Education remains one of the best tools for gaining skills and developing the hidden potential of our students. Although it is a distinctive experience where it involves an individual student, it can be collaborative.

Collaborative learning is a kind of educational methodology that involves students working in a group to achieve a certain goal. Collaborative learning is one of the learning strategies that shows us that education is social.

When it comes to improving the writing skills of students, many tutors have found collaborative learning as a very helpful tool. Although most students decide to buy a college essay, collaborative learning can be a great strategy of helping them sharpen their essay writing skills.

As they learn and work together, their academic and social skills are significantly improved. You will be surprised to notice that some social skills acquired during cooperative learning are carried over throughout their life. But how does this collaborative learning affect the students' writing skills?

1. It enables them to identify their strengths and weaknesses

Did you know that after high school one of the things that should be featured on the college application essay is the students' strengths? Admission officers in the university are always looking at the strengths of the students before giving them a place in their university or college.

A student can improve their admission letter writing skills through collaborative learning. As they discuss, he or she knows their strengths and improve on their weaknesses.

2. It improves their grammar

As the students discuss among themselves and speak out, they perfect their communication skills. This eventually translates on how they write and you will notice their grammar in their essays is improving.

3. They know how to manage time

This is a writing skill that every student must embrace if they are to write great skills. As their teacher gives them a task to do as a group, they are usually given a return date. So they work together, to achieve the work within the stipulated time. With that, every student in the group learns how to manage their time.

4. They can express their ideas more confidently

There is a session in collaborative learning where the teacher gives every member of the group a chance to present their ideas. Sometimes it could be reading or explaining a concept to the other students. As a student gives their opinion effectively, they become more confident with their ideas. They later translate them into writing. Writing confidently is a great skill to have as a student.

5. It helps them find their voice

Every student has their unique voice that is seen in their writing style. Whether it is an essay, dissertation or any academic writing, their voice stands out. This is what defines their originality and makes them unique. As they collaborate and discuss various topics, a student can identify their voice and apply it in their writing especially in their college application essays.

6. It enables them to use vocabularies properly

Of course, as they brainstorm on ideas and bring them together, they grasp certain vocabularies. These are the same vocabs that they use when writing their essay. Any vocabulary used in an application essay or thesis, it gives the reader an aspect of value to the student grammatical capabilities.

7. It helps them in their proofreading

No good writing if an essay is full of grammatical errors and has no flow. The essence of proofreading is to identify any mistakes that may have been made during writing. Since through collaborative learning students are used to proofreading their friends' work, it becomes easy for them to proofread their thesis.

8. It enables them to make the writing more engaging

Just as they are developing interpersonal skills and how to approach each other, they tend to use the same principle when it comes to writing. A more engaging essay or dissertation will always get a higher score. Writing a more engaging essay can easily be developed through collaborative learning.

9. They take note of spelling and punctuation

As they pronounce and punctuate words, their group members will correct them and end up perfecting their punctuation. In case, they are given some spelling assignment, they end up perfecting their spelling acumen. This is translated into their writing and you will end up having great essays that are free from spelling errors.

Conclusion

As a teacher or tutor, you need to make a collaborative learning part of your curriculum. However, you need to plan it properly so that it will be effective. You will notice that there is more success in your class and students have found new ways of tackling their writing problems.

Always ensure that every student is participating in whichever job assignment you have allocated them. It is advisable to walk around the classroom to ensure that every student is participating equally in the allocated task.

Sometimes students don't have time for their essays when working individually which make them buy college essay but with collaborative learning, they develop their skills and write the essay on their own.