Keeping all learners engaged over the learning process is one of the challenges remote instruction has brought with the global COVID-19 pandemic. Common difficulties instructors have experienced in this process pertain to the social integration of the learners and finding performance-based alternatives to the representations of learning, which has largely been limited to the test scores and grades in many online classrooms. However, intentional use of strategies for making learning visible in and beyond online classrooms can be an effective way to address these challenges posed by the remote instruction modality.

Making Learning Visible

“Visible learning” is a concept based on the theory that learning can be demonstrated in a variety of ways. Reviewing the research in the literature, the education researcher Hattie (2009) explained the process of making learning visible as follows:

“Visible teaching and learning occurs when learning is the explicit goal, when it is appropriately challenging, when the teacher and the student both (in their various ways) seek to ascertain whether and to what degree the challenging goal is attained, when there is deliberate practice aimed at attaining mastery of the goal, when there is feedback given and sought, and when there are active, passionate, and engaging people (teacher, student, peers, and so on) participating in the act of learning” (p. 22).

Promoting visible learning in language classrooms can also be possible through the connection of instructional goals with personal experiences. To this end, the use of digital portfolios can provide learners with an owned space where they can effectively engage in meaningful reflections over their learning process and their work. By storing their artifacts in a digital format regularly, learners can holistically demonstrate the learning they experienced, internalize what they have learned, and take ownership of their experiences. Like paper-based portfolios, digital portfolios function as storage systems where students purposefully collect, select and organize the outcomes of their learning process along with their reflections on the artifacts and their experiences, but through a variety of media sources. In other words, portfolios can make the learning process more personalized and visible in and beyond the online classrooms.

Digital Portfolio Platforms

Google Sites

Students can create their engaging digital portfolios on Google Sites by simply choosing one of the site templates. It quickly provides a simple interface to craft narrative student portfolios by adding a variety of multimedia materials, and it seamlessly integrates them with other Google products. Students can build their portfolios on Google Sites, regularly update them by adding their language learning artifacts along with their reflections, and share them with their teachers and peers. It is important to note that Google Sites, as a portfolio platform, does not contain a feedback feature, even though it does enable real time collaboration through editable access. Given that the purpose of this tool is to make learning visible with this tool, it is important to use it more like learning portfolios illustrating the language learning process. To this end, learning portfolios require regular updates and continuous constructive feedback. To compensate for this drawback, instructors can utilize Screencastify, which is a Chrome extension screen-recording tool. It provides video feedback on student work so that they can concentrate their efforts on their progress over the course of a semester.

VoiceThread

VoiceThread learning portfolios can be considered an alternative to Google Sites to make learning visible in remote learning as well as in face-to-face instruction. VoiceThread offers a student-owned platform on which learners can demonstrate their progress by sharing each piece of work in the learning process and narrating personal reflections in the form of an audio recording or video. Furthermore, it allows learners to interact through text and video messages annotating the content. This comment feature also simplifies the feedback process, which can promote continuous improvement, for the instructors. All in all, VoiceThread learning portfolios can be an effective tool in making learning visible in language classrooms by providing the room for practicing both receptive and productive language skills meaningfully in collaboration with the whole class community.

WordPress

WordPress, a widely known software solely for blogs, is one of the best options that can replace or complement VoiceThread, especially in higher education classroom settings. First of all, it offers more professional-looking digital portfolio sites. Second, building student portfolios on WordPress is very straightforward. On the other hand, even if WordPress was not originally designed for education, it can enable an authentic learning experience as learners are supposed to craft their blogs as digital portfolios. Thus, students can gain experience of a widely used platform by producing individualized content and exploring digital citizenship in an authentic and ongoing way while practicing language skills beyond the classroom. Furthermore, this platform allows them to gather feedback within and beyond the learning community.

To sum up, all these Web 2.0 tools provide opportunities for language learners in online language classrooms to make their learning and themselves visible by creating media-rich and individualized digital portfolios. To make the right choice, instructors should review the multistep process of incorporating the digital portfolios into the language classrooms to see the overall picture and check the portfolio tool options that would better meet the needs of their students and educational contexts.

Implementing Digital Portfolios into Online Learning Environments

In order to decide on the most appropriate portfolio platform to use, instructors should clearly communicate the goal of utilizing digital portfolios in the learning process to their learners. It is the well-crafted portfolios that provide students with a longitudinal and portable online space in which they can store products of their learning and share their reflections with teachers, advisers, peers, and prospective employers (Sparrow & Török, 2018, p. 184). Furthermore, it is important to guide students through well-designed tasks that encourage reflective thinking while they add their artifacts. Otherwise, students are more likely to hand in a typical portfolio by simply gathering a selection of their best work without making an effort of critical and thoughtful reflection. Some example questions that can foster reflective thinking may include

• What was the activity you liked most this week? Why?
• What were the challenges you experienced while learning grammar/vocabulary this week? How did you overcome these challenges?
• What were the strategies you used? Any suggestions to your friends experiencing similar challenges?
• What did you learn about American culture this week?
• Have you done further research?
• What could be one thing that you would do differently this week that would affect your learning positively?

By answering some of these questions at the end of each week in a paragraph or video format and illustrating learning outcomes on their digital portfolios, they can truly reflect on what they have accomplished in the learning process and increase the visibility of their learning.

For the next step, instructors can prepare a peer evaluation sheet based on the guidelines shared with the students, start the week by letting students present their portfolios, and then receive peer and teacher feedback to improve their work. Seeing other examples will inspire them while sharing the details will contribute to the collective knowledge of the learning community. This can place the emphasis on the ongoing learning process rather than the judgment about the quality of the end products learners create.

Conclusion

Digital portfolios have great potential to make learners’ intellectual efforts visible, especially in remote instruction. Introducing digital portfolios in an online classroom can enable learners to authentically engage with learning materials (Conrad & Openo, 2018), illustrate the path of their own language learning experiences, and provide concrete evidence of progress learners have made toward the learning goals. However, it is important to highlight that only purposeful integration of digital portfolios can provide a consistent system for online instruction that acknowledges the students’ progress and personalized learning opportunities. The crucial point to keep in mind is that instructors should find the right digital portfolio tool to aid the language learning process and relevant pedagogy to thoroughly develop well-constructed and process-centered portfolio tasks to further promote the benefits.

References

Conrad, D., & Openo, J. (2018). Assessment Strategies for online learning: Engagement and authenticity. AU Press.

Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge.

Sparrow, J.& Török, J. (2018). ePortfolios. In Linder, KE, & Mattison, HC (Eds). High-Impact practices in online education: Research and best practices. Stylus Publishing, LLC.

Tuğba Yıldırım Kumbasar is an instructor at Sabancı University. A former Fulbright scholar at Brown University in the U.S., she holds an M.A. in Turkish Language Education from Yıldız Technical University, and currently pursues her doctoral studies in the Educational Sciences Ph.D. Program at Boğaziçi University in İstanbul, Turkey.