Who says
feedback can’t be Motivating, Involving & Xciting ???!!!
Revisiting
feedback with the aid of technology from
a personalized learning perspective.
Does the word
feedback conjure spine-chilling images of scraps of paper with red smudges,
stereotypical comments and a much awaited mark? And then a feeling of
bitterness on both sides?
On the students’
side, the feeling that it is only mistakes that are highlighted and there’s
rarely a word of encouragement or recognition of their hard work.
On the teacher’s
part, the feeling that endless hours of work are not spared more than a quick
glance at the grade and practically nobody paying attention to the corrections.
All the hard work going down the drain…
With few
exceptions this has been the picture so far. Yet technology can change the game
and motivate and involve learners through personal or group feedback. Below you
can read 3 ways that you can change the feedback you give to your students. My
students loved them and it is very easy to use
- . Use video and voice recording to give feedback.
- . Instead of spoon feeding your students, challenge them with a poll.
- . Create content with your students and then ask them to give you feedback on their product.
The tool I used is
called Office Mix. It is an add-on Add-on software that allows you to record what you have on your screen, record voice or
video and draw or underline. This process is called “screen casting” and there
are quite a few tools available on the market. Yet, what I found convenient with
Mix is that once downloaded, it is automatically added to the top menu bar
of your powerpoint and it is easy to use.
1. Most students
find personalized feedback in front of the class embarrassing and they would
like to have it in a more discreet way. Because breaks are never long enough to
do it I tried emailing them the feedback they need using Office Mix. You can see a video below (View from 15th second).
Use the video or
voice recording functions to give personalized feedback to your learners. Click
Mix on slide recording on the top left
corner,
record your feedback – you may use the pens on the left to underline or
circle areas and then click preview to check if you’re satisfied with your
recording. Then convert it into an mp4 video (see top bar) and send it to your
student. They will surely appreciate the fact that you pay attention to their
work and you provide personalized feedback.
2. Few students like to be lectured upon their mistake but when they are given a
second chance to correct their mistake then it is seen as a challenge they are
willing to take up.
I
often ask my students to share their work in digital form (either email it or
share it on the school’s Learning Management System).
If
you have their homework or project in digital form, insert it in a powerpoint
slide and then click on the top bar of Mix on Quizzes, Video Apps.
Choose
the type of quiz or poll you want to give them. My favourite is the multiple choice
one. They can choose the reason why their answer is wrong or even better ask
them to choose the correct answer and write why they chose the specific one.
They
are far more likely to respond to that kind of feedback rather than reading
detailed comments on their notebook.
3. Helena is a new student and can be described as a very weak in terms of
cognitive skills. Yet, she is eager to learn and seems to be learning through
doing things rather than being lectured. When she sang a song from the student’s
book that practices a function – “I’d like some ice cream, how about you? Me too”
– she did well but when it came to a freer practice, she could not perceive the
pronunciation mistakes.
I
created 4 powerpoint slides ( you can see them in the form of the embedded
video below) and we recorded her voice using Office Mix. She insisted on
listening to her recording (click on preview recording) and asked to delete it
and try again. She was recorded several times until she felt satisfied with the
outcome. I promised her that I would turn the powerpoint presentation into video so that she can show her mother and
grandmother – her role models – her creation.
At
the end of the lesson, Helena was happy feeling creative instead of the usual
frustration learners suffer when given feedback.
A
few closing thoughts
Mixing
in new tools with old techniques and approaches can be fun and fruitful in
terms of motivation, involvement and assessment. Technology can pave brand new
ways to serve pedagogy. It is up to the educators to explore their potential and
integrate them seamlessly into our lesson to serve best our students’ learning
goals.
Dimitris
Primalis
Great Dimitri, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you like it!
DeleteVery useful! Thanks a lot!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Let me know if anyone has any questions on Office Mix. I work on the team as an Evangelist :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!!! It is a wonderful tool that is worth exploring to its full potential! I will use it in a couple of conference presentations in the next months so I'll convey any questions the audience has.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
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