PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS AND THE RELATIONAL CONSTRUCTION OF TEACHING KNOWLEDGE

PAUL LESLIE

PAUL@PAULLESLIE.NET

SHARJAH HIGHER COLLEGES, UAE

INTED MAR 2-4, 2015

MADRID, SPAIN

WWW.PAULLESLIE.NET

Abstract

Relational constructionist concepts supported by the community of inquiry model promotes the development of student voices …

… based on their shared experiences and not on expectations from others

Portfolio approach to learning To manage ‘21st century learning’, the concept of a ‘portfolio approach to learning’ offers a

framework in which to pursue educational activities.

“… holistic approach to teaching and learning that encompasses the varied activities involved

in providing an educational experience” (Leslie, 2012, p. 166).

INTRODUCTION

Portfolio approach to learning

INTRODUCTION

capture their ideas

externalize ideas

make connections between ideas

Share those ideasBenefit from other’s

experience and knowledge

Create curations collections of work for various stakeholders

The “portfolio” in a ‘portfolio approach to learning’ refers to an actual portfolio

that starts at the beginning of learning and allows students and teachers alike to…

Theory and practice: Theory

Freire (1970/2000) states that liberated educators and students share their thoughts and ideas and then reconsider all ideas as expressed by their community.

This idea highlights the relational construction base upon which the portfolio approach is constructed

LITERATURE REVIEW

Theory and practice: Practice

Figure 1: Community of Inquiry (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000, p. 88).

The Community of Inquiry model provides a framework for portfolio learning.

Teaching presence: comes from all participants

provides guidance and direction to the community

(Cleveland-Innes & Garrison; 2010)

LITERATURE REVIEW

Context of the studyAt the Higher Colleges of Technology, all Education students are required to develop and maintain an e-Portfolio.

Participants:

30 students from a fourth year cohort of the Educational Technology Program at Sharjah Women’s College (SWC), whom I taught for 4 years. From this cohort, three groups of five students participated in focus groups

Paper-based surveys were conducted with members of the first and third year cohorts.

Artefacts from all e-portfolios of each cohort were examined, initially for assessment purposes and subsequently for this paper.

Portfolio as a teaching and learning tool

The associated paper investigates how web 2.0 tools and activities may best support teaching and learning through the concept of a ‘portfolio approach to learning’ as social process in a 21st

century classroom.

INTRODUCTION

Portfolio learning toolsMahara eportfolio system

SharePoint MySites

Various social media tools including: Blogs (Blogger, WordPress)

Discussion boards (Moodle, Blackboard – exported to HTML)

Microblogs (Twitter, Instagram)

Various cloud storage tools Image storage (Flickr, Picasa)

Documents (Google Drive, DropBox, SkyDrive)

Relational construction Social media and cloud based tools allow people time to present a more focused and thus greater voice in their own affairs, minimizing the influence of power structures interfering with their desire to say what they really think.

Participant comments:

“In real life, I don’t like to argue with someone about my opinion but in social sites, I say my opinion.”

“Online, people are more open to what they say. We can ask anything without having to be shy.”

FINDINGS

Teaching presence

In a portfolio process, the responses and guidance which comprise a teaching presence need to come from all participants as much as from the teacher.

Students are given guidance and ‘permission’ to question each other.

Participant comments:

“They are looking at our work and doing their work according to your own work and this is very motivating to do more work.”

FINDINGS

Portfolio: Curation of ideas as artefacts

An aggregator site (e.g. Mahara) provides a community.

Numerous curations can be presented, often using the very same artefacts, organized according to stakeholder needs

Participant comments:

“If it is an e-portfolio, everything can be shared easily and even students and parents can see parts of the work and materials.”

FINDINGS

Portfolio: The curation of artefacts

FINDINGS

Conclusion Curations are based on feedback from teaching presence …

Feedback allows for discerning curation of portfolio artefacts for specific audiences.

All participants, including the teacher, benefit from better curations.

Participant comments: “I think teachers need to develop their ideas and they can do this by seeing other people’s work and share their ideas through their journals.”

ReferencesHigher Colleges of Technology. (2013, August 29). EDU 1302. Retrieved from Higher Colleges of Technology - Curricunet: http://www.curricunet.com/HCT/reports/record_outline.cfm?courses_id=7353

Barrett, H. (2007). Researching electronic portfolios and learner engagement: The REFLECT Initiative. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(6), 436-449. doi:10.1598/JAAL.50.6.2

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical Inquiry in a Text-Based Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. Retrieved September 1, 2012, from http://communitiesofinquiry.com/sites/communityofinquiry.com/files/Critical_Inquiry_model.pdf

Garrison, D. R., & Vaughan, N. D. (2008). Blended Learning in Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Leslie, P. (2012, September). Portfolio Approach to Learning: Application with Educational Technology Students. In Dowling, S. (ed.), Opening up Learning (Vol. 1, pp. 153-162). Abu Dhabi: HCT Press. Retrieved from http://shct.hct.ac.ae/events/edtechpd2013/articles2012/index.asp

Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the Opppresed. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.

Ash, S., & Clayton, P. (2009). Generating, Deepening, and Documenting Learning: The Power of Critical Reflection in Applied Learning. Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education, 1, 25-48.

Leslie, P. (2013). Communities of Inquiry and Assessment: Graded Discussions. In Dowling, S. (ed), Redefining Learning(Vol. 2, pp. 153-164). Abu Dhabi: HCT Press.

Cleveland-Innes, M. F., & Garrison, D. R. (2010). (eds) An Introduction to Distance Education. New York: Routledge.

Haughey, M. (2010). Teaching and Learning in Distance Education Before the Digital Age. In Cleveland-Innes, M. F., & Garrison, D. R. (2010). (eds) An Introduction to Distance Education. New York: Routledge.

Education is a community affair