Trainer Guide for Course 3:

Practice collaborative skills with the 21CLD Collaboration

dimension

Objectives

1. Determine why collaboration is important

2. Define “collaboration”
3. Explore the 21CLD Collaboration rubric and decision tree
4. Examine Microsoft tools that enhance learners’ collaboration
5. Design learning activities that focus on collaboration

Resources for this module

 Learn course: Practice collaborative skills with the 21CLD Collaboration dimension
 21CLD OneNote Notebook
 Preparation for this module

Target audience

 K-12 educators

Timing

 120 minutes (2 hours)

Two weeks prior

 Secure the location for the training

 Prior to the training, invite participants to the training via email

One week prior

 Optional: Send a reminder email about the training

 Ensure your location has projection, sound, and Internet connectivity

Day of training

 Arrive early to set up for the presentation and test Internet, projection, and sound

 Arrange the room for small group discussions. Organize educators by grade, division, or content area, or mix them
as you see fit
Invitation email

SUBJECT: Practice collaborative skills with the 21CLD Knowledge Construction dimension

DATE: [INSERT DATE, TIME HERE, PLACE, DURATION]

Hi, educators!

I’m so excited for our next 21st century learning design session focused on the Collaboration dimension. This time, we’ll be:

 Exploring the dimension

 Examining the rubric by coding some anchor lessons, and
 Evaluating our own learning activities according to the rubric

Preparation

 If possible, please arrive approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled start time
 Bring your lesson plan book and/or the learning activity plans you selected at our first session

Have questions about this professional development opportunity? Don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

See you soon!

[xxxx]
Reminder email

SUBJECT: Practice collaborative skills with the 21CLD Knowledge collaboration dimension

DATE: [INSERT DATE, TIME HERE, PLACE, DURATION]

Hi, educators!

This is just a friendly reminder that our 21st century learning design session on Collaboration is coming up!

I look forward to exploring with you how we can use 21st century learning design to incorporate the Collaboration
dimension into a learning activity!

Preparation

 If possible, please arrive approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled start time
 Bring your lesson plan book and/or the learning activity plans you selected at our first session

Have questions about this training session? Don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

See you soon!

[xxxx]

Timing Suggested talking points Presenter action

15 min prior   Do:

Greet participants as they arrive.

Access the Practice collaborative skills with the 21CLD

collaboration dimension course so you can get to the

videos quickly.

Access the 21CLD OneNote notebook and display the first

page. 

1 min Say:

Welcome! I’m so excited to be here with you today!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to join us

and participate in this session.

(Acknowledge the organization sponsoring the event.)

1 min Say:  
 Today, we’ll be exploring the Collaboration rubric. This
rubric helps learners practice collaborative skills.

5 mins Say: Do:

Let's start with a quick check-in. How would you Give participants time to respond to the prompt.

describe collaboration?

(Give participants time to respond.) 

Say:

Thank you all for sharing! 

1 min Say:

Educators frequently describe collaboration in

different ways. To design learning environments that
 
promote collaboration skills, we must first have a

shared understanding and language to describe it.

Once we know what collaboration looks like and what

skills it requires, we are better able to plan for it. By

 understanding the meaning of collaboration, we can
design learning activities that target the development

of skills necessary for our learners to be effective

collaborators.

1 min Say:

Simply putting learners into groups and giving them a

task doesn't guarantee collaboration. To learn

effective collaboration skills, children need to work

with others in specific ways. 

1 min Say:

In the modern workforce, people work in diverse

teams across time zones, continents, and cultures. For

example, the development of a new product

requires engineers, psychologists, computer

programmers, and marketers to work together from

different countries. All members of the team must

have strong collaboration skills and integrate their

individual expertise and ideas into one end product.
 To be successful, they must be able to:  

 Work respectfully,  

 Communicate clearly,

 And make compromises to accomplish a

common goal.

1 min Say:

So, how do we prepare our learners for such

experiences?

First of all, we need to develop a shared

understanding of what collaboration means.

The component skills required for effective

collaboration are:

 Negotiation,  
 Conflict resolution,  

 Agreement,  
 Distribution of tasks,  

 Open communication, and

  Integration of ideas into a coherent whole.

1 min Say:

Activities that promote collaboration require learners

to: 

 Share responsibility, 

 Make substantive decisions together, and 

 Work interdependently. 

