Communicate 4.1.1 Evaluation Methods and Communication Practices

•How do communication practices in the online environment correlate to effective feedback?

In an online environment, it is important to give feedback to students in a timely manner. It is essential that teachers check for student understanding. This can be more challenging when students are nor right in front of you. This requires the online teacher to review student data carefully. The teacher should use embedded and ongoing assessments. After the assessments are graded, feedback should be constructive and specific. The feedback should be ongoing not just at the end of the course. At the end of the course, the feedback could be too late for adjusting performance. The feedback should not be praise or evaluation but a tool to help the learner reach his or her goals.

•Introducing and monitoring peer learning methods

I think collaboration is essential to learning and also to prepare for the future. With Google docs and Microsoft 365 being two of the leaders, collaboration is easier because of new technology tools. Documents can be shared and even worked on together. So how do you monitor group work? This has always been a challenge for me in the classroom. Making sure that grades are fair is very important to me. In an online learn environment this could be tricky. One method could be peer evaluations and self-evaluation. I think a combination of these along with a rubric would be helpful to assess knowledge and teamwork.

•Why is authentic feedback important for online learners?

Authentic feedback is not the student’s grade or score but a way for students to set goals and reach them, Using authentic feedback like a map. The student can determine if he or she is heading in the right direction or needs a change of course. This will allow students to adjust as they learn and eventually meet goals and set new ones as needed.

•In what ways might an instructor enrich a student’s online experience through feedback?

Learning is a process, and students need to be challenge and want to challenge themselves. Using feedback will allow students to continually set goals as needed. There should be no end point to learning, so if a student masters a concept, feedback can challenge students to explore more and try new things. In addition, feedback could suggest technology tools for creation that fits the student’s learning style. Creating new products promotes critical thinking and engages the learner.