Using Technology to Improve Feedback

Context I teach 9 th grade English and 12 th grade English electives (now: Literature and Film) I facilitate classroom technology integration across grades and disciplines I work in a very small boarding school

THE LIGHTNING BOLT

My students did not know how to give peer feedback Share with your classmate: – Something that you found surprising, interesting, or funny – Something you didn’t understand – Something that you have also experienced – Your perception of the piece as a whole

How I used to do feedback

Why it didn’t work It didn’t help STUDENTS Too late to encourage improvement Felt like criticism Students couldn’t always understand or generalize the suggestions I would make Students tended to ignore positives and hyper-focus on suggestions It didn’t help ME Too late to adjust instruction Students didn’t necessarily have the ability to apply feedback independently

TOO OFTEN, FEEDBACK IS A TEACHER’S WAY OF JUSTIFYING A GRADE, RATHER THAN A WAY TO HELP STUDENTS IMPROVE

Effective Feedback… SPECIFIC – Focus on the most important, or just choose an area to look at. TIMELY – Always give time to process and apply feedback SHOWS STUDENTS HOW TO DO IT – The more we can show students how to do it, WHILE they are doing it, the more effective our feedback is.

WAYS TO CHANGE Using Technology to Improve Feedback

TRACK CHANGES Why I liked it Everyone already had it Easy to use When STUDENTS use it, I can see their process Why it didn’t really work Still provided feedback too late and without enough demonstration of how to make the changes they needed.

THAT IS WHEN I DECIDED…

Focus all feedback on formative assessments Now, summative assessments receive only a rubric with grade. Students who want more explanation need to set up a conference with me. ALL of my time and energy is focused on the feedback stages of student work, because that is where learning happens.

Example summative assessment

A good feedback system… Helps STUDENTS Understand expectations Have direction for future work Correct misconceptions or gaps in understanding Helps TEACHERS Discover student strengths Know where students are faltering Adjust instruction to meet class needs Provide individual support and challenge

Why Technology? Student Conferences TIME Proximity Management One-time only Technology Not location specific Not time specific Asynchronous Review Available

Make it specific, timely, and instructive Screencasting Pencasting Screensharing Collaborative documents Digital conference Interactives

Ways to do it On your computer w/ screencasting software (jing, camtasia, snapz) – Jing is free, but can only be uploaded to screencast.com – Camtasia is a little pricey, but comes packed with editing tools and the ability to create some amazing tutorials On the ipad – Some apps that are great to try: explain everything, educreations, replay note – Take a picture of the student’s work as the background for the tutorial

Screencasting Create a video of yourself giving feedback to students. Allows you to demonstrate what you are asking students to do. Allows students to review as many times as needed—even for later assignments.

Screencasting

What I learned Focus on 1 or 2 things max Use what you learn to adjust future instruction In my example – Focused on introduction – Introduced idea of paragraphs but made note to provide one-on- one instruction about it next class

Pencasting Use a livescribe pen to record feedback; allow students to access the pen as part of class. I set up feedback stations that included peer feedback, self-assessment screencast, livescribe feedback, and specific trait tools. This allows me to work one-on-one or with small groups while other students are busy.

Screensharing I use join.me There are lots of others! Students can share w/ group or just teacher Especially helpful for non-writing assignments.

Collaborative Documents Google Docs Allows you to watch as students write Participate in real time with students as they are writing Other options: Zoho Microsoft Live ThinkFree Ipads

Google Docs Ideas I set up evening “office hours” in which I am online w/ google docs. Students who want assistance w/ writing log on and I can work with many students at one time. When several students are having the same challenge, invite them to a google docs conference to explain an idea—they can be in separate locations but can still ask questions and try practice. Have access to the doc later on for reference.

Interactives Student-created bank of videos demonstrating common issues or mistakes Can ask students to view as part of the feedback process I do it using a YouTube channel that all students have account info; use the unlisted video feature

Integrating Feedback Introductory Activities – Use an example students will connect with (I did a bad outfit. Had student talk to a teddy bear) T-Chart (Feedback vs. Criticism) – Stays on the wall the entire year Guidelines for Helpful Feedback – Students create a list and keep in notebooks Steps for applying feedback to my work. – Made a HUGE difference!

Guidelines for Helpful Feedback Shows you really care Kind Gives good ideas and suggestions Wants people to do better Not personal Looks for ways to help

Steps for applying feedback 1.Get in a feedback frame of mind 2.Carefully take in the feedback 3.Determine which feedback you agree with, which you disagree with, and which you are not sure about 4.Do what you can on your own; seek out help when you can’t do it on your own 5.Remember OUT LOUD

Reflection The biggest effect was providing out loud reading. (ps. If your student has a mac computer, it will read ANYTHING out loud to the student) Introducing feedback as a concept was well worth the class time Focused feedback actually takes up LESS of my time Student improvement has increased dramatically; students say they feel I get to know them better now.

Using YouTube I have 2 YouTube accounts for my class. 1 is for all of my students to use to upload their own screencasts, and 30-second video reflections. The second I use to store student feedback videos. Students get a link but the video is unlisted on YouTube so other students do not have access.

Q&A Melissa Poole