Working in small groups tends to improve learners' language and negotiation skills. In addition, cooperative learning has been shown to enhance self-esteem, improve the quality of peer relationships, help students learn more effectively, and engage students intellectually. Each student contributes his or her own ideas, which the group then consolidates into a plan that is acceptable to all the members. Learners, rather than the teacher, plan and direct, assign tasks, and determine time frames. As a group, they identify when they need support from the teacher and when they are progressing toward their goal.
Positive interdependence is an essential dynamic for successful cooperative activities.
Group members learn to depend upon each other in order to enhance their understanding of what they know and what they are capable of doing. Multiple talents and abilities emerge as students gain multidimensional views of one another. For many classrooms, technology is used to enhance the implementation of cooperative learning. Software titles designed for teachers encourage easy planning and designing of technology-rich cooperative learning exercises. Teachers can group students and provide them access to tools such as video cameras and computers.