Reflection using mobile portfolios during teaching internships: tracing the influence of mentors and peers on teacher self-efficacy

Digital portfolios offer opportunities for reflection and collaboration in teacher education. However, the affordances of mobile devices have scarcely been explored in this context. A mixed-methods study was conducted wherein 44 student teachers collaboratively used a mobile portfolio app for reflection with peer students and mentors during teaching internships. The analysis focused on the collaborative content of mobile portfolios and its relationship with self-reported outcomes after the internship. The results showed that portfolios often included multimedia records (i.e. pictures, video and audio) of student activity in the classroom and written reflections on teaching strategies. Mentors recorded more videos in portfolios, while peer records varied and correlated with student teachers' self-efficacy gains. Cluster analysis showed higher teacher self-efficacy gains when all collaborators actively contributed to the portfolios. These findings highlight the importance of mentors and peers when using mobile devices for reflection during teacher education internships.