The Student as the Expert
Grade K-12
Big Idea
To create a collaborative learning environment, encourage the students to be recognized as an expert at a particular task. Once recognized as an expert, this student will be available to work with their peers and assist them in becoming proficient at that same skill. The teacher takes the role as the coach/guide and the students are the expert on different tasks.
Directions
This activity is used in a Technology Class but can be easily transerred to other content areas.
- Students are working on a project (Creating an animation, making a web page, writing a document using a word processing program, etc.)
- After they have has time to familiarize themselves with the program ask them to describe a process that they have figured out that is the: most important part of using the program that they have found; most interesting thing that they have figured out how to do; coolest shortcut that they have figured out how to use; or, the most important mistake they made and how they got past it/how to avoid it in the future.
- As students identify a process or particular skill that they are good at, have the student demonstrate that skill, like the girls do at the beginning of this video: https://www.youtube.com/embed/J1wh2E7t5OY
- Create a chart that lists the experts' skills and the names associated with that skill. In the case of a technology class, this might be an online resource that the students could link to either on Google Classroom or Schoology. The list would be specific to the class and that group of students. Using a discussion or blog in Schoology would permit students to declare their expertise and explain its uses to the class.
- Encourage students to categorize the skills into the applications where they might be used and add those annotations to the list.
- A compiled list, not in a discussion, organized in an organized fashion would be beneficial, once the list begins to grow.
When to use this method
This method can be utilized continually.
- In a technology class, you may have students identified as experts at getting logged into the computers and getting the day started (we always start with an online goal setting activity and dive into typing activities.) Any time there is a new student, one of these experts may need to jump in and guide the new friend as they get started.
- Students are working on a project and cannot figure out how to find the work they just saved. Call in the expert to save the day! The student can locate an expert in the room, and ask for assistance it saving their work where they can find it. Since this is a common problem and a multi step process it may take a few times of doing it right to master. Once mastered, the process is almost identical when ever any project is saved using most applications. This expert may find himself out of work after a while.
- Students will decide on their own when they need to seek help, and there will be an easily accessible list of experts that any student can access. Students may seek the guidance of the teacher on how to use the list and how to approach the experts, if they are not yet comfortable with asking other students, but ideally after a couple of requests the students will interact directly with each other. A student may decide that being the intermediary or coach is their expertise and the teacher may be cut out of this part of the process.
Kids Are the Experts! Making Learning Visible in Boston Public Schools
Variations
- Use a list of student "jobs" and have the students perform these tasks, either for credit, preferred activity time or just to be part of the community.
- Have a set of meaningful tasks or responsibilities that the students can rotate through and be responsible for. Have the tasks range from setting up stations for the days activities, to cleaning up after.
- Have the students create a lesson that they share via some form of media: a worksheet; a game; or an instructional video, like this.