This week we focused on setting objectives, providing feedback, and providing recognition. We needed to read Feedback that fits and examine RubiStar, Rubrix, Quia, QuizStar, and another tool that our school or district uses for providing feedback. I choose to examine the SMART Response PE interactive response system that I use in my classroom.
Feedback that fits Summary and Analysis
Students need effective feedback in order to succeed. We need to provided clear detailed feedback that is individualized and student specific. Each student needs to know what areas he/she needs to improve upon. This will help each individual students understand his/her strengths and weaknesses. Even though feedback needs to be student specific, teachers need to focus primarily on the content and not the student. The student should can not feel like the feedback is a negative reflection of his/her abilities. Feedback needs to help the student understand where he/she can improve. The feedback needs to portrayed in a positive manner that guides a student towards a better understanding of what the teacher wants. This type of feedback can motivate a student and encourage him/her to continue to work towards the proper learning goal.
Feedback needs to be provided at different intervals throughout the learning process based on the type of content that is being taught. Feedback can be given instantaneously for basic fact driven content, and progressively for complex conceptual content. This helps the student control and monitor their progress.
Feedback can be delivered in a variety of methods. I still like personal oral feedback, but technology allows us to provide feedback more efficiently. Tools like the smart response system (clickers) allow students to receive instantaneous feedback. Other tools like google docs, may be used to do peer edits or collaboration. Technology allows us to provided feedback outside of the classroom which I think is a beneficial bonus.
After reading this article I have become more cognizant of the feedback that I provide. The first concept that I realized was that I need to provide more feedback. The second concept I realized was that I need to make the feedback that I provide more personalized and use it to help my student understand their abilities. The last concept I realized was that I need to keep my feedback positive and relate more towards our class learning goals. This will help motivate students and it will allow them to succeed.
Rubistar, Quia, and Smart Response System
RubiStar is anonline and interactive rubric tool. Rubrics are a scoring tool that lists the criteria for a piece of work and specifies the level of performance expected for several levels of quality. Rubrics help the student figure out how their project will be evaluated. This tool would help teachers convey their objectives, expectations, and it can be used as a feedback tool. A teacher may use one final rubric or multiple rubrics throughout the learning process when using rubrics as an evaluating tool.
Quia is online learning site that provides a wide variety of tools, including:
- Learning activities such as: flashcards, word search, battleship, challenge board, and cloze exercises
- Complete online testing tools
- Classroom management system
- A class Web page creator
- Online surveys for gathering student and teacher feedback.
Quia sounds like resource that can provide the extra tools necessary for students to succeed. It creates an online learning environment that can provide extra study tools for students. It is also a great way for teachers to provide feedback for students outside of the classroom. I like using interactive web games and reviews and I often post games from studystack to our class web page on edmodo. I do like all the features that Quia offers but I do not think that I would pay the $49/year.
The SMART Response PE interactive response system combines handheld wireless remotes (or clickers), a receiver, and powerful assessment software that allows you to create tests and manage, track and evaluate the results. SMART Response PE integrates seamlessly with SMART Notebook collaborative learning software, giving you all the tools you need to design engaging and interactive test material. I have been using the smart response system for the last two years. I really like using the remotes during lecture because it keeps the students engaged and it allows me to evaluate their comprehension. It provides the students and the teacher with instant feed back. This allows me to evaluate and determine if I need to spend more time on a topic or not. It also allows me to see if specific students are not understanding a specific concept. This allows me to meet the needs of each individual student.
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