Lesson learnt from Module 5

Parkes and Kajder (2010) are of the view that reflective practice is one of the single most helpful strategies a student can use to further his or her understanding. Furthermore, it was Rogers (2001) who pointed out that although reflection has the potential to bring about positive outcomes; it continues to be a challenging concept for educators to apply in practice. According to Archer (2000) as cited in Dyke, Johnston, and Fuller (2012, p. 832) “reflexive practice allows us to think about how social structures and our own individual agency influence our decision-making, which can assist with problem-solving and moving forward in a positive way”. Simply, reflexive practice provides the opportunity to reflect in in the “here and now” and make adjustments if necessary. It therefore means, that this is slightly different because unlike reflective practice, one is not afforded time to really contemplate the course of action as it is a sort of “think on your feet” phenomenon.

The reflection prompts provided by my facilitator; “How did the reflection assignments help you construct your understanding of the issues discussed in the readings? What impact did the reflection assignments have on your understanding of the real world? In what way were your preconceptions of issues challenged through your reflections?” guided my thoughts on reflective/reflexive practices. When preparing each blog entry, I am cognizant of the fact that my facilitators and fellow colleagues will be reading them. So I make a greater effort to think deeper. Though I have been engaged in reflection during practical teaching, at the end of lessons that I have delivered and in my practicum, I don’t believe that I had fully grasped how meaningful this could have been. Currently, I am a Facebook, Twitter, and Blog user and to be honest it has never crossed my mind that I could have used these social learning tools for reflection in a way that could help me to improve on my practice. In becoming aware of the benefits to be accrued by employing these tools for reflective, purposes for myself and my students and even my teaching colleagues, I am now in a better position to utilize reflection in a more meaningful way.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this module, and to a greater extent this course, has caused me to examine digital technologies in reflective/reflexive practice. In completing this module, I have critically examined social learning tools, content creation tools, and collaborative tools in ways I have never looked at them prior. Previously, I looked at digital technology tools as a way to simply update “friends” on what might be on my mind and to keep them abreast of my social life as opposed to employing them for reflection and ways to improve my practice. In practice, reflective learning also redounds to the benefits of students. It allows them to step back from their regular learning methodologies and develops their critical thinking skills. This aids in enhancing their future performance by analyzing and reviewing their learning experiences – by both the “what” they have learnt and any emotions, which might be attached to the content.

In this course of study, we are required to reflect using content creation tools such as wikis and blog. Feedback was given which prompted more critical thinking and ultimately resulted in deeper reflective writing. As time goes on, I am able to gauge my growth. I use blogging to record my thoughts about my journey. I also employ Gibbs’ (1988) Reflective Learning Cycle to learn deeper by doing, to engage in self-reflection and evaluation and then to re-do. I have stepped back from regular “This was a good lesson” to developing critical thinking skills in a way that can enhance my professional practice through analyzing my learning experiences, thus providing better learning experiences for my students.

I truly appreciate the knowledge gained from the readings during this module. Digital technologies enable students to ‘look/listen again’ to their digital artefacts and to reflect on them (Kirk & Pitches, 2013). Based on the aforementioned and from experience, it is clear that digital technologies provide opportunities to enhance reflection. For example, one can use a digital device such as a mobile phone or a camera to capture an event or activity in one’s practice. Subsequently, one can upload the recorded material to a site for discussion or comments. Following which one can then upload to content creation tools such as blog or wiki in order to review, express, and frame and ultimately reflect (Kirk and Pitches, 2013). See the diagram below which offers a guide on how to use digital tools for reflection by Kirk and Pitches (2013).

 

 Recently, when I did the assignment on the lesson plan to integrate technology, upon reflection, I felt that the nature walk was an engaging learning experience for my students. So instead of them just going outside and see examples of living and non-living things, they were allowed to take pictures on their tablets. My “aha” moment was revealed, through the use of web 2.0 tools, that engaged my first grade students more effectively in their  learning while facilitating constructivism as they took responsibility for their own learning.  This was a learning experience for me as well as I recognized the importance of designing a lesson with activities that integrated technology to maximize my students’ participation and ensured their  involvement and engagement while promoting their learning. This further cemented my belief that when technology is incorporated in a lesson, students’ learning and development is taken to a whole new level. Since my students are at a stage where they can write a paragraph, they can tweet one or two sentences on our classroom Twitter account about their experience and what they have learnt. Students can also use Google Docs to write a paragraph on their experience. Of course guidance must be given to them and safety must be a priority. In conclusion, when practised efficiently and effectively, utilizing collaborative tools reinforces the reflective learning cycle (Gibbs, 1988) which will hopefully promote deeper learning, clarity of understanding and better learning skills.

References

Archer, M. (2000). Being human: The problem of agency. Cambridge, Cambridge 
        University Press.

Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods.    
        London: Further Education Unit.

Kirk, C. & Pitches, J. (2013). Digital reflection: Using digital technologies to enhance and 
        embed creative processes. Technology, Pedagogy, and Education, (2)22, 213-230.

Parkes, K. A., & Kajder, S. (2010). Eliciting and Assessing Reflective Practice: A Case   
       Study in Web 2.0 Technologies. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in 
       Higher Education, 22(2), 218-228.

Rogers, R. (2001). Reflection in higher education: A concept analysis. Innovative Higher
      Education, 26, 37–57.