Metacognition is important. Reflection is at heart of metacognitive development.
Teachers
Immersive STEAM is developing an app called Learning Logger. Learning Logger helps teachers and students reflect. Learning Logger will provide support for users to reflect digitally. Initially, reflections will use text. Later versions will allow you to include illustrations, graphic organizers and/or multimedia in reflections. Since the entries are digital, they can be easily searched and sorted. The entries could be sorted chronologically, by strategy, or by lesson. In the first release, Learning Logger will be targeted to teachers for their own reflection. Subsequent releases will support students at they reflect. With additional optional tags, reflection entries could be further categorized
- by subject (content area),
- by type of entry (when it occurred in the lesson – before, during, or after content instruction),
- by type of prompt (think back, think forward, think inward, think outward),
- by planning phase (what?, so what?, now what?)
- or even by learner or teacher custom categories.
You and your learners are only limited by time and imagination. In later releases, you will be able to hyperlink to and from any reflection entry. Thus, reflections can be connected to digital portfolios, blog discussions, or classroom websites. The possibilities are infinite. As a teacher, you can provide hints to your learners to coach them on their thinking. You also can provide feedback to learners on their reflections. With appropriate security, your learners can also provide hints, coaching, and feedback to their peers and parents can provide encouragement to their child. The app will also include a bank of resources to make instruction in metacognitive development even easier.
Learning Logger is free, so click the button below to start using it now!
