This blog was co-written by Marty Van De Weyer and David Yeats
The emerging space of Automated Feedback is both exciting and challenging. Through four events (recorded and featured below), we were incredibly fortunate to connect with a range of colleagues from various disciplines who have been utilising a range of auto feedback technologies as part of their teaching. That is primarily the greatest benefit from coming together in this way.
These rich presentations and conversations brought to the surface some important messages about growing a feedback ecosystem.
1. Enriching your feedback ecosystem with automated feedback
While feedback is often thought of first as the educator’s response to a student’s assignment submission, the process is suffused through a wide range of different moments throughout a subject experience. Perceiving feedback as an ecosystem shows the potential enriching properties of automated feedback tools.
- Public Google slide deck
- Public Google Jamboard (view only): The Character of Feedback
2. Building student belonging with automated feedback
Automated feedback can be shaped to provide an opportunity to acknowledge and respond to the diverse experiences of individual learners. You can use automated tools to create additional ecosystem touchpoints. Each of these fosters a greater feeling of connection for students. It’s also an opportunity to respond to them as individuals and to generate academic literacy, scaffolding, feedback, affirmation and teacher expectations.
- Public Google slide deck
- Public Google Jamboard (view only): Challenges of Engagement and Belonging
3. Responding to variable student pace of learning
Feeding into the process using these auto tools leads to an awareness that can be responded to either automatically, manually or through designed change. An automated feedback system is collecting information about a student’s situation. Ultimately the more meaningful information we can learn from students, the more we can help them succeed by responding to their pace and preferences.
(Duration: 90 minutes)
- Public Google slide deck
- Public Google Jamboard (view only): Challenges of responding to variable student pace
4. Diagnosing your students’ needs with automated feedback
Having the opportunity to see whether feedback was received as relevant provides the opportunity to configure practice when it would not otherwise be available. The traditional ‘feedback loop’ suggests that this is done by seeing the work produced by students. However, garnering responses using other more direct tools gives a space where less interpretation is needed. Students can tell you directly what they feel they need and you can make data-driven decisions.
- Public Google slide deck
- Public Google Jamboard (view only): Challenges of diagnosing & getting visibility of your students’ needs
Conclusions: what’s next?
The automated feedback space is rapidly growing and the tools in this sphere provide a range of opportunities to address some of our key issues around teaching.
If you are interested in exploring further how you could embed these practices and tools in Canvas (via H5P, Quizzes or contextual messaging) please get in touch with the LX.lab for a consultation.
IIf you are interested in exploring how you can use OnTask, AcaWriter or Learning Journeys in your subject, please email the Connected Intelligence Centre (cic@uts.edu.au) or search LX.lab for related training events.