Technology & Assessment: Digital Feedback Tools

The Coaching (Assessment FOR Learning) section on the AAC Key Visual can help us understand the place for (and power of) feedback in the learning process. Feedback is the key component of formative assessment, and it's importance in the learning process cannot be overstated!

The Importance of Feedback for Students:

When students receive specific, descriptive, and timely feedback, they are able to close the gap between where they are trying to go (the learning target) and where they are currently. In other words, feedback at the right time and at the right level moves learning forward. 

Not all feedback is created equal, however. Quality feedback needs to be:

• focused on criteria
• frequent and timely
• collaborative, with the learners deeply involved in the process
• designed to improve student learning
• differentiated to support the learners at their level

Feedback is also tied to motivation, interest, and performance (not to mention ego), so educators need to understand it's effect and use it carefully. As Ruth Butler's article in the Journal of Educational Psychology (1987) observed, the only type of feedback that helps students to improve and to stay motivated, is comments; providing marks as feedback does not result in any gain in performance and only motivates the top students. Be aware of the purpose of the feedback you are providing, and the timing of it as well; ask yourself WHY am I giving this feedback, and WHAT will students do with it when they receive it. Students should be expected to make adjustments to their work based upon the feedback they receive, and they will need time to do so before a summative judgment is delivered.

So Where's the DIGITAL part of this blog post?!

Okay...so now that we've discussed the properties of quality feedback, let's take a look at some of the fantastic digital tools available for giving feedback:

1) Blogs: What I love about blogs is the ability to provide feedback that is visible to others besides the intended recipient. This benefits not only the recipient of the feedback, but other viewers as well. In a classroom context, this means that students who view the work/feedback of their peers also have an opportunity to internalize the success criteria themselves. My only caution here is that the context needs to be safe for this to take place, so ensure that the feedback is directly related to the criteria for the task, and is formative (not summative/no grade attached).

2) Google docs: When students share their work in Google docs, they can choose to allow collaborators to comment on that work.  Teachers or classmates can highlight portions of the text and insert typed comments. The recipient of the feedback can make adjustments to their work as needed and mark the comment as "resolved" when ready. The ability to collaborate in real time is a key feature of Google docs, allowing collaborators to provide feedback, make adjustments, ask clarifying questions, etc. to improve their work.

3) Kaizena (GAFE/Chrome app): Kaizena is a web app that allows you to leave audio comments on Google Docs. You enable this by creating a Kaizena profile, a place where your students or peers can go to request your feedback by selecting a document and placing it in one of the "boxes" you set up with your profile. Have a look at the Kaizena Blog for more details on how to enable sharing.

4) MS Word: MS Word has had the ability to provide typed comments for years, and this feature is still available for both Mac and PC. The PC version, however, also allows for audio comments -- a nice feature, especially for those times when a large amount of feedback might be needed. You can learn more about how to provide comments in Word on the Microsoft Support website.

5) Screenchomp: Screenchomp is a free iOS app created by Techsmith (makers of Jing, Camtasia, Snag It and other popular software tools) that allows the user to leave audio comments as well as text comments/drawings on uploaded student work. Watch this video to see Screenchomp in action.

A clear understanding and implementation of formative feedback can have a powerful effect on student learning. There are many digital tools available for providing feedback, but as is the case with most (all) things, the quality of the feedback – not the quantity – is critical.

Feedback resources:

• Susan Brookhart is this year's keynote speaker at the AAC Annual Fall Conference - Leadership Day, and author of the outstanding book, How To Give Effective Feedback to Your Students, available for purchase from ASCD.
• Grant Wiggins has a great article on Seven Keys to Effective Feedback in the September 2012 Educational Leadership magazine, which focused on Feedback for Learning.
• Bryan Goodwin and Kirsten Miller's article, Research Says/Good Feedback is Targeted, Specific, Timely (also published in the September 2012 Educational Leadership magazine) makes an interesting connection between how frequent feedback in video games is what sustains a child's interest.
• The Power of Feedback by John Hattie and Helen Timperley (Review of Educational Research, 2007 77:81)

Technology & Assessment: Digital Forms for Assessment

Assessment of student learning is an ongoing task for teachers. Making the collection of assessment evidence a seamless part of a teacher's workflow has never been easier with the growing features available in digital forms.

Digital forms allow users to capture, sort and transmit data easily and securely, and can eliminate the need for paper forms. In a busy classroom, this can prove to be both efficient and effective. Additionally, digital forms can be used for a variety of different purposes in the classroom as far as assessment is concerned, and while digital forms are often used exclusively for summative purposes, they can be used for a myriad of formative applications as well. It is worthwhile mentioning, however, that while digital forms can be very useful in the busy classroom, I am not suggesting that all methods of assessment should be replaced with digital forms.  A variety of assessment methods is always preferred, and digital forms can simply be another way to gather evidence (formatively or summatively) of student learning.

What's the Purpose?

