Kathy W.

Dlugonski
HPL 730/740
Symposium Reflection

Reflection

As I began synthesizing the information and projects that were included in HPL 730 and
HPL 740, I realized that in completing those assignments I was becoming a scholar-practitioner. I
began to imagine a learning environment that was learner-centered. This would be an
environment where students would engage in activities that were of interest to them. It would be
an environment where the students were supported by teachers, staff, technology, and any kind of
learning tool necessary to inspire and meet the needs of the learner. I became inspired by various
innovators in education. I was thrilled to learn about Gever Tulley and the magnificent school he
develop: Brightworks. In my High Performance Learning environment at St. Alphonsus, I
imagined a similar experience for the students. Students would engage in exploration of a theme.
Students would interact with their peers, professionals, and educational staff and then declare a
learning path that they wished to explore further and develop some type of expression of that
knowledge. This expression would be one that met competencies. The competencies would be
developed by the educational staff. I envisioned a collaboration amongst the students,
educational staff, and professionals to assist in this trek to seek further knowledge. These social
interactions would also be informative and a time to for educators to make formative assessments
and redirect the learner if there were gaps in the learning. Feedback would be immediate from
educational staff. It would also be a time for the learner to self-reflect using learning logs. The
learners peers would be models of knowledge. They could help each other along their learning
pathways utilizing digital technologies and various learning tools. The learner takes ownership
of his/her learning. Gever Tulley shared three phases of the learning arc. The final phase was

exposition. This type of summative assessment allowed me to envision students sharing their
expressions of knowledge with each other and the public would produce a learner with selfconfidence and the motivation to become life-long learners. These students would also be able to
keep this product in a digital portfolio. This portfolio would be a compilation of learning that
could be shared with parents, future schools, friends, and fellow peers. A quality digital portfolio
mirrors quality assessment where the learning process is central and evidence is gathered to
inform teaching and learning in meaningful ways (Fadum, 2015). In this Fadems blog she shares
an acronym for digital portfolios: FRAME, formative, relevant, accessible, meaningful, and
engaging. In my exploration of knowledge within HPL 730/740, I also became aware
comprehensive assessment from Linda Darling Hammond. She stated, When integrated into
regular classroom practice, high-quality assessment that combines rubrics, self-and peerassessment strategies and formative assessment can improve writing and critical- thinking skills;
support engagement and academic performance in a range of subjects; and be the most costeffective educational intervention (Hammond, 2015). Further reflection on gaming theories have
allowed me to realize that there is benefit to gaming. I had never thought of all the problemsolving or how new learning pathways were being developed in the brain. As a scholarpractitioner, I am, like the students in High Performance Learning environments taking
ownership of my learning.