OZCHI Doctoral Colloquium 2003 Supporting Reflection and Learning with New Technology

Reflection is considered to be an important part of the learning process, especially when learning from experience, developing the skills of professional practice and for the development of meta-cognitive skills which are said to enhance learning. Recently there has been increased exploration into the ways technology can be used to support reflection in these areas (Loh et al., 1997; Seale, 1998). There has also been exploration into how technology can be used to support reflection in other ways for other purposes, for example some pieces of interactive art claim to provoke reflection in a contemplative way, where the viewer is not asked to learn anything, just consider and enjoy this process (Gaver, Beaver, & Benford, 2003; Höök, Sengers, & Andersson, 2003). I am interested to investigate whether these techniques can be employed to support reflection and learning using new interactive technologies in a way that has been little explored in the literature so far. Where it has been touched on, there is little explanation or understanding of why or what the reflection being supported is, and how that in turn is supporting learning.