When creating a digital form, it is important to identify your purpose for gathering evidence.  Will the form be used for judging and reporting on a student's performance in relation to the curricular standard(s)(summative purpose)? Or will the form be used to determine where a student is in relation to the standard and to guide decisions about what next steps will be taken to move the learner forward (formative purpose)? There are many different classroom purposes for using forms, and consequently, there are many different forms that can be created to meet those needs.

Examples of Different Forms for Different Purposes:

Examples of each of the forms in the table above can be found as links on the AAC Key Visual below. To access the examples, simply mouse over the visual to locate the links to the forms, and notice where they line up with the assessment processes they are next to on the visual. 

Explore the connections between Assessment and Digital Forms by clicking on the coloured icons located at various locations on the interactive AAC Key Visual above.

FREE Gift to You! A Collection of Google Forms for Assessment:  http://goo.gl/Yn3Ql6

Click on the link above to open a shared folder containing a variety of forms that you can make a copy of and use on your own can.

NB. BEFORE YOU DOWNLOAD, MODIFY OR DO ANY THING ELSE WITH THESE SHARED FORMS, PLEASE MAKE A COPY OF THE FORMS YOU WANT AND MOVE THEM INTO YOUR GOOGLE DRIVE!

Technology & Assessment: Using Mobile Devices to Gather Evidence of Learning

Good assessment begins with good planning. 

When I reflect on my practice as a classroom teacher, often the assessment struggles I encountered were the result of my own failure to plan sufficiently. When I wasn't totally clear about the achievement criteria for _(insert assignment name/project here)_, invariably my students weren't clear either.  When I didn't consider the strengths and learning needs of my students, all too often individuals "fell through the cracks" or the quality of their work suffered. If I didn't plan from the outset how we would gather evidence of learning, no one knew where they were going or what was expected of them until the very last minute -- often with catastrophic results.  So in retrospect, I guess the bottom line is that when I put the cart before the horse (activities ahead of solid planning), the goal was unclear and most of the time, this meant it was missed by students completely. (Being clear about the criteria for any assignment is a critical step and the topic is worthy of its own blog post -- stay tuned for a more comprehensive look at criteria in an upcoming post!)

Photo shared with permission

However, assuming that the criteria is clear to both teacher and student, today teachers have more options for HOW they will gather evidence of learning than ever before -- if they plan for it! While ALL interaction with students yields some sort of assessment evidence, the four main types of evidence we can use to determine if students have met the learning goal(s) are:

• Products or Performances
• Observations
• Conversations
• Student self-reflections

Almost all mobile devices these days have certain "affordances" -- strengths or features -- that make them well suited for gathering a wide range of evidence of learning in the classroom. These common affordances are: (1) they are readily available (and often student owned); (2) they can take high quality digital photographs; (3) they have the ability to record audio; (4) they provide easy-to-use video recording; and (5) they are portable (mobile).

Here are a few ideas, organized according to evidence type, that teachers and students can use to gather (and share) evidence of learning:

Products or Performances: 
Student might:
- Create a video of him/herself rehearsing a presentation, and comparing their performance to the success criteria (rubric descriptors) to determine areas for improvement/next steps (formative)

- Create a video of him/herself and receive peer feedback from a classmate (using same process as above) (formative)

- Take a photograph of a visual he/she created and compare it to exemplars or assess it against the rubric criteria; student would make changes if necessary (formative)

Teacher might:
- Photograph each student’s product (work) and provide feedback on their analysis as well as recommend revisions as needed (either in a face to face conference, with "2 stars and a wish", Screen Chomp…) (formative)

- Videotape the final presentation and use it to make a judgement against the rubric criteria (summative)

Observations:

Student might:
- Take a photograph of each step in the building process during a science project (gathering materials, brainstorming/planning diagram, blueprint, construction of model, testing…) and create a digital story evaluating the final product (alternative to written self-reflection sheet) (summative)

Teacher might:
- Create a video of each student during the construction phase and perhaps ask students to show how their model reflects the blueprint they’ve created (formative or summative)

Conversations:

Student might:
- Record (audio or video) a conversation with their teacher about the work and use the feedback to adjust the strategy/revise their work (formative)

Teacher might:
- Record (audio or video) a conversation with students to gain clarity/more insight into their thinking process for the purpose of identifying misconceptions and providing further instruction

** CLICK HERE for video exemplar of a student explaining his personal addition strategies to his teacher

Student self-reflection:

Student might:
- Self-reflect orally using prompts (provided by the teacher) and record reflection (audio or video); share with a classmate and have him/her check work for accuracy  (formative)
- Choose an area they struggled with (identified on a written self-reflection sheet) and create a video discussing what they are having difficulty with. Submit to teacher for feedback. (formative or summative)

Teacher might:
- Capture video evidence of students reflecting on their difficulties completing a task, and then use this information to plan supports to help students
- Keep copies of video evidence and share this at parent-teacher conferences (provide parents with resources to help their child with an area of difficulty…)

Final thought: Together we are stronger than we are alone...

Do you have any other ideas to share about how you might use mobile devices to capture evidence of learning? Please post your thoughts/ideas below!