The Timeless project aims at enhancing the professional development of adult educators working with older adults through new training opportunities. This enables EFL learning materials based on cultural heritage in collaboration with adult learners. Timeless project raises appreciation of local and common European heritage, increases cultural awareness, fosters intercultural dialogue through interpretation of common European patrimony in the context of non-formal and informal adult education of foreign languages. This presentation forms part of the module how to understand and operationalize collaborative learning and can be found at https://www.eutimeless.info/en/course

1. MODULE 2
How to understand and
operationalize
collaborative learning

2. Consortium
"The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."

3. This module is about
collaborative as well
as co-operative
learning and teaching
"The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."

4. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
Co-creation or co-construction contained in collaborative learning
seem to be highly legitimate learning processes since there is no
social inclusion without interaction and cooperation. Collaborative
learning has been widely spread teaching/learning strategy over the
last two decades.

5. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
Concepts related to collaborative learning are numerous: social
interdependence, socio-cultural environment, cognitive
development, social skills, learning skills, group dynamics,
learning, individualistic learning, transformative learning, etc.

6. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
Main concepts and terminology
Co-operative/collaborative learning, interdependence, trust, task
distribution, interaction, communication, individualistic learning, socio-
cultural environment, group dynamics, team work.

7. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
Collaborative learning
Collaborative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which
teams, with learners of different levels of ability, learn together and
from each other. Collaborative learning is characterized by positive
interdependence, where students perceive that better performance
by individuals produces better performance by the entire group
(Johnson, et al., 2014). It often involves specific teacher intervention
to maximize learners’ interaction and learning.

8. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
The learning processes enable members of the learning group to learn about:
(1) How to understand new concepts
(2) How to achieve goal and resources, inter-dependence;
(3) How to work in a most diverse team;
(4) How to help each other towards jointly achieving a set of pre-agreed
academic and other goals;
(5) How to distribute and accomplish the assigned tasks;
(6) How to observe and handle relationships in most diverse groups of
(7) How to prepare public presentation of the learning results.

9. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
There is no social inclusion without co-operation. The concept is
related to creating a consensus building through collaboration of
group members.
Collaborative learning is a set of processes stimulating learners’
interaction. All members of the learning group are responsible for
the results of their learning.

10. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
The collaboration based learning-teaching environment
(1) provides for cooperation
(2) supports permanent learning
(3) triggers intrinsic motivation for learning
(4) provides opportunities for each learner to be successful
(5) contributes to the development of social and individual
skills, but it also
(6) contributes to
(7) causes worry as it requires learners to be successful at all
stages

11. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
Collaborative/cooperative learning exists when students work
together to accomplish shared learning goals (Johnson & Johnson,
1999). “Each student can then achieve his or her learning goal if and
only if the other group members achieve theirs.” (Deutsch, 1962).
Learners engaged in collaborative learning group may increase their
self-esteem, may have more efficient social skills, fewer stereotypes
about individuals and groups, and may develop greater
comprehension of the content and skills they are studying.
Community development, etc.

12. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
The teacher’s role
More direct collaborative learning methods consist of well-defined procedures that teachers
are supposed to follow in an exact, lock-step way.
(1) Learners learn in small (from 2-6) and most heterogenous groups (according to their
academic abilities, age, gender , etc.)
(2) Teachers should begin planning by describing precisely what students are expected to
learn and be able to do on their own well beyond the end of the group task and module
(3) Teachers use simple language and should clearly describe the specific knowledge and
abilities students are to acquire and then demonstrate on their own. Clear instructions are
needed as to know what learners are to do, in what order, with what materials, and, when
appropriate, what students are to generate as evidence of their mastery of targeted content
and skills

13. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
The teacher’s role
(4) To work together as a group, learners need to engage in interactive abilities as
leadership, trust-building, conflict-management, constructive criticism,
encouragement
(5) Each student and group should have enough time to learn the targeted
information
(6) Each learner must be held individually responsible for doing their own share of
work
(7) Students reflect upon how they worked together

14. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
Collaborative teaching/learning methods
Collaborative methods are of two types, some are direct and therefore easy to
learn, others are more conceptual and once mastered can be adapted to
different learning areas, become internalized and routinely used.
Collaborative learning is compared with competitive or individualistic learning
What is competition? It means that the participants work alone or with a
minimum of interaction and rewards are given from best to worst.
efforts were defined as the lack of social interdependence between
Participants worked alone or with a minimum of interaction and rewards were
given according to set criteria.

15. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES
Family, identity, tradition, customs, habits, relationships are all part of intangible
cultural heritage, etc.
• Our family mat
Learners go into groups of four.
They write about their family each in one corner of the mat.
A group psychologist observes the group dynamics.
The mat is presented to other groups.
• 18 summers

16. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
18 summers
The teacher presents his/her own family as it was in the times when he/she turned 18.The
teacher has to clearly describe the end product of the learners’ cooperative learning. This has
be well understood therefore he may provide his/her own example. This interactive exercise is
devoted to describing the family background answering questions:
(1) In what kind of family were you brought up? (a middle-class family, a family of intellectuals,
working-class family engaged in communist movement, etc.
(2) What was your father like, your mother like, your attachment to your parents)ž
(3) Who were members of your family?
(4) Did you live in a town or a smaller settlement?
(5) Describe your house/flat.
(6) What were you doing at the age of 18?
(7) What did you hope for?
Learners can agree upon additional question

17. "The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."
Check your understanding
Read the following statements and tell if they are TRUE OR FALSE:
(1) Collaborative learning has a number of advantages over individualistic
learning.
(2) Collaborative learning has to be time limited.
(3) For applying collaborative learning it is obligatory to understand the
related concepts.
(4) The teacher has to provide for an example of what he requires learners to
do.

18. CONTACT US
at eutimeless@gmail.com
"The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only
of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."