The student summarizes their experience using various technologies for a research project. Symbaloo was easy to use and helpful for organizing research. Scoop.It was difficult to find specific information for the research topic. Videos, interviews, and documentaries provided a good change of pace and showed the seriousness of opinions. Wikispace was very convenient for submitting all work in one place. Wordpress added extra writing that was not very helpful and felt like a distraction. Overall, the student-centered approach provided choice but also stress due to time management. For future students, making websites optional is suggested, as setting them up took time but was not always useful. The exposure to research databases and Symbaloo for organizing

1. Summative Reflection:
Comment on each of the technologies we implemented, making sure to touch upon ease of use, quality
of information gathered, and potential for further use:
PLE:
Symbaloo was very easy to use and should be part of the next research project. It’s just an easier way to
organize your thoughts and data.
Scoop It:
Didn’t really help me that much, but it was difficult to find specific pieces of data for my topic since it
was a question and not just a broad subject. I don’t think it would have hurt if I didn’t have to set it up.
Videos/Interviews/Documentaries:
I thought the videos and interviews were a nice way to change up the black and white research we
usually do. At least for me, hearing the tone of someone’s voice as they speak their views shows how
serious they are about their opinion on a topic. Since we found everything on the internet anyway, the
videos should remain as a part of the research.
Wikispace:
The idea of submitting everything in one place was very convenient and even environmentally friendly
since we didn’t have to submit anything on paper. This should definitely be an integral part of research
projects in the future.
Wordpress:
I wasn’t a big fan of doing the extra writing, but I did get my questions answered. It would just be easier
to ask questions in class. It turned out to not be too time-consuming, but having it linger in your mind
while you wrote was not helpful.
To what extent did this type of learning (completely student-centered with teacher as facilitator rather
than focus; self-guided; choice-based) result in a meaningful learning experience for you? Please
explain. Remember that we fully understand the limitations and stress that came as a result of trying to
do this project in so little time at the end of the year. We appreciate your willingness and your
enthusiasm, and we even appreciate your candor in evaluating the process. That being said, what
suggestions can you make that will help us refine this assignment for future students? What did you like
best? What did you not like? {We know more time, and not at the end of the year; you don’t need to
tell us that!}
Having the option to write about anything you want gives all of the choice to the student. When
you factor in time management with open periods to work, it really changes the way the student learns.

2. I like being able to pick a topic I was interested in and then just made sure I didn’t procrastinate too
much. It was a little nerve-racking having all of that work and stress built up on myself, but it was
different and I always like to do different types of things in school. One thing I recommend for future
students is to make the websites we had to set-up optional. I didn’t like spending time to set-up a
website that I ended up not using or it not helping me. I really liked the symbaloo and the exposure to
the many databases. I’ve never heard of some of the databases I used, so I’m glad they were shown to
me because they were essential to my research. The symbaloo was also a nice way to organize
everything instead of having dozens of papers cluttered in a folder. The only thing I didn’t appreciate
doing was the blogs and setting up websites like Scoop.It.