How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Billy Brick English Language Unit Faculty of Business, Environment and Society (BES)

LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Outline

Original idea by Russell Stannard, University of Westminster Motivation behind using this software for giving feedback Explanation and Demonstration Feedback from students and potential benefits Methodology Practical / technical problems and solutions LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Motivation for improving feedback given to students

UK National Student Survey (since 2005)  “consistently negative reaction from students towards tutor feedback” THE (Times Higher Education), July 31 st 2008  “Lecturers’ feedback efforts ‘misguided’” HEA (Higher Education Academy)  “receives more requests for help to improve the system of feedback in universities than on any other issue” LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

How does the software work?

Allows you to record everything you do on the screen, along with a voice-over.

As if a camera is being aimed at your screen.

Not ‘new’ software, but has only recently been used for providing feedback.

LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Trying out the software at Coventry University

Trialled with classes in 2 modules: German  English Translation and Language in Use.

Used for giving additional feedback on assessed coursework.

30 students in total – very positive feedback from both groups. Also used for general class feedback and marking draft essays. Could be particularly useful for distance learners.

LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Feedback 1

“Really good! it is a perfect tool to give students a personal feedback of their work. Only yesterday we talked about the comments written on coversheets of courseworks and we came to the agreement that in many cases these comments are really short and often impossible to read.

A teacher working with this software however shows that he really has spent some time while looking at the students work

.” LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Feedback 2

“I found it helpful to have audio and visual feedback on my assessment. It means I can understand better which parts of the translation were inaccurate and where I could have improved on it. I would not mind waiting a little longer for this type of feedback as it gives me more confidence going into future assessments when I have extra feedback.”

LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Feedback 3

“I believe that screen capture feedback is much more productive and useful to the student than traditional feedback as it can point out specifics and it shows that the lecturer is willing to take the time to provide more feedback. It gives more opportunity to suggest more ideas to the student about certain areas of the work which can be useful for future reference , instead of just writing criticisms and strengths and weaknesses in a small space like on the traditional feedback sheet.”

LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Feedback 4

“I prefer it to the traditional one, as I feel more comfortable and gives you more confidence while at the same time the lecturer shows you what you should done in a different way to improve the essay. Sometimes in the traditional-written feedback you can mistake some comments and some of the corrections might not be clear . Otherwise in this system everything is explained and showed while the professor is speaking. Overall, I think it is a very useful way of improving the way we write, through explanations.”

LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Potential benefits

Feedback can be ‘dual-coded’, may suit students with a more auditory learning style.

More personalised, helps develop a ‘good record’ with students – motivation?

Feedback might end up being more detailed.

Students feel more inclined to respond. LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Towards a methodology (1)

Students required to submit assessed work electronically as well as on a printed hard copy.

Marking coursework by hand or using the “Track changes” feature in Word?

Difficult to open a Word file and improvise (hesitation and losing your place).

Highlighting the areas to be commented on proved easier and allows for a rough script to develop.

LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Towards a methodology (2)

Where do students view the file? Any screen smaller than that of a ‘normal’ laptop makes it difficult to read.

With which technology do they view the file – location, headphones?

LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Practical problems things to watch out for…

Telephone ringing whilst you’re recording!

View in Word should be ‘normal’ or ‘draft’ (Word 2007) otherwise the text is in the middle of the screen rather than left aligned.

Make sure your mic is plugged in!

LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Technical issues

Choose the 800x600 preset which will ensure that the final product is of sufficient quality.

Delivering the finished product: • Burn to CD-ROM – wasteful / time-consuming • Transfer to students’ memory sticks – ‘clumsy’ • Deliver through VLE e-mail – file size?

• Sending students the URL LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Products and cost

• Camtasia 5 by Techsmith: €200 (approx.) http://www.techsmith.com/ • Screen Toaster http://www.screentoaster.com/ • Screencast-o-matic http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/ LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software

Hands on session

• • • • • • • Register with Screen Toaster Open the file ”All primary schools to teach foreign languages by 2010” and highlight any errors or sections you wish to comment on.

Follow the instructions on the hand-out.

Begin recording using the highlighted areas as a rough script to follow.

When you’ve finished providing feedback, stop the recording and select the “Upload to Screen Toaster (high quality)” option From here you can then e-mail the file directly to the student or send them the url.

Once you have fully understood Screen Toaster there will be an opportunity to use either Screencast-O-Matic or Camtasia and time for discussion.

LLAS Workshop. How to provide student feedback using screen capture software