Use of Web-Based Portfolios as Tools for Reflection in Preservice Teacher Education

Abstract

This mixed-methods study examined the use of web-based portfolios for developing preservice teachers’ reflective skills. Building on the work of previous research, the authors proposed a set of reflection-based tasks to enrich preservice teachers’ internship experiences. Their purpose was to identify (a) whether preservice teachers demonstrated evidence of reflective thinking throughout a semester and, if so, the types of reflective thinking indicators; (b) whether there was an increase in the number of high-level reflective indicators over time; and (c) the role of the web-based portfolio construction, as perceived by the participants, in developing reflective skills. The findings suggested that preservice teachers demonstrated high- and low-level reflective skills throughout a semester. There was a statistically significant improvement in the number of high-level reflective indicators in the second reflection task compared with the first. In addition, the web-based platform was perceived by participants as a medium that enabled easy access and the development of better portfolio artifacts.