method teaching
A teaching method comprises the principles and methods used for instruction to be implemented by teachers to achieve the desired learning of students. These strategies are determined partly on subject matter to be taught and partly by the nature of the learner.

What are cooperative and collaborative learning?

Collaborative learning is a method of teaching and learning in which students team together to explore a significant question or create a meaningful project. A group of students discussing a lecture or students from different schools working together over the Internet on a shared assignment are both examples of collaborative learning.

Cooperative learning, which will be the primary focus of this workshop, is a specific kind of collaborative learning. In cooperative learning, students work together in small groups on a structured activity. They are individually accountable for their work, and the work of the group as a whole is also assessed. Cooperative groups work face-to-face and learn to work as a team.

In small groups, students can share strengths and also develop their weaker skills. They develop their interpersonal skills. They learn to deal with conflict. When cooperative groups are guided by clear objectives, students engage in numerous activities that improve their understanding of subjects explored.

In order to create an environment in which cooperative learning can take place, three things are necessary. First, students need to feel safe, but also challenged. Second, groups need to be small enough that everyone can contribute. Third, the task students work together on must be clearly defined. The cooperative and collaborative learning techniques presented here should help make this possible for teachers.

Also, in cooperative learning small groups provide a place where:

• learners actively participate;
• teachers become learners at times, and learners sometimes teach;
• respect is given to every member;
• projects and questions interest and challenge students;
• diversity is celebrated, and all contributions are valued;
• students learn skills for resolving conflicts when they arise;
• members draw upon their past experience and knowledge;
• goals are clearly identified and used as a guide;
• research tools such as Internet access are made available;
• students are invested in their own learning.

E-learning

E-learning as we know it has been around for ten years or so. During that time, it has emerged from being a radical idea—the effectiveness of which was yet to be proven—to something that is widely regarded as mainstream. It's the core to numerous business plans and a service offered by most colleges and universities.
E-learning is a technological infrastructure with applications and software that manage courses and users. The software that facilitates e-learning may be called a Learning Management System (LMS) and supports course creation, content delivery, user registration, monitoring, and certification. The E-Learning (R)Evolution Gonella and Panto (2008), in their paper on didactic architectures, have traced the following four stages in the evolution of e-learning: 1. Web-based Training 2. E-learning 1.0 3. Online Education 4. E-learning 2.0 Gonella and Panto's discussion of those four stages is outlined below. Web-based Training Web-based training emerged in the 1990s in business. It was based on the “online distribution of autonomously used learning materials.” The emphasis was on “training” rather than on education or learning. The contents were mainly multimedia pages, which users would consult for information. With these web-based training systems, it was not possible to track the use of learning materials.


E-learning 1.0

The web-based training model evolved into the e-learning architecture, which can be referred to as “E-learning 1.0”. E-learning uses and LMS to create, design, and manage courses, as well as supporting content delivery, user registration, monitoring, and certification. The focus of the system is on content and learning objects, with less consideration for the learning process. There is not much scope for communication and collaboration. Even though tools for collaboration are available, their application in learning is negligible. Online Education Earlier learning infrastructures had little or no provision for interaction. In the late 1990s, educators began emphasizing the active role of students in the learning process. Collaboration and communication tools assumed greater importance and teachers and students began using simple technologies such as mailing lists and newsgroups for interaction. Later, more sophisticated tools like conferencing systems were introduced. Learning consisted not only of materials delivered by the teacher but also of interactions and discussions among students, making learning a social process. E-learning 2.0 The learning process is transformed when courses are interactive. User (student) contribution is not limited to newsgroups and mailing lists. “Social software” has revolutionized online learning. Web 2.0 has given birth to e-learning 2.0. The influence of new practices on the Web has resulted in a new array of services, which can be collectively termed “E-learning 2.0”. E-Learning 2.0 Defined Gonella and Panto (2008) present the following definition: e-learning 2.0 refers to a second phase of e-learning based on Web 2.0 and emerging trends in e-learning. …The term suggests that the traditional model of e-learning as a type of content, produced by publishers, organized and structured into courses, and consumed by students, is reversed; so that content is used rather than read and is more likely to be produced by students than courseware authors.

Web 2.0: The Agent of Change
The Web has undergone a metamorphosis, bringing radical changes in the information industry. “Collaboration” is the hallmark of Web 2.0. Here are some notable changes that have occurred on the Web over the past few years, as observed by Downes (2005). These may also be perceived as the characteristics of

Web 2.0. “Read-Only Web” to “Read-Write Web”

 A few years ago, the practice was that “hundreds would publish and millions would read.” The Web was more “readable” than “writable.” There was no or little scope for “ordinary” user to write on the web. Web 2.0 has made it a “Read-Write Web,” with as many writers as readers. Web 2.0 has provided a democratic publishing space.

Web of Documents to Web of Data

The Web was previously a repository of static documents. Now, it is more dynamic with new data being added constantly. With the new set of tools, people syndicate and remix existing content in new and useful ways. It is not the documents but the data which rules Web 2.0.