Kaizena: The High Value Feedback Tool for Any Text.

Effective assessment and feedback in less time (for any subject)

Have you ever wished you could give up writing comments on word or google docs because it took too long? Perhaps felt like you were going to inflict RSI on yourself by clicking 'insert comment' for the umpteenth time for Script #14 on a 300 word essay?

I read about +Shelly Sanchez Terrell from one of the links on my Google Plus groups and found her slideshare on The Teachers' Survival Kit to Productivity Tools and Apps so useful! With a pile of writing to assess, I decided to try an online tool called Kaizena.

Kaizena is a site linked to your G Drive which allows you to give feedback on student work using voice and comments. It also allows you to insert links to resources or further reading. Sharing these comments with another teacher is also possible if you include him/her in your sharing options on the original document on G Drive.

If you think this sounds intimidating, it really isn't. Kaizena is easy to use once you allow it to access your microphone.

Screenshot of Kaizena in Action

Why would this change the way you give feedback?

• It gives you 3 options: Voice, Written Comment and Links to Resources.

With Kaizena, I have multiple feedback options, I can overlap comments or change highlight colours too (great if you have a code system for feedback.) Adding links is to resources is a simple 'copy and paste URL' job.

• It connects to G Drive - your library of student work

Now that all student work is on G Drive, it is easy to import folders and specific documents. This way, I can give feedback quickly without switching tabs. Also, it stores documents until I archive them (so I do this when a student hands me a second draft - brilliant for record keeping)

• It can be a storehouse of important resources

Every resource you link to work is stored on Kaizena until you wish to delete them. Why would you need to go searching again?

• It adds value to writing conferences

Sharing it prior to a writing conference means students can digest the feedback and get back to you with questions and comments of their own.
The times I have done the conventional writing conference, I have had my ESL students trying to read their work, listen to my comments and make mental notes. That's tough on any language learner.

• It gives a student a record of his/her progress

Work can be improved upon and new feedback added just by using the option 'Create New Version'. Fabtastic!

• It allows teachers flexibility in giving feedback - different learners and learner styles.

If students don't like reading comments and prefer recorded ones, hey! Kaizena might be the tool you are looking for to get students receptive to improving writing.

I'm sure there are many other options out there but for now, I think this works for me.

Padlet: The Accessible Virtual Post-It Wall

The Wall of Sound and Substance

Padlet is anything but a notepad. Formerly known as WallWisher, Padlet evolved from being an online pinboard where tributes and messages were displayed for friends and family to a tool for collaborative learning and assessment.

It is Graffiti made Good.

Why use Padlet?

I was introduced to Padlet by my tech savvy colleague, Vip Sharma, as a quick way of gathering feedback and initial ideas from a class. At first, I could not see why the same had to be digitised. After all, can't the same be achieved with a couple of post-its in different colours or an A3 sheet (preferably reused) and some felt pens?

Yes really! There is still a lot of merit in having students debate about the placement of ideas on paper or make decisions over classification or connect ideas spontaneously when brainstorming or charting a K-W-L or making a mindmap using coloured pens and paper.

The earliest tech was a chisel and a stone tablet after all... which brings me back to Padlet.

Vip finally showed me the merit in it - that students build on each other's ideas and having them displayed is motivating especially in language classes.

Also, Padlet walls can be a quick and effective option for putting all resources in one area for research or enquiry-based learning. I used this idea for my first Padlet wall for a reading lesson and combined these readings with a PMI (Plus-Minus-Interesting) for note taking instead of the usual pro-con debate structure.

It worked out very well with students dividing the task and being engaged in comparing their ideas and explaining their justification for their point system. We later developed this into a role-play forum (which I recorded using the Voice Recorder Pro app).

Future Projects with Padlet

The next time I use Padlet though, I'd like to explore linear texts and more HOT skills : chronological processes, Thinking Hats, class group writing and Point-Evidence-Elaboration or Question-Answer-Relate strategies for reading.

Also, I do think that it could be used as a personal or group target setting or feedback board. Posting writing samples or targets anonymously (using a QR code), other students could suggest strategies for improvement.

I might try this last one because it has not been done before and will share with you how it went.

Meanwhile, another contender for what Padlet does is the new kid on the wall - RealTimeBoard.
Looks exciting!