Comment on “Could Video Feedback Replace the Red Pen?”

Comment on “Could Video Feedback Replace the Red Pen?”

By Dr. Bob Uda
January 27, 2015

My article is a comment on an article written by Steve Kolowick.  You can access his article at http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/could-video-feedback-replace-the-red-pen/55587

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I like the individual video idea, but it has its drawbacks.  Some students lean towards hearing-orientation, while other students lean towards visual-orientation.  Thus, some prefer to listen or hear the message, while others prefer to read or see the message in written form.  Recently, I prepared a 2-1/2-minute “Welcome” video.  Not being knowledgeable or adept at creating videos, it took hours upon hours to complete it.  Still, some students will not view the video.  More disappointing is some will not even read the written “Announcements” that I post on the course homepage.

At one of the online universities at which I teach, we prepare and conduct a twice-weekly “Live Chat Session.”  In this session, I prepare and present a PowerPoint presentation of about 20 slides.  I also include an “Icebreaker Question,” provide shared files of written articles, and conduct interactive “Polls.”  The students love the polls!  The few students who attend the live sessions get to see and hear the instructor in real time.  We also interact where they write questions or make written comments for all to see, and I answer or respond orally in real time.  I record and archive each Live Chat Session for the students who cannot attend the real-time session but desire to view the session at their convenience at any available time of the day or night.  That approach works well for some students.

What struck me in the Steve Kolowich article is his statement that “making videos takes the instructors less time, on average, than would writing out comments longhand.”  I agree that it takes more time if the instructors used red pen to write their feedback comments in “longhand” on a hard copy of the students’ papers.  However, I have neither read anything in the article nor read comments from readers in the comments section discussing using the “Track Changes” tool in the Microsoft Word applications program.  For me, that appears to be a better way to provide written feedback comments electronically on students’ papers.

What I do is to make redlined corrections directly on the students’ papers, e.g., correcting typos and correcting spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors.  I provide other redline comments using the “New Comment” note boxes or bubbles, which appear in the right side of the paper.  In these comment boxes, I provide my personal feedback comments about a significant error and include the page number, section number, and paragraph in the APA Manual where students can verify the rule that they violated in their papers.  I also use these comment boxes to provide feedback comments regarding the technical content aspects of the students’ papers.

I have received numerous student feedback comments extolling the detailed comments that I provide using “Tracked Changes.”  Of course, you will have students who only care about the grade they receive on their papers and couldn’t care less about any redlined comments.  However, for students who really appreciate the detailed comments, it makes it well worth all the time spent preparing those Tracked Changes comments—to each his (or her) own.  Whether we use short videos, Live Chat Sessions, “Tracked Changes” redlined comments, or pen and ink comments written longhand on hard copies of papers, some students will like it while other students couldn’t care less.  Do whatever works best for you.

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