Lesson Plan

Posted: August 7th, 2013

Lesson Plan

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The transition from a lesson plan with an individual based technology to one that uses cooperative technology necessitates the creation of an atmosphere of participation. One of the ways to ensure that students are encouraged to participate in cooperative works is by fostering interpersonal relationships amongst the learners (Farmer, 1999). According to Lesley Farmer, this is by introducing pairs or groups into the learning. In the implemented lesson plan, the pairs and grouped can be applied when teaching the technology connection. In this section, the teacher can create groups of five where the groups can read out loudly Word Wizard. In order to ensure that the group members participate in the group activity, the teacher can ask the students to play icebreaking games that will build on the interpersonal relationships. After this, the students can then read the book in turns.

Group processing in cooperative learning is expressed when the teacher assigns cooperate tasks. These tasks aim at instilling particular skills in the learners. The skills are learnt when the tasks engage the learners in building a sense of cohesion in the group (Farmer, 1999). This can apply during technology connection. Instead of the teachers assigning an independent practice, they can group the learners. The groups carry out the task of manipulating the three letters and coming up with different words. The group should select a leader to coordinate the activity and group members communicate to the feedback to the leader.

Teachers can ensure that the learning process is successful by probing feedback from the students. The teacher facilitates this with the use of questions. Questions asked to individual group members give opportunity for assessment. The teacher then identifies the weaknesses of the students and uses the group dynamic to reinforce a lesson that is not well articulated.

Adapting the lesson plan experienced challenges because of its individual-student nature. The technology that was used initially was student oriented while the implementation needed a group-orientated approach. The challenge occurred in particular activities that were aimed at developing the spelling and reading skills of individual students. In the initial lesson plan, the students were to each spell out words with the three letters. The implementation of the lesson plan in the cooperative set up introduced groups. The groups did not allow teachers to monitor individual students due to group dynamics like teamwork that required the members to come up with answers as a team.

The changes made to the lesson plan will improve the success of learning process. This is because cooperative technology increases opportunities of peer education. Students are likely to learn more from their peers than from their teachers (Farmer, 1999). This is because of students are open with each other and weaknesses can easily be expressed.

In cooperative learning, students are more motivated to learn. This is due to the influence of peer learning. In cooperative learning, a dependency forms among the students motivating them to work harder (Farmer, 1999). In the individual approach, the learner receives full attention from the teachers and this enables them to monitor the student’s progress. A challenge that is experienced in cooperate learning is coordination of the groups. Delegation may not always be efficient and the group leaders may at times ignore needs of some members. The individual approach is time consuming.

Reference List

Farmer, L. S. J. (1999). Cooperative Learning Activities in the Library Media Center. Second Edition. Libraries Unlimited, P.O. Box 6633, Englewood, CO 80155-6633; Tel: 800-237-6124 (Toll-Free) ($28.50; $34 outside North America.

Lesson plan retrieved from: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/117724097/Technology-Connected-Lesson-Plan