Dr George Jacobs. Pushed Change: Are Students and Teachers Ready? The idea that ‘Change is the only constant’ has never been more true than in 2020, and the rest of the future threatens even an even faster pace of change. This workshop invites examination of major changes being pushed upon the education sector whether we welcome them or not and asks how key education stakeholders should and will react. Three changes on which participants’ thoughts and experiences will be sought involve (a) the rise of distance education, (b) the worsening of climate weirding, and (c) ongoing threats to social cohesion. These changes present dire threats, as well as great opportunities, for education. To briefly preview each of these three changes and their possible impacts on education: (a) Can education reap the benefits of distance education in such areas as greater inclusion, easier access, and enhanced technology use while still delivering quality learning and rigorous assessment? (b) Will the education sector be willing to generate the same level of effort we mounted to face down COVID-19 to respond to an even greater impending calamity, the climate crisis? (c) Can education be a force for community and cooperation when so many people and organisations seem to be prioritising difference and division? Sunway University 12th Annual ESAP Symposium (E) August 15 2020

1. Welcome
to
Workshop F
Dr George M Jacobs
Cooperative Learning & Pushed Change:
With social distancing and lockdowns

2. Cooperative Learning & Pushed Change:
With social distancing and lockdowns
George M Jacobs
george.jacobs@gmail.com
georgejacobs.net

3. Mode
Brainstorming workshop = We surface our concerns, experiences,
questions, ideas
We develop, criticize, tweak, experiment with, and elaborate on
the ideas
We consider ways to share some of our results with others.

4. Agenda
Background by the
facilitator to surface issues
Participants raise other
issues
Form breakout groups

5. What Is Cooperative Learning
Not just students
sitting together or
being together
virtually in the same
breakout room
Students actually
helping each other
learn and helping each
other enjoy learning

6. Potential
Advantages of
Cooperative
Learning
1. Students are more active
2. More individual attention
3. More thinking
4. More motivation
5. Less stress; more support
6. More enjoyment
7. Greater independence
8. More social integration
9. Better cooperation
10. More learning

7. So Many
Difficulties
Achieving
Cooperative
Learning’s
Potential
Benefits
1. Freeloading
2. Takeovers
3. Arguing
4. Off Topic/MIA
5. No space due to social distancing
6. Students lack ICT devices and/or wifi
7. Other online learning problem
8. Loners/Excluded
9. Students lack collaborative skills or technical
skills
10. Ignorance
11. Assessment

8. Looking for Solutions to Difficulties Using CL
• Carousel - https://shelleygrayteaching.com/carousel/ - similar to
Gallery Walk.
• https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED573884.pdf: A time when
colleagues and I used Carousel at an International TESOL conference.
• Each breakout room has 4 members.

9. Task 1 in the Breakout Rooms –
Surface a Difficulty
• Each room surfaces one difficulty with cooperative learning in a regular
class, in a class with social distancing, in a fully online class, or in a blended
learning class.
• I’m especially interested in difficulties resulting from pushed changes.
• The difficulty can be from my list or not.
• Discuss why it is an important difficulty.

10. Task 2 in the Breakout Rooms –
Brainstorm Solutions
• Each group brainstorms solutions to their difficulty.
• Discuss whether each of your solutions is practical in your particular
teaching context. The solutions do not have to work everywhere with any
students.
• One person is chosen at random to chair the room discussion; the chair
writes down the brainstorms.

11. Task 3 in the Breakout Rooms –
Strayers Move to Another Room
• After 5 minutes, the chair and 1 other room member remain (the Stayers)
in their breakout room, and the other 2 members join another room (the
Strayers).
• When the two strayers arrive in the other room, they first listen.
• The two original residents, stayers, of the room explain the difficulty they
chose and their solutions for that difficulty.
• The two strayers give feedback. Would those solutions work? Any other
solutions for that difficulty.
• Please focus only on the original room residents’ (stayers) difficulty.

12. Task 4 in the Breakout Rooms –
Strayers Return and Discuss
• The two strayers return to their original room. The stayers recount the
feedback from the strayers who visited their room.
• The four roommates choose two solutions to their difficulty to share with
all the participants in the main room.

13. Task 5 Back in the Main Room –
Sharing with Everyone
• Everyone leaves their breakout room and returns to the main room.
• The chair of each breakout room uses the chat function to share their
room’s difficulty and the two solutions that they wish to recommend to all
the other participants.
• Q&A
• george.jacobs@gmail.com
• georgejacobs.net

14. Please proceed to the
Keynote Webinar by
Prof. Stephen Hall.
Click into your Link 4 to join!
Please refer to your Confirmation Email or the WhatsApp Group for Link 4.