Collaborative Teaching in Math & Science with Technology

Introduction: Technology and Collaborative Teaching

The availability of online technology has made collaborative teaching easier than ever before: teachers can share lesson plans and even co-teach different subjects together across the nation or the globe. For example, mathematics teachers on different sides of the country teaching the difference between the mean and the median could have their students compare the mean and median levels of rainfall in a particular month in their hometowns. This approach demonstrates the real-life applicability of mathematical concepts and gives an important hands-on element to the lesson plan. Technology can facilitate in-house collaborative teaching efforts and also open up students' perspectives to a wider reality of learning.

Three Approaches to Collaborative Teaching

Collaborative teaching traditionally has three approaches, all of which can be adapted to an online format (Flanagan, 2001). With team teaching, two educators plan and present a lesson together. The most straightforward example is a math and science teacher working together to show the application of mathematical concepts to a scientific issue, using the Internet as a source of research. For instance, students could use an online calculator to estimate how many calories they burn and consume during the day; the math teacher could then examine how many additional or fewer calories each student needs based on average height and weight, while the science teacher explains good nutrition from a biological perspective.

The second approach is supportive learning activities, which "reinforce, enrich, or enhance learning for all students" (Flanagan, 2001). An example of this is the weather-tracking scenario mentioned above: teachers conduct their own independent lessons but draw on another class's data to enhance engagement and excitement. Tools such as National Weather Service databases can provide real-time, location-specific data that make cross-classroom comparisons both meaningful and interactive.

A third approach, complementary instruction, is one in which "one educator takes primary responsibility for teaching content material and the other for teaching functional how-to skills so students can successfully understand and acquire the content material. Examples of how-to skills include note-taking, memorization techniques, and locating main ideas and supporting details in passages" (Flanagan, 2001). The other educator then takes responsibility for helping students apply those skills. This model is well suited to collaboration between a more experienced and a more technologically fluent instructor. For example, a veteran teacher might deliver a conventional unit on the Civil War, while a younger, tech-savvy colleague shows students how to use the Internet and other multimedia sources to locate primary sources — such as soldiers' accounts from the battlefield — which complement but do not replace the traditional lecture.

Understanding these three models is important because each places different demands on teachers and students. Team teaching requires the highest degree of joint planning, while complementary instruction allows for a clearer division of roles. Regardless of the approach chosen, technology serves as a common enabler, connecting content, instructors, and learners in ways that traditional single-teacher classrooms cannot replicate.

References

Flanagan, B. (2001, Spring). Collaborative teaching 101. VCLD, 15(2). Retrieved March 11, 2010, from