DE Oracle @ UMUC

Audio Comments in the Online Classroom Pedagogically Sound, Ergonomically Necessary

Andrew Cavanaugh

Director of Writing

School of Undergraduate Studies

Published: May-June 2006

Category: » Online-pedagogy » Assessment-feedback-rubrics

When teaching a class online that involves significant writing, instructors face challenges in giving feedback to students. Many instructors use various editing features, such as Microsoft's TrackChanges, Comment, or other such tools to comment on papers. However, these tools present obstacles to both the instructor and the student. Pedagogical as well as ergonomic problems arise when purely text-based comments are given to students.

Having faced this challenge as an adjunct many years ago, I began to experiment with audio comments on student papers.  Since then, I have tried various forms of audio and video files to interact with students, both in responding to papers as well as in responding to conference topics.  I have found that audio comments save time, provide more extensive feedback, and offer a more personal classroom than text-based comments do.  In addition, giving feedback through an audio method helps prevent physical injury to instructors, a concern that will only increase as online teaching becomes more popular.

First, audio comments are pedagogically sound, while text-based comments are pedagogically questionable for many students. If a student struggles with writing, often he/she will struggle with reading. This challenge renders the text-based comments problematic. In addition, for all students, text-based comments are more difficult to penetrate and comprehend than audio. Consider the following possible text from a student's paper:

Computer networking presence many problems, including determining what type of network to set up, the cost of it, and you don't know how to service it.

The instructor, through TrackChanges in MSWord, could write the following:

The comments above are confusing, visually unappealing, and probably incomprehensible for the student. This impenetrable process of correction has the potential of stifling, rather than nurturing, the student's desire to write.

Imagine the student's receiving a file with audio comments.

This method allows the student to hear the awkward rhythm of the sentence and helps the instructor give more thorough feedback. The thorough narrative that the instructor is allowed to provide affords the student a rich learning experience as he/she revises and edits his/her papers throughout the semester.

Second, audio comments are ergonomically healthier than text-based comments. In the above example, selecting TrackChanges, positioning the cursor, and typing in the comments involved many strokes and much frustration on the part of the instructor. If this had been a three-page paper, the amount of typing would have been daunting. If this were in a class with twenty students all handing in papers of this length, the amount of typing required by the professor would possibly be a health hazard.

My experience reflects this phenomenon. In 1998, in the midst of teaching an online course as an adjunct instructor, I was diagnosed with tendonitis. The problem was a result of typing numerous comments to student papers. I purchased ergonomic equipment, including a unique keyboard and ball mouse. These adjustments helped. However, the process of typing comments still wore on me, both physically and emotionally.

I started using audio comments around 2000. I have not looked back since. I found that I was able to comment on student papers with greater detail, more complete instruction, and superior examples and illustrations. Moreover, not only did I find the process more enjoyable, but my students found the change rewarding as well. Observe several of the many favorable comments I have received from them:

• I really like the method you use to respond to the student's essays. I find it very helpful. Even when I had to write essays in high school, I didn't get that much feedback. Usually my teacher would just write a sentence, maybe two under my essay. So I appreciate this!
• Thanks for the comments. That was pretty neat - I've taken so many DE classes, but this was the first time I ever heard someone's voice
• Thanks for the comments on the essays. It is a neat way to communicate. I'm glad you are able to step out of the box. I felt it helpful if I read the paper as you commented, then made corrections in a different color ink and then went back over again a couple of times. Mp3 allowed me to hear comments. I like it.
• I have just listened to your comments about my essay. I want to thank you for your audio file. Online education is a very impersonal way of studying, and I have often found myself frustrated by the cut-and-dried typed comments I have received from teachers over the last two years. Putting them in an audio file made all the difference.

Another point to consider is that instructors may well reduce the amount of commenting they make when teaching an online class as compared to the amount they make in a face-to-face class. Because of the limitation that typing imposes, I suspect that many instructors tire of typing extensive comments and, as a result, simply give fewer comments. This dynamic cannot help the online classroom experience for the student. Audio comments overcome this obstacle and allow the student to hear the rich feedback he/she would have gotten in a face-to-face classroom.

Third, as is apparent from the comments above, audio comments enrich an online classroom in a way that text-based comments cannot. Hearing the instructor's voice makes the online classroom much more personal. Even the tone of voice one can use affects students’ perceptions of possibly critical comments. Text-based comments often "sound" terse when read by students; with audio comments, the instructor can qualify his/her language, adjust volume, use pregnant pauses, etc. in offering the student feedback on concerns in a paper. These dynamics help to communicate the problems in a student's writing with care and empathy.

In fact, I have come full circle. I now give audio comments to my face-to-face students as well as my online students. Again, I find them much more effective than chicken scratch in the margin of a paper, a process I used to employ in a face-to-face class.

Therefore, in the evolving world of online education, I encourage you to experiment with audio comments. Teachers of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but your pains. I now do not struggle so much with the limitations of typing. I now do not wince at the prospect of ten student papers on which to provide feedback. I can take a pile of papers, get out my hand-held audio recorder, and speak away.

I should add, though, that I face another challenge when commenting on a few student papers: I get thirsty.  I drink more fluids now. But at least my comments are no longer watered down.

How-To

If you are interested in exploring ways to add audio comments to your students' papers, one method is to use Audacity; directions are available at the DE Oracle. The resulting files can be attached to assignment entries in the Gradebook or to conferences. Also refer to the article on CTL's Summer Faculty Leadership Institute multimedia projects.