Fosteringreflec-vethinkingaboutinforma-onin5thgraderswithblogs:howhelpfularelearningsupports?JenniferTHOSSDrRobertA.P.REUTERUniversitéduLuxembourgEAPRILConference24–27November2015,Esch-Belval,Luxembourg

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CONTEXT

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•  BachelorThesis

•  NeedforMILtraining(MediaandInformaSonLiteracy)

→ICTplaysanundeniablepartinoursociety

→digitalnaSvesdonotnecessarilyusereflecSvecompetenciesintheireverydayuseofICT(Hourigan&Murray,2010)

•  EducaSonal&scienSficrelevanceofourstudy1)  create/testalearningscenariothatfostersMIL:effectsonreflecSve

thinkingaboutinformaSon

2)  InsightsintoreflecSvethinkingof5thgradersinrelaSonwithICT

RESEARCHOBJECTIVES

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•  Whatdidwewanttofindout?→howtointegrateblogginginclassinawaythatwouldfosterreflecSon

aboutinformaSonencounteredwhileblogging

→pracScalityofthelearningscenariobasedonlearningtasks,learningsupportsandlearningresources(Strampel&Oliver,2008)

→helpfulnessofthelearningsupports

THEORETICALFRAMEWORK

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1)MIL(MediaandInformaSonLiteracy)DefiniSon(UNESCO,2013):•  asetofskillsneededtoaccess,understand,evaluate,use,

createandshareinformaSon•  acquiredwhileusingmulSpletools•  inacriScal,ethicandeffecSveway•  inordertoparScipateinprivate,professionalandsocial

acSviSes

THEORETICALFRAMEWORK

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1)MIL(MediaandInformaSonLiteracy)WhatisalreadyknownaboutMILtraining&assessment?•  researchmainlyinsecondaryschoolsandatuniversiSes•  experimentaSonoflearningscenarios(i.e.:Strampel&Oliver,

2008)•  useofweblogs(sharereflecSons,peerfeedback)•  Smeconsuming(forteachersandpupils)•  onlyafewinstrumentstoevaluatereflecSvethinking

(Kemberetal.,2000)

THEORETICALFRAMEWORK

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2)ReflecSvethinkingaboutinformaSonDefiniSon:

→takesplaceinsituaSonsthatposeaproblem/confrontdifferentperspecSves

→byreviewingownexperiences,consideringdifferentperspecSves

→deepreflecSon,iftheperspecSvesarecriScallyanalysed

→Piaget´sstagesofcogniSvedevelopment(concreteoperaSonal)

→reflecSvejudgementstages(KingandKutchener,stage2)

“acSve,persistentandcarefulconsideraSonofanybelieforsupposedformofknowledgeinthelightofthegroundsthatsupports it and the further conclusion to which ittends”(Dewey,inKemberetal.,2000,p.384)

“reflec-onisanefforBulac-onandstudentsfinditdifficulttoengageinitoverextendedperiodsof-mewithout

externalsupport”(Xieetal.,2008,p.19)

THEORETICALFRAMEWORK

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3)Alearningscenariobasedonlearningtasks,supportsandresources(Strampel&Oliver,2008)→construcSvistandproblem-orientedstrategytointegrateICT

(adaptaSontothepupil´sknowledgeandskills;learningininteracSon,differentperspecSves,ZPD,scaffolding;realisScSmeframe)

→choiceofthe3structureelements:learningtasks,learningsupports,learningresources(Strampel&Oliver,2008)

•  idealelementstofosterreflecSon

THEORETICALFRAMEWORK

externalsupporttoreflect:-socialsupport(feedback,quesSons)-criteriatowriteagood(=reflecSve)blogentry

firstread,thenwritefreechoiceoflanguage

-  noassignedsubject-  writeaboutwhattheyfindinteresSngornotsogoodonawebpage

-  providedbytheteacherorsearchedbythestudentsthemselves

-  talkaboutwebsafetyissuesatthebeginning

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METHODOLOGY

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•  learningscenariointegratedinaclassofthirteen5thgraders(10-12years)(southofLuxembourg)

