RUNNING

HEAD: Feedback forum

Feedback Forum: Authentic Teaching and Learning

Using A Transformative Framework & Innovative Web-Based Learning Management
System
Pascha Griffiths
Christopher M. Strickland
Lesley University
Technology for Innovation & Transformation
October 25, 2015
Dr. Susan Patterson

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

Abstract
Feedback is a sensitive topic that is at best a means to build up and strengthen the
person receiving the feedback and at worst a soul-crushing mechanism that can
demotivate a person from ever trying again. Either way, providing and receiving
feedback is challenging in practice, and difficult to convey or receive meaningfully. It is a
general understanding and norm that feedback is best given and received in a context that
is personalized and ideally, face-to-face. It is our shared belief that in the ever evolving
landscape of the 21st Century and movement towards a more globalized culture and
community, innovative technologies may offer and provide a dynamic means and
alternate solution for addressing an age old dilemma: when and how to deliver
feedback. Our collective experiences as educators and supervisors lead us to reflect upon
the quintessential practice and art of giving and receiving feedback explicitly,
constructive feedback that is content-specific, germane, and focused on direct
observations. Feedback is only as good as the lucid articulation and specific details it
provides and its ability to inspire improvement and personal transformation.
Our desire is to offer expanded access and opportunities for individuals to
experience and cultivate capacities to receive critical analysis as well as provide
constructive feedback. With that desire as inspiration, we designed Feedback Forum: a
framework for a theoretical technological platform to implement sound and relevant
feedback. Although there could be benefits arising from Feedback Forum that we do not
foresee, a major benefit we do anticipate is that Feedback Forum would create a
supportive community of collaborative artists and teachers committed to one anothers
growth and development. This innovative technological platform would serve as a
transformative framework for teachers and artists to receive and provide constructive

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

feedback that is timely, relevant, empowering and allows individuals to understand and
internalize the constructive and practice-improving information.
Introduction
When presented with the challenge to figure out how to use time and/or money to
innovate or transform, our first question was how to make this relevant and beneficial to
our personal goals and practices as well as meaningful for our colleagues and students.
Ultimately, we both have desires to make lasting and meaningful contributions to the
field of education. We both wade into the murky minefield of providing constructive
feedback as part of our educator supervisory positions, so we both are motivated to
contribute something that could harness the benefits of constructive feedback, but
simultaneously disarm the field of the emotional dangers present for teachers and artists
vulnerably seeking feedback for the sake of improvement.
Our aim is to leverage technology as a vital mode for communicating valuable
and transformative feedback for artists and student-teachers. Hence, the idea for
Feedback Forum was born. Feedback Forum is our proposal for an innovative
technological web-based learning management system. Through the use of norms and
protocols, Feedback Forum creates the space for individuals to experience and cultivate
capacities to receive critical analysis and provide constructive feedback. This venture
would challenge the standards of communicating constructive feedback and hopefully
provide an alternative means to improve and enhance such a sensitive process and
vulnerable experience.

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

The Role of Technology
The role and use of technology in this project is inspired by the work and research
of leading thinkers of technology in education, such as Mimi Ito and John Seely
Brown. Mimi Itos work and thoughts on connected learning provide the concept for
learners to learn from everyone. As Ito queried in a video on Connected Learning by
DML Research Hub, How does a kid find that mentor or that peer who is going to
introduce them or support them in developing their interests, making their interests
relevant developing a sense of purpose? Ito further developed her question, How can
we use the capacity of these network resources, these social connections, to bring people
together who want ot learn together? Ito provided some direction for us as she realized
the kernel of her collaborative work on connected learning will enable a lot of people
in a wide range of spheres and fields to take it up and do something with it. Its about
expertise thats widely distributed in our society and culture and the fact that anybody can
help somebody else get better at something. Itos guiding inquiries that she posited
regarding connected learning served as the broad strokes for the metaphorical wireframes
of Feedback Forum.
John Seely Browns assertions on technological innovations and how people learn
provided the impetus for our project. Brown understands that context shapes content
and in a video entitled, The Global One Room Schoolhouse, he emphasizes the power of
technological innovation is looking for new ways new resources to learn new
things in order to invent new types of social practices and new types of skills... This
idea forged with the concept of using a familiar technological tool in a new way initiated

