In a traditional classroom, each student sits alone at their own desk and an instructor lectures and teaches from the front of the room. While in certain circumstances this can be an effective teaching style that children can benefit from, there are far more teaching and learning styles that you can implement in the classroom if you want to turn it into a more effective learning environment. Collaborative learning, for example, teaches more than just the course material, allowing students to learn how to work together effectively while reinforcing classroom material for a power-packed approach to learning in the classroom.
What collaborative learning essentially comes down to is group learning and learning where the students work together in pairs, small groups or large groups, striving to teach not only the material in the lesson, but also concepts of team work, group work, working together, and even themes of tolerance. There are many benefits associated with collaborative learning, so much so that this is becoming one of the most popular forms of teaching in many classrooms. It often leaves students up to their own devices, allowing groups of students to come up with the best course of action for solving a problem or addressing the material, and so you can come up with some pretty interesting interpretations of the classroom material in the process.
If you are teaching in a classroom where learning styles are very different, grouping students together for projects for a collaborative learning approach is often going to prove to be the best course of action.
