The Answer

I had some good comments on my last post about collaboration, but they did not fully address my deepest question: "Why do it?" I believe in collaboration but did not feel that I could explain its importance very well. So I asked on Twitter for a response to that philosophical question. Here is the one response:

susan artkras said...
Collaborate to express your ideas to an authentic audience because sometimes you don't know what you're thinking until you share it with others.

Collaborate to have your thinking challenged or validated which might promote open-mindedness.

Collaborate to listen to others' thinking so you understand other people's perspective and the reasoning for it.

Collaborate to share our strengths, talents, gifts and so that other people's strengths etc. compliment our own and even fill in for our weaknesses.

Collaborate for the pure experience of the trials and tribulations of living in a society that demands collective survival.

Collaborate so we are a part of the human experience, learning how to communicate verbally and non-verbally.

Collaborate for the support, kind words of encouragement, an extra set of hands, ears or eyes, and collaborate even for the competitive challenge.

Collaborate to realize that my story and your story have much in common. That we are alike and we are different, and that either way it's okay.

Collaborate because some tasks are too big for one person to handle alone.

Enough said. Who can argue about the value of these things in any class?