When I think back to my years as a student, the majority of my academic memories involve my friends. I don't necessarily remember writing papers, taking tests or working on a homework assignment. What I do remember, is interacting with my peers in various ways to complete assignments, projects, discussions and challenges together. I can remember the confidence I gained from contributing to my group and the creativity that I was able to display on many occasions.

I believe that my children are the same way. Only now, they have the opportunity to incorporate technology into this process in order to advance their learning. Cooperative learning is enhanced through technology resources such as: Power Point, digital images, handouts and statistics (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). Socializing through groups like facebook, myspace, twitter, blogs and wikis allows students the opportunity to voice their opinions and learn from one another. According to Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski (2007), " Cooperative learning is not so much learning to cooperate as it is cooperating to learn (p. 143). By working together, students learn the importance of valuing the opinions of others, respecting one another's time and effort and contributing for the good of the group.

The social learning theory supports the thought that students who actively engage in constructing artifacts and conversing with others will be more inclined to succeed in the classroom (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). Socializing is an important role in cooperation. Students need more "knowledgeable" individuals in their presence such as parents, teachers, peers and in today's world, computers (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). Teachers must learn to be creative when designing lessons to ensure that communication, cooperation and socializtion are being utilized to the fullest extent. We must also continue to research the best means of instruction that will benefit our students and recognize them as individuals that possess a wealth of information to share with others.