The Importance of Reflection

As I'm in a group that is presenting on digital storytelling on Monday night, I decided to focus my post on the article "High Tech Reflection Strategies Make Learning Stick." Learning the art of reflection is of great importance, regardless of how it is done. George Mayo deciding to incorporate blogging as a way for his students to reflect not only motivated them to think deeply about what they were learning, but also allowed them to keep track of it over time. The article mentions that reflection often gets cut before other parts of lessons, as it is sometimes thought of as tedious, or even meaningless. However, when employed in a way that makes students excited to reflect what they've learned, it can become a great way for students to really internalize their discoveries. My only concern with Mayo's strategy is that some students may put too much emphasis on the way in which their blogs are written, since they know others will be reading it, as opposed to the content in their entries. I realize that Mayo wanted to students to see their writing improve over the course of their blogs (which many did experience), but I can imagine that some students may have felt intimidated by it. That being said, I think it was a great motivational tool to get students to reflect.

I also liked the way Ruthe Farmer encouraged reflection in her class (through the video confessional). As we've learned in EDUC 525, not all students work best by writing. Using a video confessional allows students who may have more difficulty writing the opportunity to explain their reflections instead.