This kind of learning culture moves away from a

model of individuality to one of collaboration.

This doesn't happen by accident, though. It needs to

be designed, and it requires us, the educators, to

ensure that genuine collaboration is taking place.

3 mins Say: Do:

Now, I will play the overview video for the Play the Introduction to collaboration video.

Collaboration dimension.
 (Play the Introduction to collaboration video.)

1 min Say:

The 21CLD collaboration dimension not only examines

if learners are working with others on the learning

activity, but also the quality of that collaboration.

There are many distinct levels of collaboration, and we

need to be aware of what level or type of

collaboration we expect our learners to engage in.

Simply putting learners into groups or pairs doesn't

necessarily mean they’re going to collaborate.

The clearer we are in our communications to our

learners about the type of collaboration needed, the

more likely they will develop the type of skills

necessary to collaborate effectively. 

5 mins Say: Do:

Let’s all go to the OneNote notebook and review the Give participants time to access the 21CLD notebook and
Collaboration rubric together. locate the Collaboration rubric page.
 To get to the notebook, open your web browser and
type aka.ms/21CLDnotebook into the address bar.

This will take you directly to the 21CLD notebook.

(Give participants a few minutes to access the 21CLD

notebook and locate the collaboration rubric page.)

2 mins Say:

The collaboration rubric captures the big ideas of

collaboration and serves as a framework for designing

collaborative activities. Each level of collaboration (one

to five) is described in the rubric:

1: Learners are not required to work together in pairs

or groups.

2: Learners do work together, but they do not have

shared responsibility.

3: Learners do have shared responsibility, but they are

not required to make substantive decisions together.

4: Learners do have shared responsibility, and they do

make substantive decisions together about the

 content, process, or product of their work. But, their
work is not interdependent.

5: Learners do have shared responsibility, and they do

make substantive decisions together about the

content, process, or product of their work. And, their

work is interdependent.

1 min Say: Do:

Now, let’s switch over to the Collaboration Decision Give participants a minute to locate the collaboration

Tree page in the OneNote notebook. decision tree page.

(Give participants a minute to locate the collaboration

decision tree page.)

2 mins Say:

The Collaboration decision tree poses questions

related to the concepts in the rubric. Answering these

questions will inform the design process for a learning

activity that incorporates collaboration.

 The first question in the decision tree asks if

learners are required to work in pairs or

 groups. If learners are not required to work
together in pairs or groups, the answer is “no”

and the learning activity is coded as a one.

 If learners are required to work together in

pairs or groups, the answer is “yes”.

When the answer is “yes”, the next question in

the decision tree asks if the learners have

shared responsibility. If the answer is “no”,

then the learning activity is coded at a two.

 If learners are required to work in pairs or

groups and have shared responsibility, then

the answer to the second question is “yes”.

When the answer is “yes”, the next question in

the decision tree asks whether learners make

substantive decisions together? If the answer is

“no”, the learning activity is coded at a three.

 If learners make substantive decisions

together, the answer is “yes”.

If we answer “yes”, we move to the next

question and ask if the learners' work is
 interdependent. If it is not, then the learning
activity is coded at a four.

 If the learners' work is interdependent, then

the learning activity is coded at a five.

4 mins Say: Do:

Let’s pause to check in. Does anyone have questions Answer any questions that arise.

about the rubric or decision tree?

(Give participants time to ask questions.)

Say:

Wonderful! Now, let’s examine each level of the rubric.

1 min Say:

The first question is Are learners working

together? 

For collaboration to take place, learners must work

with others in the learning activity. To meet this level

of collaboration, learners must work in pairs or groups

 to: 

 Discuss an issue,  

 Solve a problem, or  

 Create a product.

1 min Say:

When learners work together, they may be working

face-to-face or using technology to share ideas or

resources. Their collaboration might also include

people from outside the class, such as:

 Learners from other classes, 

 Children from another school, 

 Community members, or  

 Experts in the field. 

1 min Say:

The following scenarios do not meet the requirement

 of learners working together: 

 Learners doing their work alone 

 A whole class discussing an issue

 Each learner creating their own story

and sending it to the educator for feedback 

1 min Say:

The following scenarios do meet the requirement of

learners working together:

 Pairs of learners giving each other feedback 

 A small group discussing an issue together 

 A learner using Microsoft Teams to interview a

peer in another town via the Internet 

 Learners using OneNote to share their story

and give each other feedback
1 min Say:

If we answer “yes” to the first question, the next

question to consider asks: Do learners have shared

responsibility? 

