According to Barrett (2005), the major challenge of establishing an effective electronic portfolio is finding a strategy that meets both the needs of the students and the institutions. (p.9) I knew that portfolios are used to engage students and support deeper learning but I neglected the needs of the institutions. I feverishly looked through Barrett’s article for the ultimate solution to creating an eportfolio that satisfies the assessment needs of institutions. I then found that there are two different assessment needs. According to Barrett (2005), there is a difference between the use of portfolios in high stakes assessment of learning and the use of portfolios in the assessment for learning. (p.16). I am definitely an advocate for the use of portfolios in the assessment for learning that foster motivation and engagement of students because it warrants deeper reflection upon the assignments with more of a formative approach and less of a summative. Although I appreciate the ability to distinguish assessment needs I wish Barrett’s article pushed a little further to provide a decisive guide on how to satisfy the more common high stakes assessments of learning with portfolios that do not compromise students’ intrinsic motivation and authenticity.
My approach and strategy to completing assignments is to highlight the assessment questions. No matter how much additional information I may add, I must cover all of the assessment needs. I normally reflect upon how the subject matter improves me profesionally while achieving the instructional objectives. Interaction with colleagues improved my performance results because our web conferences and discussion forums personalized connections within the group that motivated me to perform more tasks than I would normally complete if done alone.
I understand the importance of professional reflection as a learner but to positively impact my future learning I have to allot more time for professional reflection. I occasionally jotted questions and answers throughout my course and conferences to reflect upon but I believe I need to strive to daily answer (no matter how small) those open ended action research questions I prepare. This attitude will propel my students to become more driven to own their learning process. According to (Gerstein, 2011), the only way teachers can promote reflection among their students is to engage in daily professional reflection themselves. I know the benefits from peer collaboration and peer review so my past peer interactions encourage me to seek peer review onmn how I respond to the issues and challenges I will face as a learner. I see myself investigating how to boost intrinsic motivation among peers to master technology integration in the classroom as well how to reduce the inequitable access to technology among schools in my school district.
I would encourage my colleagues to initially implement the use of websites like “Blogger.com” and “Wikispaces” into the classroom first as introductory technological applications to integrate into their curriculum. Depending on technological access, students can blog daily or once a week. With RSS feeders, teachers can utilize their students’ thoughts as warm up questions or discussion points to exploit the tool beyond online journaling. As students master more technological applications, they can always upload these products on to their blog. I would stress the importance of peer feedback in the comment section of the blogs. Students can use Wikispaces to creatively breakdown concepts that may normally bore them in a textbook. For example, a high school science group could create a website about the human body. Each page of the website could explain an organ system. Teachers can archive these sites for future students as engaging visual aids.
Barrett, H. (2005). Retrieved from https://lamar.epiclms.net/Learn/Player.aspx?enrollmentid=2410328
Gerstein, J. (2011). Retrieved from http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/where-is-reflection-in-the-learning-process/
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