Cooperative Learning Structures

Structures are very specific strategies that can be used to organize interactions between students who are working in cooperative learning teams.

Most structures can be used with almost any academic content, but some structures are better than others for certain tasks. For example, some structures regulate interaction between pairs, some are best for team work, and others involve the entire class. The key is to success with cooperative learning is developing a thorough understanding of which structure is best for a particular group size and instructional purpose.

Dr. Spencer Kagan has developed over 100 structures, but you don’t need to learn them all to use cooperative learning effectively. Most teachers adopt 10 or 15 favorite structures that they use on a regular basis. Each cooperative learning structure, or strategy, consists of very specific steps.

Sample Structure: Numbered Heads Together

1. Number students off from 1 to 4 within their teams.
2. Call out a question or problem. Example: Where do plants get their energy?
3. Students in teams put their heads together to discuss the answer. They must make sure everyone on the team knows the answer.
4. Randomly call a number from 1 to 4. For this step, you can use a spinner, draw numbered craft sticks out of a cup, roll a die, use an online tool, etc.
5. On each team, the student whose number was called writes the answer on the team response board. They may not receive any help from their team at this point! If they didn’t pay attention during the discussion, they need to make their best attempt without help. They place the response board face down when ready.
6. When all teams are ready, ask the designated student to stand and hold up his or her response board to show the answer. Check each team’s answer for accuracy.
7. Repeat with additional questions as time allows.

Ways to Use Numbered Heads Together

• Science – Reviewing for a test, discussing experiment results,
• Math – Solving word problems, reviewing geometric shapes, reviewing terms like prime number, multiple
• Health – Reviewing parts of the body and body systems, discussing the food pyramid, discussing issues related to drugs and violence
• Spelling – Practicing the spellings and definitions of words, creating sentences when given a word
• Reading – Discussing setting, plot, theme, characters of a book; listing character traits of various characters in a book; finding the main idea of articles in Weekly Reader or Scholastic News magazines; reviewing poetic terms (onomatopoeia, alliteration, etc.); finding examples of poetic devices in poems
• Writing – Revising and editing written work samples (place work sample on overhead, students put heads together to discuss specific errors in punctuation, spelling, etc.)
• Grammar – Finding nouns, verbs, etc, in sentences; reviewing common versus proper nouns; plural versus possessive nouns; diagramming sentences
• Social Studies – Learning about the stock market; practicing map skills, answering chapter discussion questions, reviewing for a test
• Primary Grades – Reviewing basic shapes and colors, reviewing initial consonant sounds, working with rhyming words, answering questions about a read-aloud book, deciding when to add or subtract with math word problems, naming a pattern (AB, ABC, ABB, etc.), spelling simple words, discussing the results of an experiment, making up sentences with a given word, reviewing the parts of a plant, discussing the events of the day, talking about the calendar

Technology in language teaching

Technology is transforming education, changing how, when and where students learn, and empowering them at every stage of their journey. 

With technology and access to resources beyond classroom walls, students are inspired to become problem-solvers, critical thinkers, collaborators, and creators.  New, technology-integrated classroom systems have become popular for language learning in the recent years. Blended learning, virtual classrooms, and learning management systems are all examples of this new era of teaching methodology that top pedagogical experts are endorsing.  

Benefits of Technology for Language Learning:

Blended Language Learning Courses

Blended Learning courses combine in-class and online language learning to increase student engagement. In this way, classroom teaching and online training are complementary to each other. The role of the instructor moves from a teacher to a facilitator. Students complete structured, comprehensive eLearning modules that teach them the language then attend classroom discussions where the teacher can focus on class weaknesses rather than simply reciting language rules to the students. Technology makes blended learning a reality and promotes an intuitive language learning methodology that is proven to be successful for language development.

Interactive Language Learning is Crucial

Experts have studied and debated that language learning through input only is not only ineffective but is also not successful at achieving learner language development.  The best way to learn something is through an interactive learning environment created by technological tools and resources. For students learning a language, it‘s key to ‘do’ things with language rather than just learning about language from your teacher. Technology makes it possible for students to interact with their language courses and gather a more complete understanding of all of the language components. Some students feel more comfortable, less embarrassed to make mistakes and learn from them in this interactive, intuitive model.

Real World Problem Solving Made Possible

Most of us have opened a text book and realized how outdated it was; featuring topics that are no longer relevant with pictures and graphics that have long gone out of education style. On the contrast, language learning platforms, especially cloud-based ones, are easily updated on a regular basis.  The course content, material, tools, resources, format, etc., can all be refreshed and re-uploaded onto the cloud to guarantee students always have the most up-to-date content available to them. Simultaneously, they are also interactively learning in a virtual environment that mimics real-world situations they can experience outside of the classroom. For example, Dexway Language Innovation has UK and USA English courses that different and are tailored to the audience in that area of the world.

Encourages Student Collaboration

It’s a common misconception that mixing education and technology individualizes and singles out students in classroom. Students nowadays are extremely technologically adept and experts agree that the use of tech savvy educational methods in classrooms create a collaborative language learning environment where students can live in a world of learner’s autonomy and learn from one another. Via technological platforms, students and instructors can share ideas, documents, host online courses, run training seminars, and give each other honest individual feedback. Technology creates a bridge for a gap in the language learning world by creating a community of like-minded learners with the same language development objectives and interactively connects them to the resources they need to succeed.

Technological advancements have made everything a little better for citizens of the modern age. The educational sector is no exception here; technology has been exponentially beneficial for language learning and development.