Digital portfolios to enhance metacognition. Action research in visual arts

Abstract

Modern teaching is influenced by the ideas of inclusive schools where all students are provided with a quality education, regardless of their needs (Menntavísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands [University of Iceland Educational Research Institute], n.d.). This is the task teachers face daily. To do so they need to use a variety of teaching strategies that suit each student’s individual needs which can be a daunting task. Being able to use methods that each student can adjust to own abilities and provide multiple ways of expression and communication, can be an advantage. Teaching visual arts, I4 needed to find a way to let my students record their creative process as well as their learning, all the while using inclusive methods. It was my hope that creating digital portfolios would be a way to meet this goal.

This paper reports findings from action research where I implemented the use of digital portfolios in my own visual arts teaching among thirteen to fifteen-year-old students. The aim was to integrate inclusive teaching methods as a way to enhance metacognition. The study was an action research project conducted during the school year of 2017– 2018 where I focused on developing my own teaching methods and supporting professional enhancement with continuous reflection on the intervention at hand. The school year was divided into five periods which coincided with the five phases of the action research. In total, 87 students participated, 50 girls and 37 boys. 33 students joined more than one phase, some participated in up to three phases.

The research question was as follows: how can digital portfolios support inclusion in visual art teaching? Data was collected in five different ways, (1) discussion groups between the researcher and the students at the beginning of each of the five phases, (2) my researcher journals, written up during all five phases, (3) an anonymous online survey that the students answered at the end of each phase, (4) evaluation of the students’ digital portfolios and (5) focus groups among a sample of students from each year, consisting of four students each; three focus groups in total. The data was processed continuously through the five phases and the intervention revised on a regular basis.

To create the portfolios, students used the Padlet app. Padlet is a website (padlet. com) and an app, formerly known as Wallwisher whose primary purpose is to create so called walls that provide a visual overview. Users can post multimedia posts, including, but not limited to, photos, texts, videos, voice recordings and links. It also enables you to embed web content unto the wall. Its primary benefit for teachers and students is that it provides a subscription for schools which lets teachers manage the students’ accounts. Padlet also runs on iOS and Android operating systems. The results indicate that digital portfolios can have multiple benefits, both for students and teachers. They were a way to enhance inclusion and independence in my students’ learning. They can give students added ownership of their own work which, in turn, can lead to increased commitment. Digital portfolios can be a way to manage learning and encourage reflection if systematic scaffolding is provided, which can lead to increased metacognition. These results indicate that digital portfolios may lead to enhanced metacognition, a fundamental part of learning. To create a learning environment and use teaching methods that enable students to enhance their metacognition is one of the tasks I face as a teacher. I believe digital portfolios can be a way towards that goal. This research focused on the usage of digital portfolios in the teaching and learning of visual arts; however, the method might benefit teachers and students of other subjects