"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

~Neale Donald Walsch~

Friday 24 March 2017

Feedback makes all the difference

Have you ever completed a test or a task and you can't wait to hear some feedback? I know I have completed a few courses or tried to cook something fancy and the feedback it almost as important as the work you have completed. For most learners they want to know they are on the right track. 

In blended learning environments teachers can provide face to face or online feedback. More and more students expect feedback as soon as possible. Online quizzes are great for providing feedback instantly however they can also be disheartening and impersonal if you keep getting things wrong. 
Whilst there is much evidence that online quizzes and tests can be beneficial for some learners this can be more of a hindrance than a help. For some trade students they have little access or desire to use technology apart from their mobile phones. Many dislike using their laptops and tablets because they are slow to use them and often get frustrated when things don’t work out. However this is not always the case. Two weeks ago a build a blended course for Carpentry students to practice their measurements and calculations. Many found this very helpful and the instant feedback certainly made a huge impact on them.

Blended environments means assessments can be flexible

In the past students have completed their written assessments via a Moodle quiz. More often than not
there have been issues with the connection to the internet and trade students like to work their calculations out with their hands (pen and paper). They are kinaesthetic learners and so sometimes an online assessment has to be redone because they failed only to pass when they were given a written assessment. In recent times I have used Google Forms to create online quizzes and then used Flubaroo to grade them. The students and teachers love it however they have not yet used this method for formal assessments.

Whilst rubrics can be helpful when marking assessments and providing feedback it ultimately seeks a judgement that is not always helpful. For the most part students near clear guidelines for what is expected however students are very much looking at outcomes in new ways than in more traditional ways. Entrepreneurial assessments may have broader assessment outcomes than say a spelling test. Modern learners have much more access to learning networks and learning that allows autonomy can more greatly beneficial to building confidence in learning that can’t always be measured on a rubric.

Use plain English please

Education jargon can be a stumbling block for learners. When providing feedback it is important that the feedback in plain English so that the reader doesn’t have to try and work their way through complex educational terms that don’t really tell them what they need to know. Giving video feedback and aural feedback can also help learners who don’t like to read.


3 comments:

  1. The main purpose of education is to help students gain the knowledge and skills so that they will be able to function in society. Students need to be provided with the necessary skills so that they can learn to become productive citizens. There are many advantages that are associated with receiving an education. Students will be able to contribute to their community and help make it a better place to live. Education basically helps shape society because it helps students learn to become more sociable and helps them develop relationships with their peers. Students will be more qualified for different job positions if they have a good solid education. Education is vital to each student’s life, therefore, by working hard to provide the best instruction possible will help train students to become future leaders and will lead to a better life.
    Education is essential to every student’s life as well as their future. Students can have a prosperous life by receiving a good quality education. My thoughts are that students need to learn from the books along with other various materials just as I did while growing up. The classroom curriculum should be decided by their teacher and the teacher should set clear goals as to what is expected from the students. Students should work hard to achieve their goals because it will certainly be worth it in the end. According to essentialism, ‘Schools should not radically try to reshape society but schools should transmit traditional moral values and intellectual knowledge that students need to become model citizens’. Read about education help at ARU Research Reflective Report . The school should stress the importance of values because some children are not taught these at home. Teaching children good values helps build their character and helps them become respectable people. In regards to education, I think society is important because this is a place where we all live so we should work to make it a better place.

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