materials for the group and putting them away.
    • And, another will be monitoring the group for on-task behavior, sound levels, and safety procedures each day. 
    • Jobs in each group will be rotated according to a planned schedule.
  4. Each group will have a master folder to keep all relevant materials beside the computer or in another special location within the classroom so that it is always there if someone is absent.
  5. At the end of the lesson, each individual in the group will be required to "privately" give the group a grade using a rubric. The teacher will use the same rubric to evaluate the group and another to grade the daily group work journals.
You may see some examples here of how to assign student duties and also sample rubrics for assessing both group behavior and work journals:
Cultural or linguistic aspects: 
This strategy would be helpful in bringing various students together to learn to work interdependently for a common goal. This will benefit them by teaching them to cooperate and communicate with one another and be tolerant of others' ideas. Students of different ethnicity, race, and / or gender can learn to interact appropriately in this manner. They will be able to help each other with reading and understanding directions, writing responses and reports, making graphs, doing artwork, designing presentations and displays, calculating math problems, completing science lab activities, or using the computers. Variations in native languages, talents, experiences, and backgrounds between the students in the group will actually be an advantage in discussions and in giving the "group" a broader insight into different situations. Working together should help give each child an appreciation for the relative strengths of the other individuals in the group.

Implementation & Frequency:
Use daily until lesson is completed whenever working on group projects.

Student progress is measured by: 

  1. The students will be monitored on the performance tasks and assessments set up in the actual lesson that is completed by the group and, also, on the way they carry out their tasks as a group using the Rubric for Group Dynamics. 
  2. The teacher should make periodic checks of the group's journal and discuss, check, and/or collect the products and assignments required in the lesson in a timely manner. (See the Rubric for Group Work Journals)
  3. Interim progress conferences should be held between the teacher and the members of each group from time to time - either scheduled or unannounced - to check for understanding and/or time management. 
  4. Whole group discussions should be used to facilitate exchange of ideas and information between all members of the class periodically. 
  5. Demonstrations or presentations by each group to the rest of the class can be used as culminating events.
The teacher should always monitor the classroom atmosphere carefully each day to assure that learning is occurring and to avoid conflicts and problems before they arise.
(Read about how to recognize, improve, and evaluate Teamwork and Social Skills and Group Dynamics by promoting Positive Interdependence.)

Suggested parent/caregiver activities:
There is no actual requirement for parents or caregivers, but they should be aware of the classroom activities and invited to view all online lessons and project descriptions. They may be a source of materials or information to be used in the projects. They should be asked to monitor activities for students who can't come to class due to illness, etc. 

If online discussions or emails are an available option, then they could be used to post group information and discussions for others to see.

In general, parents or whomever is available at "home" should be encouraged to become informed about and involved with what is going on at school. 

(If you are interested in learning more about the importance of involving parents and / or caregivers, read this Toward Improving Home Involvement in Schooling from School Mental Health Projects at UCLA.)

Characteristics of students who would benefit from this strategy:
All students can benefit from this strategy in the areas of developing effective communication, learning tolerance of others, becoming self-paced and self-motivated learners, and recognizing how to solve problems cooperatively. For students who are either exceptionally strong or weak in a particular area, careful placement of those children within the groups may allow them to get or give peer help. Students who are especially proficient at using computers can teach others.

(For more information, please read Accounting for Cultural, Racial, and Other Significant Individual and Group Differences from School Mental Health Projects at UCLA.)

Resources required to implement this strategy:
The resources needed are a well written lesson (in any subject area) with multiple activities for the students to share the work, a detailed rotational schedule, a folder or journal for keeping notes, and assessment instruments for evaluating group dynamics and group journals. The lesson should have its own built in assessment(s) of content to evaluate understanding of the concepts being taught. 

Some sources of student lessons and projects (will open in a new window):

Alternate grouping idea:

If limited classroom resources and reference materials are a concern, consider forming several "expert" groups that each meet to research one aspect of a given topic using shared resources. Then have these "experts" regroup so that there is now one of them in each of several general "mixed" groups. Make sure that each mixed group has one of each type of "expert". Each one will then be responsible for teaching the others all about the topics he/she researched until each member of the general group has obtained the "whole picture". The group may then utilize the information they have learned to compile some sort of timeline, written report, media or oral presentation or other creative product. This technique is sometimes called the "jigsaw technique" and you can learn more about it in Jigsaw in 10 Easy Steps.

Another resource for teachers to learn more about implementing various grouping strategies is:


Additional comments regarding this strategy:
Any student not able to work cooperatively with his or her group should be removed and given an alternative individual assignment and then given another chance later on to work with the group, either on that lesson or another one.

Repeated problems may require finding a compatible group for the student or using a different learning technique for that particular student

This works best for classes of 20 - 25 students with at least 4 - 5 classroom computers so that no group is larger than 6 if possible. See the Sample Duty Rotation Charts.

You may learn more about the "jigsaw technique" at this site: Tips on Implementation.)

Adaptations of this strategy:

It can be adapted for 3 computers and/or larger classes. The whole class can be first divided into two halves and each one then subdivided into groups assigned to each of the computers in the room. Half of the class (one set of computer users) would work on the computers one day and the other half would work on the next day and continue alternating. This would require that lessons have off line components or that the teacher assigns some other lessons and activities to be done within the classroom each day for those groups who were not able to use the computers. 

For example: If there are thirty students and only 3 computers, then 15 of the students could be divided into 3 groups of 5 to work on Mondays and Wednesdays and the other 15 could be grouped the same way and work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fridays could be used for whole group interaction and discussions and/or make-up work on the computers.

Another scenario would be to have partners work as a pair in each job capacity so that larger groups could be accommodated, but this might require more tasks to  keep everyone engaged productively.

Source of this strategy:
This strategy was developed and classroom "tested" by Susan E. Alkire, science teacher at Romney Middle School, Romney, West Virginia.

Please notify me by e-mail salkire@access.k12.wv.us) if you use this strategy and give me feedback on how it worked for you.

Look here for some examples and photos of this strategy being utilized.