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RESPONDING TO STUDENT WRITING WITH NEW MEDIA:�

Audio and Screencasting Tools for Student Writing Feedback

Dr. Kendra L. Andrews

November 8, 2019

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Workshop Outline

Research Context

Writing Feedback and Response

VoiceThread

Work Time

Incorporating New Media

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When you picture the act of responding to student writing, what image(s) comes to mind?

WATCH: PAPERWORK EXPLOSION

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But I don’t feel like an expert on writing…

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Ways of Responding & When it Happens

FORMATIVE

IN PROGRESS
READER-BASED RESPONSE
REVISION-FOCUSED
DEVELOPMENTALLY OPEN
ADVISORY

SUMMATIVE

FINAL VERSION
TEXT-BASED RESPONSE
PRODUCT-FOCUSED
DEVELOPMENTALLY CLOSED
JUDGMENTAL

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Shifting Focus for Responding

FOCUS ON TEXT

”Move this idea to a different paragraph.”
“There are no transition sentences in your body paragraphs.”
“Your third sentence is awkwardly written.”
“Your tone/word choice is too informal.”
”You can’t start a sentence with because.”

FOCUS AS READER

“I was confused by the connection you’re making between these ideas.”
“I was finding it difficult to see how one paragraph connected to the next.”
“The phrasing of this sentence stood out to me as very different than your others.”
“As a reader, I needed more of an authoratative tone/word choice to believe your argument.”
”An academic audience may be confused by the use of “because” at the beginning of a sentence.”

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What Do You Say?

Reader-based

Your overall reaction or feeling as a reader
Whether you were persuaded by the paper

Criterion-based

Refer to the standard or requirements of the assignment
Describe if the learning objectives were met

Ask for clarification in meaning
Ask for reasoning in structure or organization

Play back your understanding of the paper
Summarize the main points of the argument
Indicate the strongest areas of the writing

Question-based

Description-based

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Digitally Mediated Writing Feedback

Audiovisual Feedback

VoiceThread

Jing

Screencastomatic

SnagIt

PDF Annotation

iAnnotate

Task description

Blackboard Markup

Tracked Comments/Changes

Microsoft Word

Google Docs

Expanded Text

Macro Comments

Auto-Correction

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How does screen capture/voice feedback work?

The software captures the movement of your screen while you are talking about the document itself.
The document can be pre-marked with comments (marginal and/or end)
Once activated, the screencast program will follow your cursor allowing you to still highlight or point to specific places in the text.
After the recording is finished, the feedback is sent securely to a cloud-based server or you can download the file to send to Blackboard.

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Research on Voice Recorded Feedback

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Screen Capture & Voice Feedback Across the Disciplines

Eckhouse, B. & Carroll, R. (2013). Voice assessment of student work: Recent studies and emerging technologies. Business Communication Quarterly, 76(4), 458-473.
Denton, D.W. (2014). Using screen capture feedback to improve academic performance. TechTrends, 58(6), 51-56.
Jones, N., Georghiiades, P., & Gunson, J. (2012). Student feedback via screen capture digital video: stimulating student’s modified action. High Education, 64, 593-607.
Fox, O.H. (2017). Using VoiceThread to promote collaborative learning in on-line clinical nurse leader courses. Journal of Professional Nursing, 33(1), 20-26.
Gonzalez, M. & Moore, N.S. (2018). Supporting graduate student writers with VoiceThread. Journal of Educational Technology, 46(4), 485-504.
Anson, C.M., Dannels, D.P., Lahoy, J.I., & Carneiro, L. (2016). Students’ perceptions of oral screencast responses to their writing: Exploring digitally mediated identities. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 30(3), 378-411.

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“Students’ Perceptions of Oral Screencast Responses to Their Writing: Exploring Digitally Mediated Identities”

Student interview data from eight courses at a large Southeastern university in which instructors were trained to use the screencast program, Jing, to comment orally on students’ papers. Five were FYW courses with a WAC/WID focus and three were upper level STEM-oriented courses.
Instructors conducted traditional comment feedback for first project and used Jing for the second project.
30-45 minute structured interviews resulting in 72 single-spaced pages for analysis (inductive typological analysis)

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INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK

Reported feeling “more terse” in written comments
Reported feeling “more personal” in SC comments:

“To me it feels like you have more of a relationship when you use this method than you do just in written comments.”
“[The SC videos] gave them an understanding of, ‘yes, there is a real person, not a robot grading my paper.’ And it gave them more information about their writing, and I think it personalized their experience a bit more.”

