Collaborative Learning

Comparing Traditional Teaching And Student Centered, Collaborative Learning*
A teacher centered environment	A student centered environment
The teacher is in control.	Students are in control of their own learning.
Power and responsibility are primarily teacher centered.	Power and responsibility are primarily student centered.
The teacher is the instructor  and decision maker.	The teacher is a facilitator and guide. The students are the decision makers.
The learning experience is often competitive in nature. The competition is usually between students. Students resent others using their ideas.	Learning may be co-operative, collaborative or independent. Students work together to reach a common goal. Students willingly help each other sharing/exchanging skills and ideas.  Students compete with their own previous performance, not against peers.
Series of smaller teacher defined tasks organized within separate subject disciplines.	Authentic, interdisciplinary projects and problems.
Learning takes place in the classroom.	Learning extends beyond the classroom.
The content is most important.	The way information is processed and used is most important.
Students master knowledge through drill and practice.	Students evaluate, make decisions and are responsible for their own learning. Students master knowledge by constructing it.
Content is not necessarily learned in context.	Content is learned in a relevant context.
*From http://www.enhancelearning.ca