Providing Feedback to Online Learners Using the Audiovisual Tools in Canvas

Education has taken a 180-degree turn as a result of technological advancements. With the increasing emphasis on student-centered learning, the teacher-centered method is rapidly losing relevance (Ice et al., 2007). Higher education institutions seek ways to build and sustain engagement with online and hybrid courses as students take these courses continues to grow. 

In-person instruction can lead to a sense of community, whereas online learning can often be cold and formal. What if it doesn't have to be? What if instructors can still be a voice and a face in their digital learning courses? One option is to use asynchronous audio and video-based dialogues, providing professors and students unique opportunities. 

Why use Audio/Video Feedback

Instead of giving verbal feedback, teachers might utilize audiovisual feedback on students' work. The COVID-19 epidemic caused verbal feedback in a face-to-face setting to lessen, leading faculty to experiment with various tools to provide feedback in the online environment. Educators can easily record their audio/video comments using the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) features.

By using the audiovisual features in the Canvas LMS, instructors can leave video or audio comments in the Speed Grader on student assignments. Another way to engage students using an audiovisual feature is to create videos to deliver course announcements that allow the instructor to showcase their demeanor and personality. For students, this can mimic the traditional classroom interactions they would have in a face-to-face class. 

Audio/Video Feedback Benefits

The benefits of audiovisual feedback are vast for students. A study from West Virginia University concluded that 83% of students surveyed enjoyed receiving audio feedback more than written feedback (Ice et al., 2007). Not only does this allow the student to feel seen by their instructor, but it also gives the instructor the human interaction they are accustomed to. Another benefit is instructors using these techniques at West Virginia University suggested that the amount of time spent on providing feedback dropped 75% because of the ease and conversational nature of the method (Ice et al., 2007.)

The process for creating video announcements is pretty simple. 

• Find the Announcements tab from the Navigation Menu in the course.
• Create a new announcement
• By clicking on the record/upload media button, you can record a video into an announcement.

If an instructor wants to leave a video or audio comment on a student's work in Canvas, it can be recorded quickly by using the SpeedGrader function.

• Once you click on the assignment, the SpeedGrader function is listed next to edit assignment settings. 
• In SpeedGrader, you can toggle back and forth between each student submission.
• Using the media comment button, you can leave a video comment to share with the student or turn off your camera and leave an audio comment.

Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) Canvas LMS offers advanced audiovisual features such as the VoiceThread and Flipgrid. 

The following WSSU faculty provided the following comments about Flipgrid; Dr. Sanchala Sen, Assistant Professor - Occupational Therapy, said, "my students like Flipgrid and enjoyed recording their responses." 

Dr. Lynn Zubov, Professor & Coordinator - Education, said, "I once had my students use Flipgrid to record their discussion boards. I found that the students' responses were longer and provided more depth. --FYI, students said they liked using Flipgrid."

With so many advantages to using audio and video to provide feedback to students, it is one online tool that is worth incorporating into your courses. 

To learn more about VoiceThread and Flipgrid, please visit the CITI Youtube Channel. 

Reference

Ice, P., Curtis, R., Phillips, P., & Wells, J. (2007). Using asynchronous audio feedback to enhance teaching presence and students’ sense of community. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v11i2.1724