Feedback comes to life
Developing student-learning journals on a school computer network proved to be quite a journey for students, teachers and families. WAYNE ERB reports
hen Te Ropere Tipene sees his classmates doing something interesting, he’s as likely to be at home as sitting beside them.
He uses the family computer to check up on his peers’ learning journals, which are online examples of their school work. The Red Beach School Year 5 student then types in constructive feedback for friends to read: “What did you learn, what was stretching, anything that makes them think,” he says.
Learning journals are this school’s name for software that allows students to post work, reflect on their learning and seek feedback – all important themes in The New Zealand Curriculum, and in particular the key competencies. These are being trialled in six classrooms.
There are variants in use around the country; some schools use the term ‘e-portfolio’ for similar applications and purposes.
At Red Beach, the software is gaining fans among teachers, students and their families. Te Ropere’s mother Turanita Tipene is a convert, after first having to ask her young son for help in logging on. Now she checks his journal whenever she wants to.
“It instantly connects me to the classroom environment. I’m able to see the teacher’s comments, see how my son is talking with his peers and see how his own learning is going.”
Red Beach School teachers, students and this enthusiastic mother recently talked to Ministry of Education staff about how they got the learning journal project going. They’ve been trialling the latest version in a few classrooms since late last year, and while it is generating a positive response, it has only come about after several years of hard work.
Associate principal Shirley Cope says teacher investigation of the technology followed work on the school vision.
“We didn’t wake up one day and think that could be a good idea – they’re very much part of our journey which we started five years ago.”
Back then, the school formulated a vision of being “a community empowering lifelong learners to achieve and make a difference”.
From there, staff found out what students thought it meant to be a learner, which revealed work needed to be done. Answers included sitting up straight and picking up rubbish, says Shirley.
“If we wanted our students to be learners, they had to have a language about learning, we had to intentionally teach it.”Since then, teachers have talked with students about taking risks in their learning, setting goals and making plans, all actions which fed into thinking about learning journals.
Associate principal Chris Bradbeer says colleagues considered the place of conventional paper portfolios, often hurriedly assembled at term’s end.
“It wasn’t particular authentic. It didn’t provide parents with the kind of information we wanted about the learning that was taking place in the classroom.”
He says simply migrating to a digital version of these portfolios would not have been sufficient either.
“We wanted students to put up learning that was happening at the time, rather than wait till it was completed.”
He says software needed to fit with the school’s use of assessment for learning. It should capture learning over time, and give multiple opportunities for feedback from peers, teachers and parents.
During a Ministry of Education interoperability trial for the Musac student management system and the KnowledgeNET learning management system, the school looked at how to share attendance and assessment data with parents.
Eventually the school w
orked with KnowledgeNET to create a custom interface that allows students to post examples of work in progress, be it a poem, drawing or a photo of their maths book. Under this, they post their reflections on what they learned. There is room on the screen for their classmates, teacher and parents to leave comments.
Each teacher can go to one screen which lists all new entries and the number of comments for each student, considered crucial for ease of use, says Chris.
He says student reflections have become deeper over time, with experience and guidance from teachers.
The same is true for comments on each other’s work. As student Justin Vasiljevic says, “It has to be helpful and not just ‘good job’ or well-done’.”
Sophie Palmer-Dale says getting feedback helps her think about her learning. Her parent asked her if a piece of learning was challenging, prompting her to figure out why it was challenging.
Nadija Rowley says using the learning journal helps her improve and has become more fun as classmates post more comments.
“I can’t believe how much my learning has changed.”
Changes in class
Teacher Lucy Finlayson says the project is creating stronger relationships between teachers and students. For example, students are posting comments they wouldn’t previously have said in person, such as pointing out when a lesson was too hard or not challenging enough.
When asked about the change, students said they didn’t want to be disrespectful by speaking directly to the teacher. However, opening up in written form is changing how they speak in person now too.
To make the most of the journals, says Lucy, you need to equip students with the language of learning, use assessment for learning, and teach students to think of their progress and what they are going to learn next.
Growing stronger connections
Towards the end of term 2, Red Beach School ran its student-led conferences, or rather the students did.
All the children led conferences with parents and teachers, says principal Lesley Tait.
And the parents were well prepared, having been equipped with their own log-on to the school’s learning management system, which in the case of six trial classrooms includes their child’s learning journal. In this case, the same system was used to publish mid-year reports.
“It all seems to be coming together and we are really excited by the possibilities these three-way connections – student, teacher and parent – are bringing,” says Lesley.
What you can do
Read about other ways to monitor students’ development of the key competencies:
Discuss with your colleagues how you use assessment with your students. For more information:
KEY POINTS
Red Beach School settled on three outcomes for its learning journals.
These were to:
- show each student’s growth, for example in key competencies and learning areas;
- inform students and teachers during the learning process;
- engage parents.
Future wave
What might the future hold as more students learn through the use of e-portfolios?
Such software lets students record work, reflections, and goals and share information with others – raising intriguing possibilities for students and teachers to ‘co-construct’ knowledge.
A report commissioned by the Ministry of Education entitled ePortfolios – Celebrating Learning says use of such software will develop the key competencies, and “it will assist teachers personalise learning and better prepare students with the skills required to thrive in this knowledge age”.
The report was prepared by Ian Fox, Sandy Britain and Viv Hall. It gives insight into the educational potential and outlines the technical challenges of e-portfolios.
The authors write that ownership of an e-portfolio must rest with the student, and should ideally move with them to new schools. They say some schools are using e-portfolios to “track a learning journey, showing process as well as a completed ‘product’”.
Formative assessment becomes possible as students receive feedback, think critically and speak openly about their progress in a secure environment.
“Students become more empowered, exercising greater control over their learning and gain a greater understanding as to their growing development as learners.”
However, the report notes few schools have well-developed e-portfolio structures in place. Ease of use, teacher capability and interoperability between schools are areas for attention.
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