Abstract
Introduction
The use of portfolio assessment has been shown to promote learning and self-regulation in English language writing classrooms (Mak and Wong, 2017). Research has shown that constructing a portfolio can be an ‘empowering activity’ putting the English learner in charge of their learning, including setting individual goals, selecting work that demonstrates their learning and reflecting on their progress and output (Mak and Wong, 2017: 49).
A traditional paper-based writing portfolio involves a student compiling and organizing a collection of texts over time that showcases the ‘student’s effort, progress and achievements’ (Lam and Lee, 2010: 54). The portfolio could include written goals, samples of work and reflections. These are shared with teachers, peers and family members as evidence of learning. With the development of e-learning technologies, there are now a number of digital learning platforms that teachers and students can use to capitalize on and extend the benefits of portfolio assessment as well as develop students’ twenty-first century skills (Chu et al., 2016). Digital learning platforms provide students with a space to create and collect multimodal texts, such as videos and annotated photos but they also provide real time interaction with peers. Popular platforms include Moodle, Google Classroom and Edmodo. These differ from social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, as they are specifically designed for educational purposes. They provide a closed space overseen by the teacher without advertisements or distractors and do not have an age-restriction on their use.
Seesaw is a digital platform specifically designed for learners aged four to 18 (Seesaw, 2018). Seesaw is different from other digital platforms as it is free, has an easy to use interface and does not require a username or password. The platform also allows students to share their portfolios and work with family members and the wider community. These features make it ideal for use with kindergarten, primary and secondary school English language students. This tech review provides an overview of Seesaw’s features and potential uses in the English language classroom, followed by a reflection on its use with pre-service and in-service English language primary and secondary teachers during a course at my university.
Overview
Seesaw is available online through Chrome or Firefox and on most mobile devices, including iOS, Android, Kindle Fire and Chromebook devices. Once registered at https://app.seesaw.me/#/login, teachers can easily set up a class page and invite students to join. When a class is set up, a QR code is generated. Students can scan the code to access the class anywhere and at any time. This makes it possible for the same devices to be used in multiple classes or for devices to be shared amongst learners. Older learners can use a Google account or e-mail to log in (this increases the class’s security). Once students enter a class, they can create work directly on Seesaw in various formats, including videos, photos, texts, drawings and links. They can also import documents either from Google or from their device. Photos and drawings can be annotated with captions, labels and audio-recordings. These are posted into the students’ own learning journal and can be organized into folders for different tasks or projects. The work is instantly viewable by the student and teacher. This empowers students to explore the best way to present their work and demonstrate their learning (Seesaw, 2018).
Once students have posted their work, the teacher can approve it and it becomes viewable on the class journal for other students to ‘like’ or comment on. Students can make written or audio-recorded comments. This creates lively interaction amongst peers and opportunities for peer-to-peer dialogue and feedback. Teachers can choose whether they want to approve every comment or allow students to comment freely. Students and teachers can continually review the journals to observe progress and growth over a period of time (Seesaw, 2018). Students can be encouraged to revise and improve their work and post multiple drafts of their work in response to peer and teacher feedback. This process encourages students to produce their best work (Moorhouse, 2016).
In addition to providing a platform for students to post self-selected work, Seesaw allows teachers to create activities for students to complete. The platform includes some ready-made activities, such as, ‘Classmate compliments’, ‘Describe yourself’ and ‘My goals’. These require students to respond in different ways, such as making a video to introduce themselves or adding labels to a photo to compliment a classmate. Teachers can create their own activities with written or audio instructions. These are then placed on the Seesaw class for students to complete. These activities can be used to guide and focus students’ learning.
Seesaw provides a bridge between school and home. Students’ families can be invited to view their children’s journals as well as ‘like’ and comment on their work. Built-in translation tools help family members who do not speak English to participate and engage with their children’s learning (Seesaw, 2018). Teachers can approve everything before it is viewable by family members. Family members can see what their children are learning and engage meaningfully in the learning process (Seesaw, 2018).
A public or closed blog connected to other classes in the school, country or world can be created. This offers learners authentic audiences beyond their teachers, peers and family members (Seesaw, 2018). A real audience for students’ work is seen as an important factor in increasing English language learners’ motivation to create texts and builds their audience awareness (Moorhouse, 2016).
In the English language classroom, Seesaw has benefits that traditional paper-based portfolios cannot provide. It creates an engaging reason to use language and create texts as well as opportunities for low-pressure peer and teacher feedback. By offering different ways for students to demonstrate learning and comment on work, students’ diverse interests and needs can be better catered for. With various levels of control available to teachers, the platform can be both a safe space to share work as well as a space that promotes spontaneous interaction in English amongst peers.
Along with its clear benefits as a portfolio assessment tool, Seesaw has the potential to develop students’ twenty-first century skills, including critical thinking, communication, digital citizenship, creativity, self-regulation and reflection (Seesaw, 2018).
Reflection
This academic year, I trialed Seesaw in a course for pre-service and in-service primary and secondary English language teachers entitled, ‘Materials development in English language education’. Although the platform is designed to be used with kindergarten, primary and secondary school students, I used it in the course as it gave the students the chance to ‘learn by doing’ and evaluate the platform’s potential for use in their classrooms. Students created a portfolio of their group work, including the development of their principled criteria for material evaluation and development, suggestions for material adaption and examples of materials they created. In my experience, I found Seesaw to be a versatile platform which allowed us to review previous content and instantly share our ideas and work. It also helped to facilitate sharing and feedback amongst groups. A particularly popular feature was photo annotation. Students took photos of materials they were evaluating or creating and annotated them showing where improvements could be made. My students responded positively to its use and could see its application in their English language classrooms. However, they raised contextual obstacles to its use, such as a lack of fast Wi-Fi, an insufficient number of mobile devices and short lessons in schools.
Conclusion
Seesaw has great potential for portfolio assessment. The basic version of Seesaw is available free of charge. Two subscription versions are available, Seesaw Plus (US$120 per teacher per year) and Seesaw for Schools (quotation available on request). These versions come with additional features such as assessment tools and options for teachers to write and organize notes about their learners’ progress. Visit https://web.seesaw.me/pricing/ for more details on pricing.
The Seesaw website has a comprehensive ‘Help Center’ with step-by-step instructions and how-to videos on Seesaw’s functions (Visit https://help.seesaw.me/hc/en-us for the Help Center). For teacher educators, Seesaw has developed a ‘Seesaw Interactive Training’ presentation that can be downloaded and used in professional development sessions (the presentation can be downloaded from the following link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1cP6Q1l66akZxj52i6mge5A0kcCYXQMRgwoUGr6O9nPU/edit#slide=id.p)