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

the designing of Feedback Forum, a web-based learning management system that would
be easy to use, yet innovate the way one engages, learns and grows.
Feedback Forums exists in the virtual space created by the Internet, hence, webbased technology is critical to the very construction of the Feedback Forum community.
Web-based communication technology is vital to the teaching and learning transactions
that take place through Feedback Forum. Web applications are the very basis for
connecting and allowing individuals to observe, respond, and collect information that will
be used to help transform participants learning and work whatever the work may look
like. Although in this paper we offer and focus on two different exemplars for the
Feedback Forum, the potential implementations are limitless. The two applications we
will use as our examples throughout the paper are: (1) Feedback Forum as a tool for high
school students in a visual arts class, and (2) Feedback Forum as a closed community
space for student-teachers to post videos of their work to get their peers feedback and
suggestions for continual improvement of their nascent teaching practice.
Feedback Forums Technological Components
Feedback Forum requires a platform for uploading and exhibiting visual artifacts
and data such as visual artworks, and short videos of teacher practice. The uploaded
content would be part of a page that includes a space for the submitting participant to
write inquiry questions for the visitors to see and read as a guide for their feedback. On
that same page, below the inquiry prompts, would be a responders window, much like a
Facebook comments section, where responders would post their responses to the
inquiry questions. The responders are encouraged to use video format for their responses,
may type their responses, and may post links to helpful related content. Essentially, the

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

comment/response section allows individuals to look at the data and provide constructive
feedback to the personal inquiry posed by the student. The Feedback Forum platform is
accessible, flexible, and adaptable to the needs of the program: it can be localized or
globalized. A teacher can create a closed group for a single class, or a large group
comprised of multiple classes and professional mentors. Much like Facebooks Group
pages, each Feedback Forum has a moderator in charge of inviting the members to the
group. One quick shortcut: an art teacher in New Hampshire could have his entire class of
30 students set up as a unit. A teacher in California could have her entire class of 32
students set up as a unit. The two teachers could decide to connect their classes for a
project with the click of a button. Then, the teachers would set the parameters and goals
of the collaboration. When the project is done, the teachers would have the capability of
unlinking their classes for future work, but the collaborative products would remain in the
Feedback Forum space they created, unless for some reason the teachers agree to delete
that space. Feedback Forum will have filters to regulate and record appropriate
participation. Inappropriate participation will be logged and dealt with according to the
norms. Participants will be able to click a button to appreciate feedback, or report
violation. As the groups are monitored by a teacher, the teacher would be immediately
notified of violations, and be empowered to warn, limit use, or dismember a participant
from the group. In addition to being able to host video for the purposes of sharing and
critique, Feedback Forum will have a closed captioning option, so that the transcript of
a teacher video can be read and commented on by the feedback providers. This capability
would translate to other learning environments as well, and is not limited to a teachers
classroom.

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

The Project: Feedback Forum
We propose the creation of a uniquely designed web-based learning management
system that fosters and curates an invitation only online community that is safe, positive,
and constructive for the participants. In contrast to other forms of web-based learning
management systems and platforms, and unlike social media where the dialogue is open
and anonymous, and the discourse quickly devolves to ranting or vitriolic criticism, the
Feedback Forum is an antidote and a solution to the problem of exchanging feedback
asynchronously and across geography. By being a closed group, we protect the safety and
integrity of the participants and ensure through established enforced norms and protocols,
a consistent positive experience for everyone involved.
To achieve these aims and goals, the following principles for conduct are
employed. Before being allowed to provide feedback to other users, a user must view an
interactive presentation that conveys the established norms. The video presentation
would present each norm in an entertaining manner, and it would pause and require a
check-off agreement for each norm before it continues to the next norm. Each norm
must be checked off individually, so that the user cannot just scroll through a term of
agreement and click I agree at the end. Participation in the community would not be
enabled until that participant had viewed and checked off the agreement to every single
norm. This would set up the community with members who would me more likely to
understand and internalize the expected mode of community behavior, and conduct
themselves accordingly.
Feedback Forum would have a weekly Leader Board where people compete to get
the most thumbs up on their comments to their online peers. As people start to contribute,

