Student feedback for teachers in online environments
Usually, when discussing assessment in primary and secondary education, we all think of the assessment of the student. In the assessment for learning paradigm, that would be the learning-oriented feedback that students receive, either from the teacher, from other peer students, or even from the student themselves.
However, students are not the only educational agents who can benefit from assessment and feedback to improve; teachers also need feedback from their students to improve their teaching action and make sure it is adjusted to the needs of the learners.
How to collect feedback from students
There are two types of feedback that teachers can collect from their students, according to the degree of formality.
Even though they might not be aware of it, teachers are constantly collecting feedback from students. This feedback is mostly informal, and it’s related to how students feel during the lesson; how they react to your questions, comments, and activities; the type of questions they ask and how they ask the; and the type of things they say during the class. All this information can help the teacher understand how the learners are following the lesson and navigating through the didactic sequence. In the physical classroom, teachers can interact with students face-to-face. Similarly, in the online classroom, teachers can encourage students to use the reaction buttons in the videoconferences, to ask questions in the chat, and –if possible– to activate their cameras and microphones when they want to participate.
However, it’s strongly advisable for teachers to collect formal feedback from students as well. Teachers can have an online suggestion box where students can post any suggestions or proposals they have to improve their online learning experience. For instance, you can use a tool like Free Suggestion Box, which is free to use and doesn’t require students to create an account to submit their feedback.
From time to time, teachers can encourage a class discussion to reflect on how they are experiencing online school: they can openly share their good experiences, their bad experiences, and share their improvement suggestions. In this case, it’s advisable to ask students to turn their cameras on, as well as their microphones when they want to speak. This, however, requires a safe, trust-based class environment so that students feel completely comfortable. If preferred, teachers can also collect this information through a gamified quiz tool, such as Kahoot, Quizziz or Socrative.
Teachers can create, share, and present their Pear Deck presentations directly from a laptop or tablet easily. While creating the presentations, teachers can pick from four question types:
- Multiple choice questions with response of yes/no, true/false, or A, B, C, D.
- Free response questions with short text, long text, or number capabilities.
- Drawing questions with a free space or grid for students to draw in.
- Draggable questions with agree/disagree or thumbs up/down.
Pear Deck also allows teachers to see the deck live, so they can see who is participating at that moment. Student responses appear on the teacher's screen in real time.
Reflection activity:
Think about one of the lessons that you will soon have to teach.
- At what point of the lesson will you ask for feedback?
- How will your students give this feedback?
- How will you use that feedback to improve?