Paper Title
Show Me What You Know: E-Portfolio to Reflect Kindergarten Students' Cognitive And Metacognitive Outcomes
Abstract
The aim of this study is to contribute to the building of challenging and supportive learning environments in which kindergarten children can acquire academic knowledge and skills. The study investigates the impact of ICT-aided ePortfolio on the improvement of children�s performance of cognitive and metacognitive tasks in Kuwaiti kindergartens. The primary data were collected through individual observation of each child (N=22), which was carried out by two classroom teachers using a form designed to mark indicators reflecting children's metacognitive performance. In addition, content analysis of children's e-portfolios was carried out to gauge their mastery of kindergarten curriculum content. The results show that the use of an ICT-aided learning environment to complete the e-Portfolio helped children improve their knowledge and skills in line with the kindergarten's expectations. The gender of the student did not create a significant difference in these outcomes. Boys and girls showed similar capacities for building e-Portfolio artifacts. But in both cases, outcomes were significantly affected by level of parental engagement.
Key words- learning environment, Authentic assessment, Teaching and learning science, Active learning, Computers, Educational technology.