How do digital portfolios impact student engagement in a second grade math classroom?

Seminar Title

How do digital portfolios impact student engagement in a second grade math classroom?

Digital Portfolios

2nd Grade

2nd Grade

Mathematics

Language Arts

Are you looking for a way to keep students intrigued, parents involved and give you a better picture of how every student in your math classroom is doing? Through my research, I have found that the Seesaw digital portfolio app helps achieve all three of those goals along with many others. While my research was conducted in my 2nd grade classroom, I see this application as a valuable addition to any classroom PreK-12. If you're looking for a effective and simple way to enhance student engagement in your classroom, this is the session for you.

The question guiding my research is as follows: How will the use of digital portfolios impact student engagement in my second grade math classroom. After researching and reviewing many different pieces of educational literature I generated five areas of impact on student engagement I wanted to focus on monitoring while implementing my action research plan: technology, communication, involvement, differentiation, and reflection. The digital portfolio platform that I chose to implement in my classroom was an application called Seesaw. I wanted to see how having students use a technological tool to show their learning would increase their engagement. I also wanted to see how the use of the app by the teacher, students and parents would engage students by providing better and more timely communication along with encouraging more parental involvement in their students’ learning. In the area of differentiation, the app provided me with opportunities to meet the individualized needs and learning styles of each of my students which would hopefully keep them engaged in what they were learning. Keeping work on a digital platform provided opportunities for students to reflect on their learning and engage in their work through deeper thinking processes. My research has shown me the positive impact digital portfolios can have on students’ engagement and their learning in the math classroom. Data collected from student observations along with parent and student questionnaires has shown me how digital portfolios create a more open line of communication between school and home. Academic conversations are now occurring at home and parents are more aware of what their child is learning in the classroom and they are able to ask deeper questions about that learning once students get home. Students are excited to have the opportunity to show their learning using technology and I feel like the use of technology has allowed me to monitor and respond to each of my students more frequently and provide them with prompts to help them in reflecting on their learning. After seeing how the use of the Seesaw app has helped to increase student motivation in my mathematics classroom, I am looking forward to implementing the use of Seesaw into other academic subjects in my room. I’d also like to continue my research to find different activities and ideas for how to use Seesaw to further engage students in my math classroom.