Peer Feedback: Inspired by John Spencer's Post

by  maximalideal  under

I was going through some of the educators' blogs that I've collected in feedly when I came across  +John Spencer 's post titled The 20-Minute Peer Feedback System. John started the post with this sentence and I immediately clicked to read more.

I believe that peer feedback is critical for students.

I cheered. :) I have seen, and personally experienced, the power of feedback when it was provided with the right intention and in the right way. I've seen it work in different contexts, learning, work etc. But, I have also watched many people get it wrong. It usually turns bad when the people involved don't know what good feedback is and how it looks and sounds like, but more importantly where it should come from and the intention that should drive it. 

So, I read the post, I started to comment, the comment became a bit too long when I began to share something about how I've been using feedback exercises, so I decided to post it here instead. 

I liked the exercise a lot, and I have used several variations of it based on the objective of the particular session. What I find invaluable for a successful feedback exercise is to 

1- discuss "Giving and Receiving Constructive Feedback, what, why and how"

2- agree the structure and criteria for the feedback in the particular session, like a mini rubric perhaps, allowing space for general impressions/feelings but always with the intention being to help the person reflect and improve and  coming from a place of support and caring.

  

Whenever there was no time for a full-fledged session for no. 1, making sure to agree no. 2 in a clear way -- may be putting it up visually as a reference for all to see  -- helped a lot. 

  by  jardenberg 


I Like to do this exercise in 3s. The 3rd person sits as a silent observer (a fly on the wall) to provide feedback to both giver and receiver of the feedback (receiving is also a skill and not passive), and is usually the only one allowed to take notes. Of course this means that the exercise will be done three times so that each one gets the chance to give, receive and observe. 

Finally, to consolidate and allow all the groups to share with each other, I ask them to decide on their three major learning points (can be more but 3 seems to be a nice number). When they are ready with their lists, it's time to share. I like to capture the points in writing which of course can be done by adding to a shared document (physical or digital or both).

I need to find some good online resources on feedback or write something myself. Does anyone know of any, preferably supported by research?

Which reminds me, one of MIT's MOOCs on tedx introduced us to feedback and provided some guidelines followed by an exercise to practice giving feedback, and receive feedback on the feedback we gave :) . That was a totally unexpected but very interesting part of the course. Unfortunately at the time I couldn't continue the course, not even as a lurker, and missed on watching how that type of digital peer feedback worked and how participants reacted to it. One thing I remember well, while I am usually comfortable giving and seeking feedback in the physical world, it was scarier online. Again I suspect, it was the permanency of the written word, but more the absence of an easy way to express all the meaning that the human face and voice add to the words.

Well, I must check and see when the course is going to be offered next and plan to join it again.

Power of Connections : My Desk

This was supposed to be the first post but somehow I am still jumping around #NTPoC course trying to figure out what I'd missed and how to find my way around the platform.

So....

My Temporary Work-Space

this is my work-space which as you can see is a total mess and not a desk. I am still using the dining table as my "temporary" work-space, something I have been doing since I returned home a year ago after around 23 years of living abroad.

As you can see this was my second attempt with the first one appearing on the screen of the laptop. I decided to take another one to make sure I capture the messiness. It is not usually as messy but  having so much space makes it harder to stay organized, if that makes any sense. :) One item that is always present is a headset that I use a lot and another thing that I have to have all summer is the fan that appears in the background on the top left side of the picture.

As for books and bookshelves, well, my books still live in boxes and every now and then I have to rummage through a box to find a book that I want (thank God I made a list of each box' contents).


A Virtual Work-Space

I would love to be able to work outdoors but haven't found a way to do that yet. So, when I need a bit of nature around me while working I log into a Virtual World, sit my avatar in one of my favorite spots in a forest or on the beach and work. I can look in on her every now and then if I need a break but I can keep the sounds on all the time so that I am listening to some relaxing nature sounds. I also teach in-world at least once a week where I can sit with learners from around the world.

A 25 Words Language

The second improvisation challenge (part of The Power of Connection Course from Next Thought) is to select only 25 words to take with me as my new language, as I go into space on a mission to colonize a new planet. The challenge was to choose the words that my new language will consist of in only 10 minutes.

I knew this was not going to be easy as soon as I read the instructions but didn't realize how difficult it was going to be. We take language for granted and I am not particularly known for being succinct. :) .

One of the things that I kept thinking about is how some of the online spaces/tools force you to communicate in as short a form as possible. Sometimes it's a hard restriction by the space/tool itself, e.g. Twitter's 145 characters, and sometimes a restrictions created by the circumstances and general norms adopted by the users, like while you're communicating with a fellow player during a video game. However in those instances I usually still have a full language with hundreds of words to choose from, abbreviate, shorten, omit etc.

Any way, back to my new created language, for which I will have no one to blame except myself if it doesn't work for me in outer space, and how I selected it.

The words are:
need, food, help, bad, good, thanks, feel, cold, heat, why, how, when, come go, must, time, contact, earth, planet, new, old.

One of the main assumptions on my mind while frantically trying to find good useful words was "many things can be easily mimed". With that in mind, I find that some words I like and some I think could have been replaced by more versatile ones.