This article presents various tools that support gathering student feedback. These tools enable teachers to see the student’s responses live onscreen, especially during online classes with students. They also help teachers in backward and forward planning based on the feedback analysis.
By Ms. Shweta Agarwal
“Through this blog I would like to shed light on how technology has been used by teachers in our school to design feedback assessment strategies employing some Microsoft tools during these times of online learning“
Albert Einstein once said – “Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.” The current pandemic means these lines resonate particularly for ‘generation today’. Although is increasingly in the forefront of our world, the recent unprecedented adversities have resulted in technology making in-roads into every sphere of life almost exponentially. And is this detrimental? Being a technology evangelist, I would argue against a negative mind-set that propounds the ill effects of screen time, as long as it is controlled and limited.
As an ICT teacher, one of my primary responsibilities is to ensure the school community is passionate about the use of technology in learning. Tinkering with technology promotes skills that are hitherto unknown but beckon to be explored further. Since feedback is an integral part of assessment that provides insight into the how and what of learning, I have been exploring engaging technology tools to provide variety in the choice and use of tools by teachers and students alike. Through this blog I would like to shed light on how technology has been used by teachers in our school to design feedback assessment strategies employing some Microsoft tools during these times of online learning. Those students who were shy or less responsive or required special assistance in the classroom often found their voice in technology as their nimble fingers navigated the platform.
For quite some time now, we have been using MS-Forms for e-surveys at school. When grade 5 students were working on their unit with the central idea: Technology is a language of human expression, students needed to express their prior understanding about Tools of technology for expression. Students created a form for conducting polling about social media using MS Forms that aimed to survey responses generated from a quiz. The auto-generated result sheet made tabulation and analysis easy. The tool helped develop their research skills as framing guiding questions and researching data to formulate appropriate questions for the survey was no small task. Additional Language teachers for French, Spanish and Hindi also planned to shift from paper assessment to an option where they could create a variety of questions. This was efficient in terms of time management and in accuracy of student understanding.
Use of the branching feature of the tool, enabled differentiated learners to attempt the question in a fresh light thereby keeping their confidence intact. If their responses were incorrect, the feature allowed them to attempt the optional question or see a supporting video related to the topic. Teachers used the collated result from the form and used a detailed analysis of all the students to plan forward teaching strategies and assessments.
MS-Forms has also been used frequently by the school administration where the PYP Principal took keen interest to create an online MS-Form to check upon the well-being of faculty members while also keeping pace with daily attendance.
The form was again used by the Head of School to gather data about the best fit for students and parents with regard to their expectations about screen time. The tool has indeed become an invaluable asset to the school community in diverse applications.
Another popular tool that found favour aided the Math specialist to introduce the topic of place value. After a week she checked the students’ interest and knowledge of the topic using the Social Emotional Learning template available in Pear Deck, which can be used through PowerPoint or Google Slide add-in. It gave her new insights regarding how students’ felt about the topic and helped her gather information about the level of understanding which prompted the change in her teaching methodology. Appended below are some of the benefits of the personalized features reported by educators -
- Private responses to the teacher helped the student to
showcase true understanding of the skill and conceptual understanding.
- Building of a special bond between the teacher and student where the latter felt confident to confide about her/his interest in the topic.
- Co-constructing learning goals with students.
It was particularly appreciated by the SEL teachers where they asked students to illustrate and label their understanding of the topic. Teachers recorded instructions that helped students to attempt the task at their own pace. Pear Deck is captivating. Math with Pear Deck and interactive for both students and teachers. Instructor-paced mode which allows students to screen sync up with the projected screen where everyone works together and are on the same page. Early Year educators used it for learning where students navigated the map to mark the continents on it. The teacher’s dashboard allowed her to view the students’ responses privately on her screen.
“With the changing times, students and teachers have adopted new ways of learning and teaching.”
Flip grid is another tool being widely used in the school. For Grade 3, while inquiring into the central idea: Planet Earth has evolved over time and is still changing, teachers conducted their formative assessment on their second line of inquiry – Physical features of the Earth have changed in many ways. To stir enthusiasm, students were given the task of ‘recording’ their understanding about how the Earth has evolved over time. Teachers were pleasantly surprised with student responses. Some recordings were precise, and time-bound and reflected the depth of their understanding, while others were not so specific and encouraged students to come out of their self-contained shell. The tool was appreciated by the learning community and benefited in developing social and communication skills.
With the changing times, students and teachers have adopted new ways of learning and teaching. Almost as a corollary, a variety of feedback tools and strategies have made headway into the classroom. Integrated approaches have broadened the possibilities from a simple online quiz to a dance performance using Green Screen. Regular online training and support for teachers and students have made them self-reliant and well conversant with multiple tools.
Do share a digital tool that you are using effectively during online classes.
Shweta Agarwal is a PYP ICT Specialist at DPS International school. She has 5 years teaching experience including 4 years with the IB. She enjoys implementing innovative new tools in the classroom. Outside of the classroom, she has completed a course by Harvard in Maker-Centered Learning, where she is looking at the role of tinkering, making, hands-on thinking and learning by doing.
This looks a wonderful tool to use!
It’s amazing, keep on sharing your best practices . It is very helpful to other leaeners.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Some great suggestions thank you- from your IB colleagues, Shinagawa International School, Tokyo.
Appealing. Would like to use the tool. Thanks
Your blog was very enlightening. I look forward to reading your next informative work.