FASES DEL PROYECTO DE INVESTIGACIÓN

The second major theme to emerge from the findings in relation to the first research question was the perceived value of online portfolios in terms of supporting learning. The findings showed that high SRL students perceived online portfolios to be more valuable in supporting their learning than low SRL students.

Their perceptions could be different because, as researchers have found, the process of online portfolio use is consistent with the ability to self-regulate and with higher motivation to learn (Abrami et al., 2008; Alexiou & Paraskeva, 2010; Chau & Cheng, 2010). The finding in this study suggested that, despite both high and low SRL groups

164 reporting that using online portfolios was made more difficult because of the technology, high SRL students were more likely to value the use of online portfolios for their learning and professional practice.

While not directly aimed at investigating the relationship between SRL skills and their perceptions of the usefulness of online portfolios, Segers, Gijbels, and Thurlings (2008) examined the correlation between science students’ perceptions of portfolio assessment and their learning approaches. They found that students’ perceptions of such assessment practices were related to their learning approach. Students who used a deep learning approach saw portfolio assessment as supporting their learning. They could carefully critique the feedback on their portfolios and make improvements based on the suggestions made. The deep learning approach occurs when students are intrinsically motivated to seek meaning and understanding of subject matter (Biggs, 1987). These findings were supported by the current study, which showed that using online portfolios was associated with students’ SRL and their self-motivational beliefs.

The findings from this study also showed that high SRL students said they enjoyed using online portfolios, which could indicate more intrinsic aspects of motivation to learn (Brophy, 2010). Zimmerman (1998b) suggested that skilful SRL students are intrinsically interested and continue making an effort to learn despite the presence of difficulties, whereas naive self-regulated learners are more likely to be uninterested and may avoid the difficult tasks.

Links can be made between Zimmerman’s conclusion and the findings of this study. For example, although high SRL students were willingly using online portfolios despite the technology difficulties, low SRL students seemed less likely to use them because of the time required and the stress it caused them.

165 Further, high SRL students perceived that using online portfolios helped them to support and enhance their learning. The students tended to consistently work with online portfolios, as they said they found using online portfolios enabled them to reflect on their own learning and therefore regulate it more effectively. This finding was consistent with other studies (Alexiou & Paraskeva, 2010; Davis, Ponnamperuma, & Ker, 2009; Lopez-Fernandez & Rodriguez-Illera, 2009; Wetzel & Strudler, 2006), which found that students generally perceive online portfolios to be useful for their study because using online portfolios promoted their learning skills and helped them to reflect on their work.

Reflection is one of the arguments for the use of portfolios (Jones, 2010), because it helps students to become critical thinkers (Abrami et al., 2008; Chau & Cheng, 2010; Riedinger, 2006). High SRL students seemed to understand that reflection was essential in the process of online portfolio use, which they thought was very important for keeping them focused on what they had learned and thinking about what they needed to improve.

In contrast, low SRL students, who reported that the online portfolio was a useful tool for keeping work together and sharing work with others, did not find it a useful tool for supporting their reflection or individual SRL strategies. Stefani et al. (2007) stated that while high achievers see benefits of using online portfolios immediately, low self- efficacious students might use online portfolios just for collecting their work. These findings appeared to concur with the findings for low SRL students in the current study. For example, one low SRL student reported that using online portfolios added extra work and another reported that it only helped to store and display work.

166 This evidence suggested that high SRL students tended to value the online portfolios to help them regulate their learning and they identified benefits relating to self-reflection. However, low SRL students seemed to believe that an online portfolio was a tool for keeping their work together and sharing it with others, but they did not identify the metacognitive aspects of self-reflection. They saw the online portfolios as a product (storage space) rather than as a process (self-reflective tool). Barrett (2000; 2010) proposed that an online portfolio was not just an electronic tool for collecting evidence on one’s learning (showcase/storage), but that it had real value in reflecting on the evidence, which was supposed to continue over time (workspace/process).

According to Barrett (2010), the use of online portfolios involved different levels of activity for learning. At the basic level, users regularly collected artefacts and stored them on the server, whereas at the next level, they focused on the documentation of learning and the processes involved in these products. This level involved the organisation and selection of learning outcomes, and the highest level involved retrospective reflection on why those outcomes were chosen, which ones should be highlighted, what they meant about the learning, and what more should be learnt. This level of reflection involved a high level of critical thinking.

The findings of this study suggested that the high SRL students were more likely to use online portfolios at the highest level, as they seemed to perceive that the real value of an online portfolio was that it documented, presented, and encouraged retrospective reflection on, of, and for their learning, whereas the low SRL students tended to use it at the basic level, as they saw it as a storage place for their work. Students with low SRL may need extra explanation on how to use an online portfolio as a tool to facilitate learning and reflection (workspace), rather than just as a showcase tool.

167 The findings of this study also showed that high SRL students tended to understand that using online portfolios was an ongoing process that was similar to the concept of lifelong learning – that learning never ends. Using online portfolios is believed to enhance lifelong learning skills (Heinrich, Bhattacharya, & Rayudu, 2007; Stefani et al., 2007).

Low SRL students, however, tended to think in different ways. For example, one low SRL student reported that using an online portfolio ‘de-regulated’ (this term was used by the student) her learning because it had no end point. This example showed that the low SRL students need to be taught to understand the affordances of online portfolio use, in that it is ongoing and can be used to support their lifelong learning skills, and that can be shown through their showcase and workspace achievements at any point in time. Mayer et al. (2010) pointed out that the process of portfolios was an ongoing one, consisting of the cycle of planning (goal setting), doing (producing), and reflecting (self-monitoring).

Further, high SRL students tended to be satisfied with the use of online portfolios, as they commented that they would continue using online portfolios for their professional practice, suggesting that they were adaptive learners (Zimmerman, 1998b; 2002). This finding was consistent with Zimmerman and Kitsantas (1997), who found that students who were satisfied with their writing performance believed in their ability to improve their writing in the future. However, low SRL students in this study seemed not to enjoy using online portfolios and tended not to see their relevance and usefulness. Consequently, the low SRL students may not choose an online portfolio as a tool to use during the course of their careers.

168 In summary, the findings of this study suggested that, in general, both high and low SRL students perceived that using online portfolios gave them opportunities to access and manipulate their personal profiles and artefacts to self-reflect as they developed more skills. However, while the low SRL students tended to use an online portfolio at a basic level just for collecting their work, the high SRL students seemed to use online portfolios to reflect on their achievements.

The positive attitude of this high SRL group indicated that they could see the usefulness of maintaining an online portfolio as both a showcase and workspace for their work in the future. They were more willing to engage in online portfolios in a professional context, and could do better at using them than those with low SRL. The findings from this study suggested that students who perceive online portfolios as being useful for their learning were more likely to be highly self-regulated. These two variables − SRL and the perceptions of the usefulness of online portfolios − are further examined as research question two is explored.