How to provide student feedback
using screen capture software
Billy Brick
English Language Unit
Faculty of
Business, Environment and Society
(BES)
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Outline
- Original idea by Russell Stannard, University of
Westminster
- Motivation behind using this software for giving feedback
- Explanation and Demonstration
- Feedback from students and potential benefits
- Methodology
- Practical / technical problems and solutions
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Motivation for improving feedback given to
students
- UK National Student Survey (since 2005)
“consistently negative reaction from students
towards tutor feedback”
- THE (Times Higher Education), July 31st 2008
“Lecturers’ feedback efforts ‘misguided’”
- HEA (Higher Education Academy)  “receives more
requests for help to improve the system of feedback
in universities than on any other issue”
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
How does the software work?
- Allows you to record everything you do on the screen,
along with a voice-over.
- As if a camera is being aimed at your screen.
- Not ‘new’ software, but has only recently been used for
providing feedback.
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Trying out the software at Coventry University
- Trialled with classes in 2 modules: German 
English Translation and Language in Use.
- Used for giving additional feedback on assessed
coursework.
- 30 students in total – very positive feedback from
both groups.
- Also used for general class feedback and marking
draft essays.
- Could be particularly useful for distance learners.
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Feedback 1
“Really good! it is a perfect tool to give students a
personal feedback of their work. Only yesterday we
talked about the comments written on coversheets of
courseworks and we came to the agreement that in
many cases these comments are really short and
often impossible to read. A teacher working with this
software however shows that he really has spent
some time while looking at the students work.”
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Feedback 2
“I found it helpful to have audio and visual feedback
on my assessment. It means I can understand better
which parts of the translation were inaccurate and
where I could have improved on it. I would not mind
waiting a little longer for this type of feedback as it
gives me more confidence going into future
assessments when I have extra feedback.”
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Feedback 3
“I believe that screen capture feedback is much more
productive and useful to the student than traditional
feedback as it can point out specifics and it shows
that the lecturer is willing to take the time to provide
more feedback. It gives more opportunity to suggest
more ideas to the student about certain areas of the
work which can be useful for future reference, instead
of just writing criticisms and strengths and
weaknesses in a small space like on the traditional
feedback sheet.”
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Feedback 4
“I prefer it to the traditional one, as I feel more
comfortable and gives you more confidence while at
the same time the lecturer shows you what you
should done in a different way to improve the essay.
Sometimes in the traditional-written feedback you can
mistake some comments and some of the corrections
might not be clear. Otherwise in this system
everything is explained and showed while the
professor is speaking. Overall, I think it is a very
useful way of improving the way we write, through
explanations.”
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Potential benefits
- Feedback can be ‘dual-coded’, may suit
students with a more auditory learning style.
- More personalised, helps develop a ‘good
record’ with students – motivation?
- Feedback might end up being more detailed.
- Students feel more inclined to respond.
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Towards a methodology (1)
- Students required to submit assessed work
electronically as well as on a printed hard copy.
- Marking coursework by hand or using the “Track
changes” feature in Word?
- Difficult to open a Word file and improvise (hesitation
and losing your place).
- Highlighting the areas to be commented on proved
easier and allows for a rough script to develop.
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Towards a methodology (2)
- Where do students view the file? Any screen smaller
than that of a ‘normal’ laptop makes it difficult to read.
- With which technology do they view the file – location,
headphones?
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Practical problems - things to watch out for…
- Telephone ringing whilst you’re recording!
- View in Word should be ‘normal’ or ‘draft’ (Word
2007) otherwise the text is in the middle of the screen
rather than left aligned.
- Make sure your mic is plugged in!
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Technical issues
- Choose the 800x600 preset which will ensure that the
final product is of sufficient quality.
- Delivering the finished product:
• Burn to CD-ROM – wasteful / time-consuming
• Transfer to students’ memory sticks – ‘clumsy’
• Deliver through VLE e-mail – file size?
• Sending students the URL
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Products and cost
• Camtasia 5 by Techsmith: €200 (approx.)
http://www.techsmith.com/
• Screen Toaster
http://www.screentoaster.com/
• Screencast-o-matic
http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software
Hands on session
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Register with Screen Toaster
Open the file ”All primary schools to teach foreign languages by 2010” and
highlight any errors or sections you wish to comment on.
Follow the instructions on the hand-out.
Begin recording using the highlighted areas as a rough script to follow.
When you’ve finished providing feedback, stop the recording and select the
“Upload to Screen Toaster (high quality)” option
From here you can then e-mail the file directly to the student or send them
the url.
Once you have fully understood Screen Toaster there will be an opportunity
to use either Screencast-O-Matic or Camtasia and time for discussion.
LLAS Workshop. How to provide student
feedback using screen capture software