Feedback in Online Learning Scenarios
Feedback
is no doubt an essential component of the teaching and learning experience of
any student. Whether we are in a face-to-face (F2F) classroom or an online
course, feedback provides learners and instructors with information on whether
pupils understand the material, how well learners are getting along, as well as
whether teacher’s instructions are easy to understand.
In
the following discussion, we will analyze a specific teaching scenario related
to feedback in an online learning/teaching environment. We will examine one of
the scenarios provided below, but you can also feel free to analyze the rest of
the teaching situations on your own.
§ Online Scenario 1 — Student Frustration
You notice a few students are meeting frequently in the discussion forum. So
you decide to see how their conversations were going. You pull up the
transcripts of their conversations and notice that they are complaining about
the lack of feedback and poor feedback they are getting from another
instructor. The students express how frustrated it makes them and that they
feel completely lost in that course.
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What
should be done when students experience frustration in another instructor’s
class? Let it be borne in mind that students expect three
types of presence from their instructors: social,
teaching, and cognitive presence. By means of all three types of interaction with
students, learners expect teachers to make them feel at ease, with a low affective
filter, and guided to achieve learning goals in the course. But if these
presences are not fulfilled, students will experience frustration and a sense
of being lost or guideless.
If
confronted with this situation, it is advisable to ask student to discuss the
issue with their instructor. Learners’ first reaction is to discuss among
themselves what is going on in the course as a way to release their “anger” and
“vexation” towards what they are experiencing, but rarely do they go directly
to the root of the problem. For this reason, it is important that they can
ventilate the issue with the instructor and try to conciliate their positions
and find a satisfactory way out. If nothing can be negotiated among the
instructor and the students, they must address the issue to the school’s
director to have both parties find a consensus that satisfies them and that can
allow them to work harmoniously.
Comprehending
one’s role as a “counselor” for students is key in trying to help them find a
solution for their learning obstacles. Interfering in another colleague’s
course is not ethical, but what ethics must tell you to do is to advise
students to do the right thing. And if one happens to know the other
instructor, how advisable is to tell him/her of what is being discussed among
his/her students? It can be some sort of irony of situation, but in a very
professional way, it is better to inform the head of the department, who can
deal with this issue from a hierarchical dimension that could be better
understood by the instructor –who in the students’ mind or perspective is
giving them no guidance and is triggering lots of frustration-.
Now,
based on the discussion provided above, work on analyzing the following virtual
learning environment (VLE) scenarios to come up with you own solutions and ways
to palliate the emerging problem and the way to eradicate the problem from your
teaching situation.
§ Online Scenario 2 — Lack of
Participation
You decide to assign students into groups for their next assignment. You see
this as an opportunity for students to learn from each other and to practice
their collaboration skills. By mid-week as you check your e-mails, you notice
two e-mails from two different students. You open each e-mail to read that
both students are complaining about the lack of help they are receiving from
their group members.
§ Online Scenario 3 — Teacher Feedback
At the end of your online course, your students are required to complete a
teacher evaluation. It consists of likert-scale questions and open-response
questions. This is a new initiative started by your institution. You are
expected to use the feedback to help inform what you are doing in your
course. After the semester is over, you receive your feedback. As you start
reading through, you notice that about half of the students really enjoyed
the course and found it interesting; however, the other half really struggled
with understanding the assignments and thought that the discussions were a
waste of time.
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? To
fully comprehend the scope of this teaching issue, it is highly advisable that
the following topics must be expanded further:
·
Teaching Presence in VLE
·
Social Presence in VLE
·
Cognitive Presence in VLE
·
Feedback in VLE
·
How to deal with learning issues in VLEs
Professor Jonathan Acuña-Solano
ELT Trainer, Instructor & Curriculum
Developer based in Costa Rica
Resource Teacher and Curricular Developer at CCCN
Contact Information:
Twitter @jonacuso
Email jonacuso@gmail.com
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Article
published on Friday, January 3, 2014
