Why is feedback an important part of the learning process?

Feedback is an essential part of education and online courses. It helps learners to maximize their potential, raise their awareness of their strengths, and identify where they need to put more effort to improve performance. In addition, positive feedback can increase student motivation and engagement, and lead to a stronger sense of self worth and self confidence.

There are several things instructors need to take into consideration when preparing to give students feedback. Some of the most meaningful things include the following:

• Students need to receive feedback as close as possible to the time they completed an action or a lesson.
• Feedback is most effective when the student is still engaged in the subject matter.
• Give students feedback when there’s still time to use it towards the end goal.
• Provide both constructive feedback and positive feedback, allowing students to improve but also feel good about their progress.

Feedback in an online environment

Meaningful feedback allows the online learner to assess their progress and understand which areas need improvement.  In an online environment, feedback is crucial, as it alleviates feelings of isolation and boredom. There are two types of feedback that can be given to students during an online learning process:

Instructor feedback

Instructor feedback helps learners meet their course goals and has a lot of impact on the learning outcomes. Most online learning platforms fail to provide an effective way for instructors to give feedback to students, and often students have no idea how they’re doing and what they need to improve. When delivering content online, it is very important to check on students and let them know what they do well and what areas need to be improved.

Feedback from peers

Online courses usually include more than one student, however, most of the time there is no interaction between students. When designing an online course, it’s highly recommended to create a safe environment for students to interact and give feedback to one another. Such environment allows students to share thoughts, ideas, comments, and grow together as a group.

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