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

their positive feedback would be reinforced by public acknowledgement for their
feedback. Each week, the leaders would be rewarded with seeing their feedback
rankings go up. We would also create levels of contributors to encourage new
contributors to give a minimum of 10 positive comments, and give more feedback
legitimacy to people in the higher tiers. To spur interest, we would create a series of
badges and users could earn badges after key events such as their first post, their first
approved review, their 10th post, their first liked post Being on the Leader Board for
the day, etc. This feature has individualized design capabilities to reflect and foster age
appropriateness, (i.e. badges would look different for high school students compared to
college undergraduate and graduate students.)
To imagine Feedback Forum in action, we will return to our two exemplars. The
first example is for high school students in a visual arts class. This concept is similar to
that of participating in DeviantArt - a popular online social community where
individuals can share and exchange artistic expressions. The primary difference between
these two communities is the focused attention to teaching and learning, exemplified by
the critique protocols designed and facilitated by art teachers and the commitment to
specific norms that inspire and foster a PLC or professional learning community. Art
teachers would set up student communities for the purpose of critiquing artworks and the
creative process. Art teachers could network and invite various communities to engage
and exchange feedback. For instance, an art teacher in New Hampshire, with a class of 30
students, could collaborate with an art teacher in Australia, also with a class of students,
and each class of students could contribute their artwork to a community gallery or
exhibit page. The art teachers would then guide the students on how to engage in a

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

critique and giving constructive feedback to their online BFF (Buddies of Feedback
Forum). Another opportunity and extension to this concept would be for professional
artists to connect with students who work in similar media, styles and subject matter, to
provide invaluable perspective, feedback and mentorship.
The second exemplar is for college or graduate students who are engaged in a
student-teaching program. Before a practicing teacher could post a video for curated
feedback, he or she would have to participate as a feedback provider to at least 5 other
videos so that they would get a deeper understanding of how the Forum works. This
would give them a sense of the type of guided inquiry questions to ask for in their own
video. Then, the student-teacher would upload a short video of their work in the
classroom complete with inquiry questions for the reviewers.

The Plan, Purpose and Research on Feedback

The basis of our plan is grounded in the model and framework of TPACK
Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). The
concept of the Feedback Forum aligns smoothly with the TPACK model for several
reasons. The first reason is that we are interested in designing a new epistemology that
draws in multiple points of view for the process of giving and receiving feedback. The
second reason is that the TPACK model is based on the integration of three primary
sources of knowledge: content, pedagogy and technology. We believe that understanding
the relationship between technology and teaching can transform the conceptualization
and the practice of teacher education, teacher training, and teachers professional
development (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), which is a primary intention and one of many
examples of how the Feedback Forum can be applied. Lastly, the TPACK framework

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

and model will serve to authentically engage and undoubtedly support teachers and
students to be better reflective practitioners, as they will not only know how to use
various technologies, they will learn [through] and how to teach with the technologies
(Mishra & Koehler, 2006).
The Feedback Forum is also a prime example of a sound learning theory and
practice because it embodies the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and
is open and responsive to the diverse and multicultural needs of individuals using this
framework and technological platform. The very nature of Feedback Forum being a place
where users generate the content and generate the inquiry questions by which their work
will be collaboratively reviewed, is based upon Universal Design for Learning as the
learners are empowered through the individual and collective interactions with the online
learning community. Like Facebook, the Feedback forum will have translate buttons for
students who need to see the text in a different language, and closed captioning options
for the hearing impaired. Individualized learning and meaning-making are achieved
through the innovative delivery and norm-guided communication. The Feedback Forum
web-based learning management system will have mechanism for feedback on design, so
that the Feedback Forum platform will constantly be improving to provide new ways for
accessibility and equity for all participants.
Just as considering Universal Design for Learning is critical for the equity of all
participants in Feedback Forum, so to is acknowledging the research on receiving
feedback. Myung & Martinez (2013) found through their research that teachers often feel
threatened by evaluation and feedback provided by their principals or other
administrators. This threat-perception is validated by a broad body of research from the

