Week 28. Apply a reflective model to discuss something that has happened during my Inquiry so far, and how it impacts on taking action.

Step 1 (What- Description): Describe something that has happened during your Inquiry so far

For this reflection, I will use Rolfe's Model of Reflection (Otago Polytechnic n.d., 2001) 

My inquiry is to understand how Flipgrid (an online video post app) is improving students confidence in oral presentations, improving their writing, and helping them collaborate in twos or threes on mini video post projects. Video posting allows students to listen to their recording multiple times, make improvements and Redo a video before posting. Flipgrid has provided a platform for feedback to students from their peers (Flipgrid Buddies) and the teacher (myself).

During my inquiry into the use of Flipgrid, a video posting online app, I have developed the realisation that you need a pedagogical mind change when managing online apps to augment learning outcomes. Reviewing and teaching technological knowledge, managing classroom space for students to record videos with minimal interruption, managing student’s work; how to store it, how to give feedback, what to do with the many videos are all questions that present a significant change for many primary and secondary teachers. This management has been frustrating, but exciting at the same time.

Step 2 (So What- Theory & Knowledge): Analyse its impacts on taking actions in relation to supporting literature

This tells me my important issue is managing the quantity and quality of student responses; the rigour of the task and how to keep improving. It is a big job managing learning activities in a class of 28 (Room 8 students). Making a video post is unlike using pen and paper which can take significantly more time, as opposed to 1 minute and 30 seconds for creating a video post. I did not realise how this short amount of time would lead to many, many video posts, and subsequently a lot of recorded learning to use for formative or summative assessment.

Due to the student’s popularity and ease of using Flipgrid, the biggest issue now is how do I guide students to reflect more, use feedback more, before creating a new post? How do I improve the structure and content of their posts to a higher level? Looking ahead, I understand that student agency, as Bishop has mentioned, is going to be a significant contributor to the solutions (Edtalks, 2012).

Step 3 (Now What- Action): How it can contribute to your future practice

At times I need to stand back and reflect on what Dr Stucki mentions, that pedagogy is a large and ever-changing eco-system (Stucki, 2012). Because the students have gained a lot of experience using the online tool, the class, not just myself as the teacher, should reflect and identify why we are using the tool, and what we want to achieve going forward. Due to a lot of teacher guidance from myself, initially providing the context for using the app, I need to allow for Maori and non-Maori to bring their own knowledge and experiences, with the idea of empowering the students to engage more with their learning (Edtalks, 2012). Furthermore, I would like to continue my inquiry by surveying other users of Flipgrid, to understand how best they manage the integration of Flipgrid into their learning programmes, and the many posts generated by students.

For myself, it is important not to take for granted that learning will naturally occur just because I am using a digital online app (Bright, 1996). I need to work towards enhancing the learning environment that focuses on the interaction between students and teacher to improve learning activities (Stucki, 2012). Therefore this process of critical reflection has challenged my thinking and made me reassess how the class and myself can make improvements to achieve stronger learning outcomes.




References 



Otago Polytech. (n.d.). (2001). Reflective Writing. Retrieved from https://www.op.ac.nz/assets/LearningAdvice/Reflective-writing.pdf

Bright, B. (1996). Reflecting on ‘Reflective Practice.’ Studies in the Education of Adults, 28(2), 162–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.1996.11730638

Stucki, P. (2012). A Maori Pedagogy: Weaving the Strands Together. Kairaranga, 13(1), 7–15.

Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations.
[video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994