Collaborative learning must be taught, and the Internet can be a remarkable teaching tool. When educators think about the Internet, they tend to emphasize its usefulness for research, but they overlook its role in collaborative learning. It can encourage students to work together, form partnerships with their community, and use their creativity to communicate with and inform others from around the world. Early on, as a Title I middle school teacher, I saw the impact that shared learning had on my students. Kids who became bored when they were merely working for the teacher and for grades became highly motivated when they could share ideas with their peers.
Kids are naturally social creatures who love to pass notes and talk on the phone.
What some educators dismiss as a lack of concentration can be a powerful learning tool. Teachers and parents have always understood that hanging a child's picture or essay on the wall is pleasurable and motivational for that child. But online communication adds a dramatic new dimension. Publishing your own work on the Web for a global audience is motivational, and therefore educational. When this type of shared learning became available, children began to use more formal language in their writing.