The Learning Record
Online has received the 2001 Technology Design Award, sponsored
by McGraw Hill, at the 18th annual Computers and Writing Conference
in May, 2001. Darren Cambridge, seen here accepting the award,
did a terrific job presenting the Learning Record in a rigorous
and thorough judging process. The judges noted the project's
proven pedagogical model, the accessible and usable interface,
and the potential to transform teaching and learning. Competition
for this award included an impressive text analysis and visualization
project from David Kaufer's team at Carnegie Mellon.
Learning Record Online:
Judges' Feedback
This project is an
impressive addition to the computers and writing
community. The way it models process in portfolio generation and
individual growth promises to impact a wide range of teacher-scholars
in
the future. The user interface is designed carefully, and the
technology
appears to emerge from core pedagogical values, a characteristic
too rare
in academic innovations, which more often look at technology first
and
pedagogy second. I also like the way graduate students have been
incorporated fully into the project, helping them develop new
skills and
mature as designers. Darren Cambridge, who presented Learning
Record
Online to the judges, is an excellent example.
This technological
environment has a specific purpose in that it builds
meaningful reflection or learning, and it includes a lot of scaffolding
for
students. The instructor interface is really nice. There needs
to be more
instructor support.
The technology enables
the keeping of learning records, which promote
reflection and an informed sense of pedagogy, and, therefore,
this is a
great idea. Can these learning records be updated?
The audience for this
technology is rhetoric and composition
practitioners, but there is potential for interdisciplinary research.
The
interface is easy to navigate, but the technological environment
does
require some conceptual instruction before the user will understand
the
purpose behind the sequence of assignments.
The Learning Record
Online is soundly-based on assessment theory. It
encourages careful reflection on the part of students, involving
them in
meaningful ways in their own learning processes. I can imagine
this
technology being used specifically in public schools by impacting
educational practice in these settings with good, reliable, and
valid
evaluation. I would like for the designers to think more about
the fact
that the interface is particular to the learning record: 1. The
icons
don't seem to have any clear graphic referent, and I'm wondering
if the
graphic could fit the function of the icon more. 2. The environment
requires a special knowledge of the Learning Record and the Learning
Record
terminology, and I'm wondering if more of an introduction to the
uses and
possibilities of the modules could help various kinds of users
see the
Learning Record's potential as a reflective educational environment.
The technology is intuitive;
it is smooth yet is a powerful
behind-the-scenes teaching tool. Part A,B,C are a little unclear,
as are
the boxy buttons. Perhaps these could be labeled more directly?
This
technology has great potential for portfolio keeping, collection
and
reflection throughout the semester, and thus, has great pedagogical
use.
The public record
of class activities and self-evaluation of students is
very useful to get students to be active learners involved with
their work
and their learning environment. The ability to have teachers view
across
other Learning Records is also a valuable way of sharing student
learning
practices with other teachers. The user interface is clean but
somewhat
uninviting: it's difficult to know what is possible and to find
what I
wanted to do from looking at it even though I knew it was possible.
Once
that is made more clear, I can see that this technology will be
applicable
to many educational contexts.
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