Great learning needs great feedback - here’s how technology can help
Teachers today know so much about the need for quality feedback that it is easy to forget how much has changed in this area, and how quickly.
It is only a slight exaggeration to say that, not long ago, there was no “feedback” on students’ work; instead, there was only “marking” (let’s leave aside for the moment the difference between assessment and feedback).
Marking was usually written in blood-red ink, and it usually travelled in one direction: the teacher handed the student the grade, and then it was entered into The Mark Book, that holy text of unshakeable judgement. Marking was done by the teacher to the student.
Everything has changed, right? Well, yes and no. Tests and examinations are still with us, but feedback (if we accept the Education Endowment Foundation’s definition of it as “verbal, written, or...given through tests or via digital technology”) has deepened.
To some extent this greater understanding of feedback’s role in student progress has been necessitated by increasingly transparent marking systems, and high-stakes public examinations. In short, there is more pressure on teachers to get better results, and so it is in their interests, and the interests of their students, to know more about assessment.
Moving forward
The influence of Dylan Wiliam’s work on Assessment for Learning has been key in re-evaluating the process of using feedback to shape student progress. For Wiliam, assessment can establish where a student is in their learning, and can help plan a route to a particular destination. Other leading educationalists, such as John Hattie, have asked teachers to re-evaluate what feedback is given, when, how, and also how best to ensure it is reliable and unbiased.
Of course, all teachers use feedback to move students forward in their learning, and this can be done on a piece of paper or face-to-face. But it is undeniably true that technology is playing an increasingly important role in changing feedback, and this in turn is changing the way teachers teach and students learn. How?
For Paul Turner, head of geography at Bedales School, digital feedback is more useful to students than conventional marking. “It’s often more detailed and simply easier to read,” he says. But he also is using video and voice recording feedback: “In doing so, I can archive it, and host it on our VLE [virtual learning environment] for other students to gain from.”
This last point is interesting because creating a shareable bank of written and recorded comments gives the feedback greater currency beyond one student. It moves from the reactive to the proactive, and from the summative to the formative. Knowing this can help in selecting not just the type of feedback you use but also the means to make it work.
The right tools
Sean Dagony-Clark, director of academic technology at Riverdale Country School in New York City, believes that using the right tools is crucial. At his school they use Socrative, Explain Everything and Nearpod to move their students’ learning on in different ways.
“They all help the teacher to gauge understanding and can be used on-the-fly to determine next steps for the most effective teaching, whether that’s to revisit misunderstood content, correct small misconceptions, or move on to new material,” Dagony-Clark says.
Timing is implicit in this approach. Feedback is at its most effective if a number of factors are in play: it is understood by the student; it sets clear goals for improvement; it is a response to recent piece of work; and, crucially, the student must progress after reflecting on it.
Dan Edwards, director of digital strategy at the Stephen Perse Foundation, believes that closing the “feedback loop” is crucial. “For some students, there can be a considerable gap between handing in a piece of work and getting it back from the teacher. Using tech to shorten that space can really make a difference to progress,” he says.
Edwards’ school uses various programs including Google Classroom to upload assignments and intervene when required. These interventions occur between contact points, be they lessons, clinics or tutorials.
Closing the feedback loop
It’s a truism to say that the feedback is only as good as the teacher, but for José Picardo, assistant principal at Surbiton High School, the point is worth reiterating. He argues that technology can’t substantially improve the quality of feedback because “better feedback is largely something that teachers produce, not software systems”.
What it can do, he says, is support the work and learning patterns of both student and teacher. “As the work is submitted digitally, teachers receive it and are able to mark and give feedback as soon as it is completed, generally well before the following week, when students have read and acted on their feedback and are ready to move on with the topic.
“Giving good quality feedback and shortening the time required to complete the feedback loop means that students can make faster progress.”
Technology is taking feedback into different areas. And as it evolves, it is ensuring that marking is no longer a one-way process. Instead, it is getting closer to what great teaching has always been about: namely, a fundamentally very human interaction between teacher and student, focused on learning. That is the only sort of progress that matters in schools.
Dr David James is deputy head (academic) of Bryanston School in Dorset