SXSWEdu Thoughts, Part III

Feedback.  It's a word we hear a lot these days in so many contexts.  "We value your feedback," my email informed me this morning, referring to a recent online purchase.  In so many contexts, this is a word met with skepticism.  How often have you heard someone else say or thought yourself, "No!  You're a huge corporation!  You don't care at all about my feedback!"? 

Feedback is important for everyone.  However, as I poll my class about various issues (BYOD, feedback, time, etc...) I find that my students never feel like they get enough feedback from other teachers.  I also know that (and I, too, am guilty of this) students get few chances to give their teachers feedback.  Feedback is a buzzword today in education--and rightfully so, as it is impossible for students to actually improve without it!

I cannot even begin to think about how many times I heard the word "feedback" at SXSWEdu! Everyone was talking about how to give students "personalized feedback." This is especially hard if you have one of those darn grading systems where you can only select comments from the list of provided comments. 

So how do we go about dealing with giving personalized feedback?

As I said on Justin's post yesterday:  "I know that in Operation LAPIS we worked to meld the data with the feedback, and to put the feedback and the data in the students' hands--where it was useful.  Because of our use of Google Docs, we can give students actual, written feedback to go along with each mission they do.  As the students collaborate on Edmodo, we teachers can watch and interject/give feedback as needed.
I think we need to work backwards in a sense here....What do we want the feedback to convey?  Ok, so if we want it to convey that, what data do we need to collect?"

Google Drive has given teachers and students the ability to give and receive real-time feedback.  I know that Canvas also has similar features.  Often, this starts out with teachers giving students feedback, but, I, at least, always leave space for feedback from my students to me as well.  This requires making your students comfortable enough to give you *honest* feedback, but I know you can do that!

I often hear "But it's hard!" or "But I have no time!" Giving personalized feedback might take a little extra time, yes, but wouldn't you say it's worth it? How do we make it easier?

When I think about that dreaded word--grading--and giving feedback, I always try to think backwards. What will I want to be able to help my students with when I give them that feedback?  What do I want my feedback to do for them?  And what do you want their feedback to tell you?  What questions do you need to ask to make it so?

Alright, so that's a lot of questions.  I don't have any answers, since every feedback-giving-and-receiving opportunity is different, but I hope that provides some food for thought. 

Are you a personalized feedback giver?  How do you make it "easier"?