Providing Effective Feedback Online

Abstract

In the context of teaching and learning, both students and teachers give and receive feedback. A course should provide a non-threatening environment where students can express themselves to the instructor and other students. Students need continuing and timely feedback about their work and their performance. Using effective feedback helps ensure that students’ needs are being met and that they engage in high quality learning. The focus of this paper is to explore formative feedback where the main purpose is to instruct and help the learner have a greater opportunity to learn in the future. Examples, lessons learnt, and best practices are included from the author’s experience of teaching online, and from nearly 200 online teachers. This paper is mainly concerned with providing feedback to students, and as such, feedback is a response to a learner’s work or activity that helps the learner understand more clearly his or her progress, or serves to help the learner improve his or her learning or performance. This can be communication between the instructor and the student, among the students, or self-reflection and self-evaluation of the student in terms of his or her strengths and aspects related to improvement regarding learning activities. To be effective, feedback provided to students should focus on closing the gap between the student’s present thinking or performance and the desired goal. Ongoing formative assessment should be undertaken during the course or the programme.