Diversity and Collaboration

One of the issues I encounter most frequently in standards for learning - whether in AASL Standards for 21st Century Learners, Common Core State Standards, or NETS for Students - is the issue of collaboration. "Collaboration" crops up constantly everywhere from research studies to corporate meetings, and it can be considered one of the buzzwords of the 21st century. But people seem to be vague about what it actually means. Is it assigning each student in the team separate tasks and piecing together the result? Is it asking your neighbor how she/he solved the problem and why they did it that way? Is it incorporating multiple ideas from students into the finished product?

The aim of enforcing standards about collaboration seems to be not only to teach social skills about cooperation and compromise, but to encourage students to consider the viewpoints and opinions of others. AASL spells it out in Learning Standard 2.1.5: "Collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make decisions, and solve problems." But collaboration can become limited by those you collaborate with. In situations where a small number of students are frequently grouped together - such as ESL students or Advanced Placement students - the students come to know each other fairly well, to the point where they may become able to predict how a discussion or project is going to go as soon as they are grouped together. Another concern is the general makeup of the student population. I attended very liberal schools growing up, and it was difficult to even find a conservative or Republican student to provide another point of view, let alone someone who was well-informed and willing to debate. My cousins grew up in a small town in Michigan that had very few minority students to provide alternate viewpoints, and the political landscape was again very one-sided. What happens when the very act of collaboration does not achieve part of its purpose - to "solicit and respect diverse perspectives" (Standard 3.3.1)?

This is where educational technology can shine. By connecting students with others across the country and the world, online collaboration is uniquely suited to introduce students to perspectives they would never encounter in their daily lives. Sites like ProCon.org offer a range of well-researched stances about current issues for students to consider, and others like Scitable put students in contact with others who may have different takes on what they are learning. People in general tend to only search for information that supports their views, and that is what collaboration is intended to combat in these standards. Technology is invaluable to this cause, giving students firsthand experience with defending their ideas or considering others that may be radically different.