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Social Learning and Collaboration in School: Learning to thrive through play

Understand how children play to learn, and harness that power to develop their social and collaboration skills in your classroom.

8,543 enrolled on this course

  • Duration

    3 weeks
  • Weekly study

    1 hour
  • 100% online

    How it works
  • Digital upgrade

    Free

Discover why social interaction is a powerful tool for learning and development

By collaborating, communicating, and understanding other people’s perspectives, children develop a better understanding of their thoughts and feelings as well as critical skills that are essential to success throughout life.

This three-week course from the LEGO Foundation will show you how to harness these social interactions for maximum effect.

Explore how children play to learn and why that’s important

Children have an amazing natural potential to learn about the world through play and learning through play is crucial for children’s positive development.

On this dynamic course, you will explore play-based activities that allow children to engage freely and bond with others, express their feelings, and work together as a team. All these skills are essential for children’s wellbeing, academic achievement, and lifelong learning.

Throughout the course, you’ll see examples that show how children can play to develop collaboration and social learning skills, including belonging, dialogue, and risk-taking.

Harness collaborative and social learning every day

After explaining the importance and effectiveness of learning through play, this course will show you how to bring those activities to your own classroom.

You’ll use social and collaborative learning activities that are easy to apply in group settings, and detailed explanations on how to facilitate them, so that you are well-equipped to develop interaction, dialogue, and the important mental faculties that come with them.

Learn from passionate child development experts

The LEGO Foundation works to change the hearts and minds of those involved in child development so that they really encourage social learning. It is perfectly positioned to show you activities that help children become creative, engaged, and lifelong learners.

Syllabus

  • Week 1

    Play Matters

    • Welcome to the course

      These steps will welcome you to the course. You'll learn what we will cover and you'll get to meet your fellow learners.

    • Learning Through Play

      This week we are going to explore how children play to learn, and harness that power to develop their social and collaboration skills in your classroom.

  • Week 2

    Collaboration Skills

    • Developing collaborative skills in the classroom

      This week we are going to explore learning through play activities that help children develop collaboration skills.

  • Week 3

    Social Skills

    • Developing social skills in the classroom

      This week we are going to explore learning through play activities that help develop social skills.

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

  • Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Apply a play-based methodology that develops children's social and collaboration skills
  • Practice the principles of learning through play and playful facilitation

Who is the course for?

This course has been designed for individuals working with children aged 4-12, who want to unlock the many benefits of developing and learning through play.

Who will you learn with?

Stuart is the Initiative Lead for the playful schools initiative at the LEGO Foundation. His background is in programme design and school leadership.

Hello!

I am a Principal Teacher from Edinburgh, Scotland. I am an Early Years specialist teacher with a passion for play based learning throughout the primary school and beyond.

I am specialized in online facilitation and have been exploring different ways for training teachers online both at the University of Southern Denmark and at the LEGO Foundation.

Who developed the course?

The LEGO Foundation

The LEGO Foundation aims to build a future in which learning through play empowers children to become creative, engaged, lifelong learners. Read about our different programmes, projects we support, our research agenda and more in this section.

What's included?

The LEGO Foundation are offering everyone who joins this course a free digital upgrade, so that you can experience the full benefits of studying online for free. This means that you get:

  • Unlimited access to this course
  • Includes any articles, videos, peer reviews and quizzes
  • A PDF Certificate of Achievement to prove your success when you’re eligible
  • Learning on FutureLearn

    Your learning, your rules

    • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
    • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
    • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

    Join a global classroom

    • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
    • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
    • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

    Map your progress

    • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
    • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
    • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

    Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn

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