Laila Taylor

ITEC Portfolio Artifact Reflection

Standard 2.3 Authentic Learning:

Candidates model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to engage students
in authentic learning experiences.
1. Briefly describe the artifact and the context in which it was created. What was/were
your individual contribution(s)?
This artifact was created as an Engaged Learner project that has a LoTi level of 5 and
falls in the Expansion category. My engaged learning project was designed to be a
culminating activity at the end of a large unit on the human body systems. My 7th grade
students worked together in groups to research a topic of their choosing: drugs, alcohol,
obesity, or smoking and how this substance or lifestyle can have damaging effects on
different systems in your body. The students took on the role of a health professional to
conduct research they used this information to create a public service announcement in
which they warn fellow peers their age. This was a nine day project that I created and my
classes actually completed it as a summative assessment. There are 42 videos created by
my students that can be viewed on my school media specialists, Lindsey Martins
YouTube channel titled Alcohol Awareness, Alcohol, Drugs, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/user/LRaulersonLHS/videos?sort=dd&view=0&shelf_id=0

2. Explain how this artifact demonstrates mastery of the standard/element under which it
is placed.
This artifact demonstrates my ability to create a project for students
that meets Standard 2.3 because my students used digital tools and
resources to create an authentic product. The public service
announcement project meets a LoTi Level 5; Expansion because it is
authentic, student directed, and culturally responsive. This project is
authentic because the students produce a product that their peers
would care about and it creates a positive effect or change: they use
technology that professionals would use. The students were also able
to interview professionals such as the school resource officer, school
nurse, and a local family practice physician to obtain background

Laila Taylor

ITEC Portfolio Artifact Reflection

research to include in their projects. The project is Student directed

because the students decided their topic, format, environment and
viewpoint for their video. The students collaborated together based on
what they learned about organ systems, S7L2, to create a solution to a
real world problem such as alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, and obesity and
the effects that those have on organ systems. The student groups had
a target audience for their projects, which was the entire school since
their videos would air on the school news after the projects were
complete as well as the school You Tube page. The project was
culturally responsive because the audience is their peers and the
topics are issues that they will all soon face pressures about. Below is
a list of how students used digital tools and resources as well as what
indicators the tool was used for:

IPads- used to record the student groups videos (Engaged Learning indicator
Student as Explorer)
Chrome books- used for research (Engaged Learning Indicator- Collaborative,
Standards based, and Seamless )
Google docs- used to share research and script rough drafts with group members
and teacher (Engaged Learning Indicator Collaborative, Student directed, and
Multi-disciplinary)
IMovie- used to edit videos (Engaged Learning Indicator- Student as Producer,
challenging)
YouTube- used to upload and publish videos (Engaged Learning IndicatorAuthentic/Meaningful and Student as Explorer )

3. What did you learn from completing this artifact? What would you do differently to
improve the quality of the artifact or the process involved in creating the artifact?
Completing this artifact helped me to really think through every step that the students
would be participating in when working on the project and to see if they were using
technology to help increase rigor and higher level thinking skills. I have often times
created a project and thought about the end result but missed the mark of assessing
whether or not the technology used enhanced the learning throughout the assignment.
Using the LoTi indicators to measure the project ensured the learning strategies used
would ensure that the project would be student-centered, higher-order thinking, and have
collaboration throughout. If I used this project again when teaching 7th grade science I

Laila Taylor

ITEC Portfolio Artifact Reflection

would add a multi-disciplinary component to it. The students could add in a

mathematical concept and social studies concept by using surveys of peers and collecting
and observing data that could be powerful to incorporate into the public service
announcement.
4. How did the work that went into creating the artifact impact school improvement,
faculty development, or student learning? How can the impact be assessed?
I felt like this project could be very impactful for a middle grades student to learn about
because these students are at a point in their lives where they are learning about their
changing bodies and beginning to be exposed to potentially harmful peer pressures. The
students were very engaged throughout the entire assignment and became passionate
about the stance that their group was presenting on. The students were motivated and
produced some excellent videos and most of that was because they felt like they had a
real audience beyond the teacher. The students videos were well received by the school,
several teachers were impressed with the videos that aired on the school news program
during homeroom. The students also posted their videos on the school You Tube channel
and were very excited by the number of views for their groups video.