VLE

1. ELT article published at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com
Feedback in Online Learning Scenarios
Feedback is no doubt an essential component of the teaching and learning
experience of any student. Whether we are in a face-to-face (F2F)
classroom or an online course, feedback provides learners and instructors
with information on whether pupils understand the material, how well
learners are getting along, as well as whether teacher’s instructions are
easy to understand.
In the following discussion, we will analyze a specific teaching scenario
related to feedback in an online learning/teaching environment. We will
examine one of the scenarios provided below, but you can also feel free to
analyze the rest of the teaching situations on your own.

Online Scenario 1 — Student Frustration
You notice a few students are meeting frequently in the discussion forum. So you
decide to see how their conversations were going. You pull up the transcripts of their
conversations and notice that they are complaining about the lack of feedback and
poor feedback they are getting from another instructor. The students express how
frustrated it makes them and that they feel completely lost in that course.

2. ELT article published at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com
What should be done when students experience frustration in
another instructor’s class? Let it be borne in mind that students expect
three types of presence from their instructors: social, teaching, and
cognitive presence. By means of all three types of interaction with
students, learners expect teachers to make them feel at ease, with a low
affective filter, and guided to achieve learning goals in the course. But if
these presences are not fulfilled, students will experience frustration and a
sense of being lost or guideless.
If confronted with this situation, it is advisable to ask student to discuss the
issue with their instructor. Learners’ first reaction is to discuss among
themselves what is going on in the course as a way to release their “anger”
and “vexation” towards what they are experiencing, but rarely do they go
directly to the root of the problem. For this reason, it is important that they
can ventilate the issue with the instructor and try to conciliate their
positions and find a satisfactory way out. If nothing can be negotiated
among the instructor and the students, they must address the issue to the
school’s director to have both parties find a consensus that satisfies them
and that can allow them to work harmoniously.
Comprehending one’s role as a “counselor” for students is key in trying to
help them find a solution for their learning obstacles. Interfering in another
colleague’s course is not ethical, but what ethics must tell you to do is to
advise students to do the right thing. And if one happens to know the other

3. ELT article published at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com
instructor, how advisable is to tell him/her of what is being discussed
among his/her students? It can be some sort of irony of situation, but in a
very professional way, it is better to inform the head of the department,
who can deal with this issue from a hierarchical dimension that could be
better understood by the instructor –who in the students’ mind or
perspective is giving them no guidance and is triggering lots of frustration-.
Now, based on the discussion provided above, work on analyzing the
following virtual learning environment (VLE) scenarios to come up with you
own solutions and ways to palliate the emerging problem and the way to
eradicate the problem from your teaching situation.

Online Scenario 2 — Lack of Participation
You decide to assign students into groups for their next assignment. You see this as
an opportunity for students to learn from each other and to practice their
collaboration skills. By mid-week as you check your e-mails, you notice two e-mails
from two different students. You open each e-mail to read that both students are
complaining about the lack of help they are receiving from their group members.

4. ELT article published at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com

Online Scenario 3 — Teacher Feedback
At the end of your online course, your students are required to complete a teacher
evaluation. It consists of likert-scale questions and open-response questions. This is
a new initiative started by your institution. You are expected to use the feedback to
help inform what you are doing in your course. After the semester is over, you
receive your feedback. As you start reading through, you notice that about half of the
students really enjoyed the course and found it interesting; however, the other half
really struggled with understanding the assignments and thought that the
discussions were a waste of time.
 To fully comprehend the scope of this teaching issue, it is highly
advisable that the following topics must be expanded further:
 Teaching Presence in VLE
 Social Presence in VLE
 Cognitive Presence in VLE
 Feedback in VLE
 How to deal with learning issues in VLEs
Professor Jonathan Acuña-Solano
ELT Trainer, Instructor & Curriculum Developer based in Costa Rica
NCTE – Costa Rica Member
Resource Teacher and Curricular Developer at CCCN

5. ELT article published at http://reflective-online-teaching.blogspot.com
Senior ELT Professor at Universidad Latina, Costa Rica, since 1998
Contact Information:
Twitter @jonacuso
Email jonacuso@gmail.com
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Article published on Friday, January 3, 2014