To reach a deeper level of collaboration, learners also

need to have shared responsibility for their work.

Learners are considered to have shared responsibility

when they work in pairs or groups to develop: 

 A product, 

 Design, or  

 Response. 

Shared responsibility is more than simply helping each

other. Learners must collectively own the work

and be mutually responsible for its outcome.

If the group work involves learners or adults from

outside the class, this qualifies as shared responsibility

only if the outside participants are mutually

 responsible for the outcome of the work. 

1 min Say:

The following scenarios do not meet the requirement

for shared responsibility: 

 Learners giving each other feedback. This

activity structure implies that one learner

"owns" the work and the other is only helping. 

 A learner interviewing a peer in another

country about the local weather. While they

are doing the task together, they do not have

mutual responsibility for its outcome. 

1 min Say:

The following scenarios meet the requirement for

shared responsibility:

 Learners conducting a lab experiment

together. Learners have joint responsibility for

carrying out the lab experiment.

  A learner working with a peer in another
country to develop a joint website using

Microsoft Office 365. The learners share

responsibility for the development of the

website.

1 min Say:

If we answer “yes” to the second question, we then

ask ourselves: Do learners make substantive

decisions together?

At a deeper level of collaboration, learners also need

to have the opportunity to make substantive decisions

together.

Learners make substantive decisions together when

they must resolve important issues that will guide

them as they work together. Substantive decisions are

decisions that shape the 

 Content,  

 Process, or  
  Product of the learners' work. 

Learners make substantive decisions regarding

content when they use their knowledge on a topic to

make a decision that affects the academic content of

their work together.

For example, a group taking a stance on a topic they

will write about is making a substantive decision

together. Similarly, a group deciding on a hypothesis

that they will test in an experiment meets the

substantive decision requirement.

1 min Say:

With regard to process, to make substantive decisions

together, learners must plan:  

 What they will do, 

 When they will do it, 

 What tools they will use, and 

 Who will complete each task. 

 Finally, to make substantive decisions about
their product, learners must make fundamental design

decisions that affect the nature and usability

of the product.

1 min Say:

The following scenarios do not meet the requirement

for substantive decisions: 

 Learners working together to identify capital

cities of countries in Europe. This decision

doesn't affect the rest of their work.

 Pairs of learners choosing which animal they

will study. Learners will probably make this

decision based only on personal preferences

and not on their knowledge of the subject.

 Teams assigning roles to team members based

on the list of roles the educator has defined.

The educator has planned the process of their

work, not the learners.
  Pairs of learners selecting a color scheme for
their presentation. Decisions about surface

features aren't considered substantive

decisions that impact product design.

1 min Say:

The following scenarios meet the requirement for

substantive decisions: 

 Learners in teams are preparing for a debate

and must decide what side of the issue they

will argue. This is a content decision that will

shape their work together and learners must

negotiate their ideas.

 Pairs of learners are developing a presentation

about climate change and must decide what

causes to write about. Learners must decide

together what the most important causes are;

this decision will shape their presentation. 

 Teams are conducting a research project and

must decide on their own work plan and

 roles on the team. Learners must plan the
process of their work.

 Pairs of learners decide how to shape their

presentation to a particular audience. This is a

fundamental design decision that will affect

the nature of their overall product. 

1 min Say:

If we answer “yes” to the third question, we must

consider one more question.

It asks: Is learners' work interdependent? 

The strongest learning activities are designed so that

learners' work is interdependent, meaning

all members must contribute for the team to succeed.

Too often, a group of learners share responsibility for

an outcome, but in practice, the work isn't divided

fairly. One or two learners might do all the work for

the team.

It can be challenging to design learning activities that

require the participation of all team members. To
meet this criterion, learners must produce an

interdependent product. This may be a presentation

that they each share in developing and presenting,

or the responsibility of a decision that requires

information to be distributed evenly across all team

members.

Most interdependent work involves two levels of

accountability: 

 Individual accountability: Each member of the

team is responsible for a task that they must

complete for the whole group

to succeed; therefore, the role of each learner

on the team is essential.

