Post #3: Aha! – Collaborative Learning and Micro-Learning

I found the study of both Collaborative Learning and Micro-Learning to be a very exciting and rewarding experience; and the irony is not lost on me with regards to how this research was completed. Firstly, it was a collaborative effort – my project partner, Peter, and I spoke a number of times on the phone to essentially shed light on each of our particular topics. Peter started by defining micro-learning, and then proceeded to fill me in on both the potential advantages and disadvantages of such an educational style. During Peter’s explanation, I was able to thresh out some of my own ideas of where I’d seen micro-learning before in my field of profession, and how I could start to implement it within my own Construction Electrical cirriculum. In turn, I spoke on my topic of collaborative learning, communicating to Peter the main points of what I had learned in an effort to expand his thoughts on the concept.

This, in a nutshell, was the ‘Aha!’ moment. It came after the research and most of the writing was completed. I thought, “wait, we just collaborated on two different topics within the same subject matter. We also spoke numerous times on the phone for no more than 10 minutes. We micro-learned!” I know for me that I was able to listen to Peter’s first introductions on what his topic was going to be. From that, I could formulate ideas, ‘free-think’, and research on my own for more information. With the second phone call, more depth was added to our subjects. The bullet points of what we were learning about were being shared – another small dose that grew knowledge from the previous lesson. It was during these brief contacts and via email that Peter and I were able to continue to collaborative learn about both our project and our topics of research.