Feedback on assignments plays a large role in motivation and learning.  Formative feedback can be instrumental in improving the learning experience for the student.  It also has the potential to provide just-in-time intervention and remediation to those students who may be struggling and would benefit from more in-depth or personalized feedback than other students.  Audio feedback gives instructors a time-efficient way to provide students personalized, in-depth feedback on assignments.  Written feedback for many assignments, such as PowerPoint presentations or creative assignments such as infographics, wikis, or blogs, often requires the use of a separate document such as a rubric that creates a natural disconnect between assignment and feedback as the student is forced to flip back and forth between assignment and rubric.  The use of screen capture software can allow the instructor to explore the assignment while providing spoken, real-time feedback.  This method of feedback creates an immediate connection to the areas where the student excelled and the opportunities for improvement.

Why use

• Personalize formative feedback
• Use on harder to grade creative projects – PowerPoints, Infographics, Videos, Discussion Posts
• Include more precise and detailed feedback
• Create a personal connection in asynchronous learning environments
• Give a substantial amount of feedback faster

Remember PEEP!

Practice!

Practice your feedback before recording.  Keep your recording under 5 minutes if possible, so practice and identify the areas for feedback before you hit the record button.  Once you

have done several recording sessions, you will find that this speeds up your grading.  I recommend including a rubric the first time you provide audio feedback to help students

adjust to this new way of receiving feedback.

Enunciate!

Speak clearly and slowly.  Include the date, time, assignment name, and student name in the recording.  You may also want to identify yourself if you have TA’s or co-teachers.

Equipment!

Microphone – We recommend using a microphone and headset combo (ex:  Logitech USB Headset H540 ~$50) You can record feedback on any PC, Mac, tablet, or phone.  The deciding factor is whether you want to include a screencast of an electronic version of the student’s submission.

Privacy!

If you are creating MP3s or MP4s and posting them in a D2L grade area or emailing them to a student email account, then you probably don’t have to worry about anyone else accessing the feedback.  However, if you choose to use a cloud-based storage system other than MNSU’s MediaSpace, such as screencast.com, youtube.com, or dropbox.com make absolutely sure your privacy settings are such that one student cannot access another student’s feedback.  Send the URL via the best secure method available to you.

Recording Feedback

• There are many options to recording the feedback depending on whether or not you want visuals along with the audio.
• Instructional Design Services has an enterprise solution for all your screen capture needs with MediaSpace and Kaltura Capture.
• Powerpoint has options for recording audio into slides.
• D2L Brightspace offers an audio recording feature in the Assignment Folder feedback area

References

Bilbro, J., Iluzada, C., & Clark, D. E. (2013). Responding effectively to composition students: Comparing student perceptions of written and audio feedback. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 24(1), 47.

Brearley, F. Q., & Cullen, W. R. (2012). Providing students with formative audio feedback. Bioscience Education, 20, 22.

Middleton, A., & Nortcliffe, A. (2010). Audio feedback design: Principles and emerging practice. International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, 20(2), 208-223. doi:10.1504/IJCEELL.2010.036816

Moore, C., & Ian P H Wallace. (2012). Personalizing feedback for feed-forward opportunities utilizing audio feedback technologies for online students. International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, 2(1), 6. doi:10.7763/IJEEEE.2012.V2.72

Rodway-Dyer, S., Knight, J., & Dunne, E. (2011). A case study on audio feedback with geography undergraduates. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 35(2), 217-231. doi:10.1080/03098265.2010.524197