Reported feeling they provided more extensive information.
At first estimated taking more time, then less time, than written comments.

Average Word Count in Teacher Feedback

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STUDENT FEEDBACK

“I loved the screen capture and audio. I think it is extremely helpful to see what the reader is REALLY thinking instead of just relying on some comments scribbled in the margins.”
“I really liked the screen capture video! It made written comments much easier to understand and I felt I was having a personal conversation with my teacher.”
“It was helpful hearing all of the instructor's thoughts and not just those she would have decided to write down. I also seems like it forces the teacher to spend more time on a paper and truly evaluate the work.”

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Major Take-Aways

Students found screencast technologies to be helpful to their learning
Students interpreted more positive affect from their instructors
Positive Affect was developed by facilitating personal connections, creating transparency about the instructor’s evaluative process and identity, revealing the teacher’s feelings, providing visual affirmation, and establishing a conversational tone.

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Screen Capture Options

Jing: This online service allows you to create online conversations/feedback by recording up to five minutes of screen capture and video. Jing is a great way to give feedback and response to students or use for peer review. Jing is free for unlimited uses of five minute videos.

Screencastomatic: This free, online service allows for simple screen capture with or without audio. In order to use the service, you will have to install some software as well as upload to a video service such as YouTube to save the videos.

Snagit: Screen capture and screen recording software that offers a free trial with a more robust paid version. Snagit can develop interactive documents.

Camtasia: With educational pricing available, Camtasia offers a robust suite for screen recording and video editing.

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Tips Before Recording Your Feedback

Content

Read the entire text

Note areas for feedback

Personalize your tone

Context

Create a quiet environment

Use a mic if possible

Turn off notifications

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Framing Questions for Focused Recording

What do you want to capture in your recording?
What are your instructional goals for this writing assignment?
Where does this assignment fit within your course structure?
What do you want students to do with your feedback?

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The Recording Process

Decide if you want to record “in process” as a think-aloud exercise that provides in situ feedback or record “after reading” where you have marked places you want to highlight for the writer.
Use an informal, friendly tone that begins a productive, constructive conversation between two writers in a discipline
Try not to rush your comments by speaking too quickly as it may overwhelm the student
Focus on the larger issues first. For smaller, surface issues such as word choice – try reading the sentence aloud to the writer so they can see how it trips you up as a reader

Start with a greeting for context: “Hi, Kendra. I really enjoyed reading your work and I like the direction you have taken in this assignment. Let me offer some comments on what I see going well and what else you can think about for the next draft.”
As you move through the paper, explain your reactions with specific language, noting both strengths and weaknesses. If you can highlight the text or use the cursor to guide the writer’s eye as you speak, try to do so.
After you’ve gone through the text, provide a summary statement: “Overall, this paper responds effectively to the assignment objectives, especially x, y, or z. You should continue to work on a, b, or, c as I’ve discussed. I look forward to seeing what you do with your final draft.”

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Why Work with VoiceThread?

Cloud-based, secure, and collaborative in nature (creates a dialogue)
Ability to upload a variety of media: word documents, pdfs, images, videos, presentation software, etc.
In addition to writing feedback, VoiceThread can be used for discussion forums, collaborative writing, reflections, debates, demonstrations, tutorials, etc.
Variety of Commenting features including audio, video, webcam, text boxes, annotation tools, phone, or audio file upload
The project appears in multiple instances to make comments easier to locate and/or to focus on particular areas
Ease of access to feedback files within cloud-based system

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VoiceThread Available on Blackboard

VoiceThread is a web-based discussion tool that works across all computers and devices.

It is a valuable alternative to traditional online discussion boards as the voice component offers users significantly more presence and flexibility over text-only forums.

VoiceThread also offers an iOS App.

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Additional Tools

Quick Link

Downloadable Quip How-To Guide

Many Thanks to Academic Computing!

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