 Group accountability: Learners must work

together to produce the final product or

outcome; they must negotiate and agree on

the process design and conclusions of their

work. 
 The work must be structured in a way that requires
learners to plan together and consider the

individuality of each member’s work so that their

product or outcome is complete and cohesive.

1 min Say:

The following scenarios do not meet the requirement

of interdependent work: 

 Group members work together to research

frogs, but each learner conducts their own

dissection and writes their own lab report.

Learners work together on the research

component, but the products don't require

input or participation from others. 

 One learner uses a device to plot coordinate

points and create a star shape with input from

group members. Only one learner is plotting

coordinates; the others may contribute, but

they could also disengage without preventing

the group from completing the product. 

  Learners each create a webpage about the
history, culture, attractions,

or accommodations of their local area that will

be linked to the class homepage. Learners

don't have to strategize together in

any particular way.

1 min Say:

The following scenarios meet the requirement of

interdependent work:

 Group members each research a different

internal system (e.g. circulation, digestion) of

frogs. Learners then work together to dissect a

frog and write a lab report about the

dissection, identifying the parts of the frog and

the systems to which they belong. Learners

rely on each others’ work to successfully

identify what they see during the dissection.

 Learners each use their own networked device

to contribute coordinate points that

collectively create the shape of a star. Each
 learner's contribution is necessary so the
group can create the completed shape.

 Learners create a tourist website presenting

the history, culture, attractions,

and accommodations of their local

area. Everyone might create a different piece

of the overall website, but learners need to

work together to determine how to organize

the information to create the best possible

website.

1 min Say: Do:

Now that we’ve discussed the rubric and decision tree, Give participants a minute to find the learning activity in

let’s practice coding an anchor lesson. the 21CLD notebook.

Go the 21CLD OneNote notebook, and then the

anchor lesson section.

Then, select The MakeCode Arcade Coding Project

learning activity page.

(Give participants a minute to find the learning

 activity.)

15 mins Say: Do:

Now, I’ll give you 15 minutes to review this lesson. Use As participants review the learning activity, mill around the
either the collaboration rubric or decision tree and room to help or answer questions.

code the lesson. Feel free to work with a colleague.

Set a timer for 15 minutes. If participants finish early, move
When everyone is finished, we’ll discuss your findings. on to the next activity.

(Give participants 15 minutes to review the lesson and

code it according to the rubric/decision tree.)

5 mins Say: Do:

Okay! I loved listening to your conversations! Foster a collegial conversation about the anchor lesson.

Let’s discuss as a large group what you all observed in Encourage educators to explain why they decided on a
coding this lesson. specific code.

Who would like to share what number you coded the

lesson and why?

(Pause for responses)

 Say:

Did anyone code it a different number?

(Pause for responses)

3 mins Say: Do:

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts!

It’s important to understand that our analysis here is

less about getting a right answer and more about

thinking critically about the lesson and exploring the

concepts of the rubric.

Now that we’ve compared our analysis with each

other’s, let’s compare it with Becky’s.

(Play the Collaboration anchor lesson video.) Play the Collaboration anchor lesson video.

15 mins Say: Do:

Now, let’s work in small groups to analyze one more

anchor lesson.

Each small group will have a different anchor lesson.

You will review your assigned lesson and code it
according to the rubric.

You may work independently to review and code and

then discuss your analysis as a group.

Or, you can work on coding the lesson together.

Once you’ve finished your group discussion, you can

look at the analysis in the notebook and compare it to

your group’s analysis.

Any questions? Okay, I will assign each group an

anchor lesson now.

(You can assign anchor lessons by counting off groups

as a 1, 2, or 3. Then, assign each group as follows:

Group 1 – Olympics Site Selection

Group 2 – Mr. Sun. E. Day

Assign each group an anchor lesson.
Group 3 – House on Mango Street
 Give groups 15 minutes to analyze their assigned lesson.

1 min Say:

Great job, everyone!

Now, let’s explore some of the Microsoft tools

available to us for enhancing learner collaboration.

In the 21CLD collaboration dimension, learners

collaborate face-to-face or through digital tools.

Even when face-to-face, a variety of Microsoft tools

enhance collaborative work and allow learners to work

more efficiently.

1 min Say:

Microsoft Teams is a class's digital hub and a

wonderful tool for collaborative work. Learners

collaborate in a variety of ways within Microsoft

Teams.

 Channels – Educators create channels for

each team so the group has a designated

 place to share all their resources and files.
Educators decide if the channel is viewable by

everyone or to specific team members.

