Feedback

The Shape of Words Conveyed Online

Feedback is one of the most important mechanisms of support teachers can lend students. It comes in a range of forms, from the written word to grades, from the spoken word to emotional cues. In an online setting, these various forms require a measured dose of care because in online settings the student receives teacher feedback without the physical presence of the teacher. Therefore, it is important that when we are providing feedback to students we consider the meaning between the words and the emotions we convey through our communications.

3 Tips for Providing Relationship-Building Feedback

Here are a few simple things to be mindful of when providing students with feedback:

Content is critical! Be clear in what you are discussing (rubrics are useful!) and how it connects to the student's work
Timing is king! Do not wait too long to provide students with feedback - it diminishes the impact and the student's motivation to respond/react
Delivery is important! Make sure that when you speak your body language and posture match the message you are trying to convey

The follow two videos demonstrate how body language speaks volumes in an online setting:

The good thing about sending video feedback is that it is that is it authentic

The bad thing about video is that it is authentic! - Students can feel like they are getting yelled, and they don’t have a way to respond

Audio Feedback Can Be Just as Powerful as Video

Sometimes, audio feedback may be a suitable way, if not a better way, to provide students with feedback. This is because if you provide the student with just audio, they can feel free to take notes, or view the work you are discussing in your audio without having to follow along visually. They can also listen to audio feedback while they are driving or in other situations where they need to focus their visual attention away from you.

This video (though 8-min long) provides some great tips on providing good quality audio feedback to students:

Audio Feedback Makes for Good Connections

Your natural voice and tone is what helps the student to make connections -- you don’t have to sound perfect! That makes it unauthentic. Plus;

Audio feedback can save you time
Students can listen to it when they want to and don’t have to sit and watch
Students can play it and take notes at the same time

Screencasting is a form of video/audio

Screencasting is an easy way to record your feedback, while you're "walking" through the students work on the screen. Here is an example from a screencast I did to review a student's work:

Example Screencast.mov

Your Turn to Practice

Now, try your hand at using a free audio recorder. You can use Audacity (but you'll have to download it first)

-- OR --

Try one of the simplest audio recording tools available for free - Vocaroo

First, click on the red button to begin recording
Next, at the prompt, "Allow" Vocaroo to access your camera and microphone
Then, begin speaking
When done, click "Stop" and then "Listen" to hear your recording
Finally, copy the URL and paste where the student will access it

Reflect

Once you've tried out Vocaroo, post some ideas of how you think you - or your students - could use this tool: Padlet Audio

(Click on the + button on the bottom right corner to add your content)

More tools

Access more tools for feedback from the Resources page

Google Sites

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