Using ICT-enabled feedback to improve student learning in secondary Literature review

Using ICT-enabled feedback to improve student learning in secondary schools in New Zealand - Literature review Example What is Feedback? Feedback is often described as a systematic dialogue between teachers and students. A proper feedback can help both to assess their strategies.To be more precise,for students it is a method to ascertain the effectiveness of their learning strategies. On the other hand, for teachers, it is a method to assess the problems faced by students. As a result, the teachers are able to adapt more student friendly teaching methods A carefully designed classroom lesson attracts more attention from students (Black and William, 1998, pp. 139-148). In many literatures the description coined by Ramprasad (1983, p. 4) â€Å"Feedback is information about the gap between the actual level and the reference level of a system parameter which is used to alter the gap in some way† is used to define feedback. However, many scholars are of the opinion that such definitions of feedback, makes it a complete responsibility of the teachers. On the other hand, an effective feedback require s both the teachers as well as the students to give their serious effort. (Black and William, 1998, pp. 139-148) In 2006 Boston Consultancy Group (BCG), conducted a survey in the primary school of Bellfield in Victoria, Australia. The survey clearly indicated that Feedback in school level balances positive aspects of teaching with room for future improvement. The survey also showed that feedback encourages teachers to build up their confidence. The survey further showed that constructive and properly tailored feedback help teachers to formulate new methodologies to improve learning in their class... The teachers must gain the student’s confidence. A feedback, which is very critical by nature, can make students feel incompetent. In feedback, teachers need to highlight the achievements of the students in a realistic yet positive manner. By providing students non-judgmental feedback, the teachers can become their mentor. The greatest fear that students have is the fear of being wrong, and it is the responsibility of teachers to encourage them to come out of their inhibition. (Gager and Berliner, 1991 p. 143, 349) Feedback can be categorized into two category, namely â€Å"Formative† and â€Å"Summative† assessment. Formative assessment involves regular feedback throughout the academic year. On the other hand, summative feedback is the assessment done at the end of the academic term. Formative assessment In case of formative assessment, the approach is a combination of formal and informal processes applied by students and teachers for improving the learning expe rience. Formative assessment done by teachers mainly focus on the following points (Heritage and Stigler, 2010, p. 56) The direction in which the student is heading, i.e. the strategy the student is following. The current state of the student The direction the student must take next to make further improvements The priority in formative assessment is to set the learning goals along with the success criteria for each lesson. The feedback help teachers to shape up their curriculum in such a way that the students are able to close the gap between his or her current learning ability and the goal they have set for themselves. The teachers must be aware of certain factors, when they formulate their formative assessment strategies. There are certain factors, which must be