Cooperative learning is an instructional strategy encouraged in many learning institutions, and students are often asked to create groups and work together on a common task. The learning environments require participation and cooperation. Therefore, I will use cooperative learning strategy for English Language Learners. The English Language Learners are a group of students with different economic status, first language, and different ethnic background (Cohen & Lotan, 2014). For students who learn a second language, it would be ideal for a teacher to use cooperative learning strategy.

The National Education Association has put resources in place to support the English Language Learners (ELLs). The ELLs students need support, differentiated instructions, and time to achieve their education. Students can learn concepts through cooperative learning since it promotes peer interaction. Therefore, I will assign ELLs to the various teams or groups formed, and students will benefit from English language role models. When ELLs are in small groups, they can express themselves with a lot of confidence. The peers have a great influence on the ELLs; hence the ELLs would be able to observe, learn and solve problems. Cooperative learning for English Language Learners also involves assigning roles to each student in a group or team. For students to perform well, or participate, it is advisable to rotate roles by activity. For example, one of the strategies is a roundtable. It involves an instructor presenting a category of words. The words may begin with the letter “c”, and the instructor will ask students to write one word at a time in turns.

Technology has a vast number of roles to play in the education sector. Therefore, most learning institutions and the government have advocated for the schools to integrate technology into their lessons. The technology that I have chosen is online games. Emphasis has been put to ensure that online games are used in education. Teacher finds it challenging to use online games in implementing and delivering students’ activities. Some of the online games include Portal 2 which is used to demonstrate physics concept. The other is The Assassin’s Creed series and is used to analyze the historical facts and separate them from fiction. However, before I integrate this technology, I need to consider certain factors. One way of integrating technology into the lesson is by identifying an activity. It is the best way to approach an idea using new technology.  Therefore, it is good for the teacher to determine an activity that she/he is currently having and maybe would like to improve on some items. It acts as the starting point and from that point forward, a person can now identify the type of technology to use and which will boost the chosen activity. The second factor to consider is researching my options of technology or tools. For this case, I would reach out to my instructional designer. The designer will help in evaluating the pros and cons of each technological tool. The whole perspective will allow me to make a decision based on my understanding of the technology.

The third factor is to plan ahead and try to identify the scope of implementing the technology. The plan will include the expected date to deliver the technology and ways to deliver. Additionally, I will also plan for presenting the student’s feedback and grading logistics. Lastly, I will try the technology for myself. It is recommended to test the new technology by yourself and ensure it works well. Testing the technology before using it for a live course will allow the user to identify any problem that might arise. In so doing the teacher would be able to minimize the cases of user error and students would be advised on how to use the new tool during lessons.

After selecting the technology that is online games, it is necessary for me to develop a cooperative environment. Cooperative learning moves around mutual dependency between the individuals involved. Therefore, the members of the group will all work together to achieve the same learning objectives. Online games in education are crucial since it motivates students to participate in learning activities. The instructor can also monitor the learning progress of individual students by getting instant feedback created by the gaming environment (Steinkuehler, 2008). Instructors need to consider certain factors before they include game playing in learning.

The instructor should consider the age levels of the students. Similarly, they should also consider the nature and content of the course. Students at different age levels have different preferences for the games to play. For example, students in the primary school would like single-player games. The high school students will have a different taste of their games. They might prefer games with a variety of images and sound effect. Also, they might consider the quality of the software used. Lastly, the college students would like the multiplayer online games. For this case, they can interact with one another.

References

Cohen, E. G., & Lotan, R. A. (2014). Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom Third Edition. Teachers College Press.

Steinkuehler, C. (2008). Massively Multiplayer Online Games as an Educational Technology: An Outline for Research. Educational Technology, 48(1), 10-21.

Do you need an Original High Quality Academic Custom Essay?