 Posts – Learners share resources, discuss ideas,

and ask questions in the Posts tab of any

channel.

 Files – Learners collaborate on documents,

PowerPoints, and Excel spreadsheets directly

within Teams and upload media files for easy

access.

 Forms – Learners may add a Forms tab to their

channel and collaborate on a survey. Once

distributed to respondents, they can analyze

the results directly in Teams.

 Meetings – Learners can connect with each

other via Teams meetings when school isn’t in

session. They can even consult outside experts

by inviting the expert to visit the class via

Teams.
1 min Say:

OneNote Class Notebook is a digital three-ring

binder for the class. Class notebooks include a

collaboration space that is specially designed for

learners to work together.

Each group uses a specific section designated for it.

Here, learners can add research, brainstorming notes,

and presentation drafts to the section. Group

members can offer feedback directly on the page.

With inking devices, learners can sketch designs, draw

diagrams, and annotate research, making their ideas

and resources accessible to everyone.

In both Microsoft Teams and OneNote, Immersive

Reader provides reading and translation support to

learners needing extra help.

1 min Say:

And finally, Microsoft Whiteboard provides a

freeform intelligent canvas where teams can ideate,

create, and collaborate visually. Learners can draw,

 write, or type. They can also add images or sticky
notes.

This enhances teamwork by allowing all team

members to edit and comment directly on the canvas

in real time, no matter where they are.

Microsoft Whiteboard is available across platforms

(Windows, Apple, and Android), allowing all learners

to collaborate regardless of device type. It’s also

available within Teams calls, supporting real-time

collaboration in a virtual meeting.

3 mins Say: Do:

Now, let’s see some of these tools in action!

(Play the Microsoft tools for collaboration video.) (Play the Microsoft tools for collaboration video.)

5 mins Say: Do:

Can you think of any other Microsoft tools that would

support your learners’ collaboration?
Encourage discussion about the Microsoft tools that
 (Pause for responses.) learners could use when collaborating.

3 mins Say: Do:

Great ideas, everyone!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. All these tools

would definitely help our learners when collaborating!

Now, let’s talk about how you can take what you have

learned here today and apply it to your own learning

activity.

Before we work on our learning activity, let’s hear

from Narasimha Murthy H.K., a fellow educator from

India, to learn how he incorporates collaboration into

his learning activities.

Play Narasimha’s video.

(Play Narasimha’s video.)

1 min Say:

Okay!

Let’s start putting what we’ve learned into action. You

all selected a few learning activities to use in our

sessions.

Select one of those now and evaluate it according to

the collaboration rubric.

Use the collaboration decision tree to guide the

design of the activity.

Consider the following: 

 Does the learning activity require

collaboration?

 Do learners share responsibility?

 Do learners make substantive decisions

together?

 Do they create a product interdependently? 

Determine the level you want your learners to

collaborate at in this activity and re-design it to reach

that level on the rubric.

Remember, without targeted learning

design for collaborative skills, learners won’t develop

 the important skills needed to thrive in the real world.

15 mins Say: Do:

Take the next 15 minutes and analyze your activity

according to the rubric.

After coding the activity, consider if you’d like it to

code higher. If so, modify the activity to meet your

goal.

If you don’t want this lesson to code higher for

collaboration, consider analyzing a different learning

activity that you might want to re-design for deeper

collaboration.

Feel free to discuss your lessons with your colleagues.

Some of the best re-designs come from collaboration

with other educators and building off one another’s

ideas. Set a timer for 15 minutes.

Sharing your activity, its current code, and your goals Mill around the room and answer questions or help
with others is a great way to start the re-design educators in need.
process.
1 min Say:

Awesome job, everyone!

I have loved hearing your conversations about your

learning activities and seeing the changes you’re

making to deepen your learners’ collaboration.

4 mins Say: Do:

Before we close today, does anyone have any Answer participants' questions.

questions related to the collaboration dimension or

the 21CLD design process?

(Pause for questions)   

1 min Say: Do:

Thank you for your time and attention today! You’ve

all been wonderful, and I have loved learning from

you.

If you have any questions or final thoughts, please feel

free to share them. Share the link to the Collaboration course online and show

participants where the quiz is located.

Be sure to go to the online course and take the quiz
related to this course.

I’ll see you next time on [next meeting time].