Setting the right class climate

Assessment and feedback of students in the online environment Lesson 3. Defining the conditions for good feedback design in online learning Setting the right class climate

Reflection activity:

Identify three difficulties that you have when you give feedback to your students.

As you already know, the purpose of feedback in assessment for learning is to help students improve their learning. As teachers, we must help students see it this way too. We don’t want them to feel ashamed when they make mistakes, or when they don’t perform as well as they thought. Before we deliver any sort of feedback comment or conduct any form of assessment, we must make sure that our students are in the right mindset to receive it.

Teachers are responsible for creating a good class climate. We can do that by establishing strong, trust-based bonds with students and among students. Setting the right class climate means creating a safe space, where students can try and it is okay to make mistakes, because they can all learn from themselves and from each other through feedback.

Here are 4 key elements to setting the right class climate, and 12 associated strategies to help you create it.

Throughout the learning process students make mistakes, they forget, or they stumble, and that’s okay! It’s totally natural. Mistakes are a part of the learning process that can actually favor learning new concepts meaningfully. The classroom should be a safe space for learning, and the online classroom is no different. Students learn and grow and with the guidance of their teacher –that is, through assessment–, and they need to make mistakes to understand what is right and what is not.

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3.2 let students know you're there for them

When we are in the physical classroom, face-to-face with our students, it is easy for them to make questions and ask for help whenever they need to. It is also easier for teachers to see if a child needs help but is afraid to ask. All in all, your students know that they can come to you if they need support, and you will be there for them. However, this scenario completely changes when teaching online. The online learning experience can feel very lonely for students, and they can feel lost at many points.

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Feedback can be formal (usually when students hand in a piece of work and the teacher provides comments in an oral/written/mixed format), but it can also be informal. Informal check-ins can be used to see how students are progressing and usually occur during the learning. In fact, if you think about it, informal feedback is a lot more frequent than formal feedback, and is essential to support your students’ learning.

In the physical classroom, teachers aren’t the only support students have; they usually turn to each other if they need help. Peer support is also an essential part of learning. Online learning can be very lonely for some children, let them know they can still be there for each other.

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