Journals allow learners to express their thoughts and feelings about what they are learning. There are generally two kinds of journals used in assessment.
Learners may want to keep a personal or reflective journal in which they reflect on their learning and its impact on their lives. They may or may not wish to share parts of it with others.
A dialogue journal is one in which a learner and instructor or tutor write back and forth to each other. The topics of reflection and discussion are chosen by learners and their instructors together. Dialogue journals can also be formed between two or more learners.
Journals do not always have to be written in notebooks. They can be spoken onto cassette, videotaped, or emailed. They can include artwork or diagrams as well as words and phrases. Journals can express the full extent of the imagination of the people using them.