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Reflect’s Hall of Mirrors

By Samantha Ahern, on 31 January 2020

Reflect is UCL’s educational blogging service. It is a WordPress-based platform, hosted by CampusPress. Although Reflect is the educational blogging service, it can be utilised in a number of different ways by both staff and students for teaching and learning purposes. The flexibility of the WordPress platform enable Reflect sites to be structured in any of the following ways, as both individual and class sites:

  • As a traditional blog
  • As a website built from a number of static pages
  • As a website built from a number of static pages with an incorporated public or private blog

In addition these sites can be public, private or accessible to a selected group of users.

Why use Reflect for teaching and learning?

Reflect can be used to support all six dimensions of the Connected Curriculum:Connected Curriculum framework diagram

  1. Students connect with researchers and with the institution’s research.
  2. A through-line of research activity is built into each programme.
  3. Students make connections across subjects and out to the world.
  4. Students connect academic learning with skills for the workplaces.
  5. Students learn to produce outputs – assessments directed at an audience.
  6. Students connect with each other, across phases and with alumni.

 

Reflect could be incorporated into teaching and learning, including assessment in the following ways.

Traditional blogs could be used to:

Example activity: Connected Curriculum Dimension:
Reflect on readings throughout a module or course 1, 2, 4
Maintain a reflective journal e.g. of teaching practice experience 2, 3, 4
Maintain a lab notebook or project journal 1, 2, 4
Produce a short form essay linking learning to current affairs 1, 3, 4

Websites could be used to:

Example activity: Connected Curriculum Dimension:
Co-produce a website on a set topic for a specified audience 1, 3, 4
Produce a showcase portfolio of work 4
Produce an open resource for specified audience 3, 4, 5
Facilitating a citizen science project 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Websites with blogs could be used to:

Example activity: Connected Curriculum Dimension:
Create an evidence portfolio for professional practice and  maintain a reflective journal 1, 2, 3,  4, 5
Create a website to share research project outcomes and maintain a project journal / notebook 1, 2, 4, 5

For a discussion on the use of UCL Reflect for the creation of portfolios, please see: Creating digital portfolios

How is Reflect being used for teaching and learning?

Since its launch Digital Education have sought to work with colleagues from across the institution to support the use of Reflect for teaching and learning, enhancing their digital pedagogy toolkit and the student experience.

To date, two events have been held to showcase the use of Reflect and to facilitate knowledge exchange between colleagues who are currently using and would like to use Reflect.

The first event organised by colleagues in the Arena Centre for research-based education, the Showcase Portfolio event, was held in the North Cloisters on 28 May 2019. The aim of this event was to provide students and staff with an opportunity to see examples of how blogging can be used for educational, professional and personal purposes.

This event was preceeding by a blog post and a case study where colleagues shared how they were using Reflect with their students:

The second event, Teaching and Learning with Reflect, was held in the Christopher Ingold Building on 12 December 2019. At this event staff shared their experiences of using Reflect for teaching and learning with their respective cohorts.

For a  write-up of the event please see: Tutor’s experience of using UCL Reflect with students

More information about UCL Reflect, including FAQs, can be found in the Reflect Blogging Resource Centre. In addition, you may wish to join the Reflect User Group on Microsoft Teams. In this team, colleagues across the institution share news, experiences and related readings to the use of UCL Reflect.

 

 

 

 

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