Time for reflection in lockdown: The Rise of Cooperative Learning

Although the lockdown period has been busier than usual at Schoolshape due to an increase in online learning, it is also a time for reflection on the last few years. A section of an article https://www.edutopia.org/blog/elephant-in-the-language-classroom-peter-s... in 2014 entitled The Rise of Cooperative Learning came to mind. "Through such structured online interactions, students will grasp the importance of taking responsibility for their own learning and feel empowered to do so, while respecting the opinions and work of online partners. Detractors may cite security issues, cyber bullying, and the superiority of real face-to-face relationships, but network-based collaboration is indeed deemed to provide more equality than face-to-face group work (as discussed by Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec, among others), and the tools required for building the necessary relationships are now well established, secure and student-friendly." At this time, it is nice to reflect on some distinct advantages of online learning!