•  beforethestudy:quesSonnaireaboutICTusehabits

•  thepupilshadtheirownblogfor5weeks

•  theclasswasdividedinatestandacontrolgroup

•  thecontrolgroupdidnotreceivelearningsupportsbesidesthepeerfeedback(supposedlynecessarytoengageinaconSnuedreflecSon)

•  eachweekoneentryofeverystudentwasanalysedwiththehelpofcriteriameasuringthereflecSonontheinformaSon(2evaluators)

•  tocompletethedata,aresearchjournalwaskeptandattheendofthestudyfourpupilswereinterviewedabouttheirexperiencesandimpressionsofthelearningscenario

METHODOLOGY•  ExampleofevaluaSon:

h"p://www.blinde-kuh.de/

Thispageisgoodforthekids.Itcanwatchvideos.Itcanplay.Ilikedit.Itiscool.J

Criteria Coefficient(K)

Evaluator1 Evaluator2

Points P×K Points P×K

Enumera-onofinforma-on 1 1 1 2 2Linkoftheresource 2 2 4 2 4Jus-fica-onofthechoiceoftheresource 3 2 6 2 6Certaintyabouttheinforma-on 2 Argumenta-onoftheaccuracyoftheinforma-on 3 Personalexperiences 2 Differentperspec-ves 2 2 4 Cri-calanalysisoftheperspec-ves 3 Personalpreferences 2 1 2 2 4Emo-ons 3 1 3 2 6Organisa-on/Structura-on 2 2 4 2 4Proposi-onsforameliora-on 2 decision(whatoneshouldbelieveordo) 3 Total 30 11 24 12 26Averagepoints AverageP×K

11,5 24,5

RESULTS

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1)Thedegreeofreflec-on

•  thecontrolgroup´sreflecSonsintheblogentrieswereonaveragehigherthanthoseofthetestgroup

•  attheendofthestudy,thedegreeofreflecSonofthetestgroupwashigher

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2

4

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Week1 Week2 Week3 Week4 Week5

ReflecSonoverSme

Testgroup Controlgroup

RESULTS

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2)Thecriteria

•  Elementscontainedinmostentries:structure,listedinformaSon,linktothesourcematerial,personalpreferences

•  Criteriararelyfulfilled:CerStudeaboutinformaSon,argumentaSonabouttheiraccuracy,criScalanalysisofdifferentperspecSves

3)Otherobserva-ons

•  differentandrecurrentsubjects(wriSngaboutcelebriSes,chainleterstoriesandwebsites)

•  reflecSonsinthediscussionsamongstthestudents(testgroup>controlgroup)→discussionsaboutsubjectswhichcomefromtheireverydaylife

•  diminuSonoftheprevalentneedfortechnicalsupports

•  studentskeptaskingforsocialsupportsregardingtheformoftheirentries

CONCLUSIONS•  Possibletousethebasisoflearningtasks,supportsandresourcesand

adaptthemtotheneedsoftheclasstopromotereflecSvethinkingskills

•  BloggingismoSvaSngthestudentstobringupsubjectsfromtheirlifeandengageinreflecSons

•  BeforewriSngthosedownoneshouldexploitthediscussionswithoramongstthestudentstomakethemexpressandbecomeawareoftheirreflecSons

•  IfthestudentsshouldwritedowntheirreflecSons,oneshouldgivethemaddiSonalsupports

•  Whywasthetestgroup’sperformancepoorer?

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PERSPECTIVES

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•  LongerduraSon:MILisahigher-orderthinkingskill,takesSmetodevelop

•  DevelopbloggingskillsbeforefosteringreflecSon•  Recordoraldiscussiontobetershowtheeffectsoftestgrouptreatmentandapplycriteria

•  HowtofosterwriSngdown?IfthatistheobjecSve

THANKYOUFORYOURATTENTION!

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