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

10

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

field of psychology that provides a theory of a biological process, called the
biopsychosocial model of responses to threat or challenge, and can be at play when a
teacher receives feedback (Myung & Martinez, 2013). Myung & Martinezs research
indicates that if a teacher perceives feedback as threatening, then the teacher will
experience an entire cascade of fight or flight responses in their body such as an elevated
heart rate and the release of stress hormones which debilitates ones cognitive prowess
and enhances ones musculature to take on the threatening situation. This is terribly
counterproductive for the purposes of supporting teacher learning, and every effort
should be made to ensure that teachers do not feel threatened by the experience of
receiving feedback. On the other hand, Myung & Martinez also point to another potential
biopsychosocial response, and that is the response to perceived challenge. When the
teacher perceives the feedback as challenging- but not threatening- then the teacher is
similarly amped as when threatened, but instead of having a blocking of hearing
perception and a narrowing of vision, a teachers mind remains flexible and open to
changes or alternatives, allowing space for creativity or thoughtfulness (Myung &
Martinez, 2013). With respect to these research findings that perceived threat stands in
the way of positive and productive implementation of feedback, Feedback Forum is
designed with protocols and norms to leverage the best possible structures to yield not
only supportive and constructive feedback, but also prime our seekers of feedback to
receive the constructive responses well, so that the responsive offerings can truly be used
to generate improved teaching practice. To that end, as part of the video-submission
process, a video-submitting teacher would (1) choose the 1-5 minute clip to post, (2) preevaluate his or her submission and post that self-evaluation for the reviewers to see, (3)

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

11

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

provide an inquiry question or prompt for the feedback providers so that they can view
the submission focused on the area of interest that the feedback seeker wants. This sets up
the posting artist or teacher with some protective boundaries. The norms of the forum
would also guide the responders to structure their feedback according to an established
protocol.
In terms of the form of feedback, to make it as personal as possible and to avoid
mis-readings of tone from text, the responses would be in a video format. So the
respondent would use a video technology, such as a video message, or an audio
messaging technology such as VoiceThread, and give feedback in such a manner. This
breaks through some of the disconnecting layers of online community, and brings more
humanity to the feedback conversation. This increased level of exposure for the
respondent primes the Buddy on Feedback Forum (BFF) to communicate wholeheartedly, a term Bren Brown coined in her 2012 book Daring Greatly. By responding
with a video message, the responder analogously strips away some of the protection
provided by Internet space, time, and visual barriers. As the BFF responds sincerely and
vulnerably, in accordance to the established supportive protocol, the communication
between the BFF and feedback receiver is put on a more level playing field, as the seeker
of feedback has already put themselves out there vulnerably by posting their submission
for community feedback. By virtue of responding in video or audio form, the BFF is
primed to respond with greater empathy, as they are sharing a bit of themselves back with
the feedback recipient.
This entire endeavor, creating a community for people to provide feedback to one
another, either on their artwork or their teaching practice, is built upon the premise that

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

12

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

people are willing to engage in vulnerability for the potentially rich and rewarding payoff
of deeper learning, improved virtuosity, and personal transformation. Bren Brown
(2012) defines vulnerability as uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure (p.34), she
continues, to put our art, our writing, our photography, our ideas out into the world with
no assurance of acceptance or appreciation- thats also vulnerability (p.34). Brown also
warns that vulnerability without boundaries leads to disconnection, distrust, and
disengagement (p.46). Given the inherent risk that submitting teachers and artists take in
posting their work vulnerably in order to receive feedback, the structured protocols and
norms provide the artist or submitting teacher with structured boundaries- such as the
What Im asking for section. Also, the feedback will have the option to be curated by a
supervising teacher for each class, so if there are any off-the wall or hurtful responses,
they will not make it into the feedback section of the persons page. All norms and
protocols will be open and responsive to further community feedback as need for
continual improvement may be necessary, and unforeseen circumstances may arise that
require adaptation.

The Transformative Nature of the Project

Feedback Forum is a project that is truly transformative because it is reflective of
the principles of educative experiences first championed by John Dewey (1938). As in
the case of our first previously introduced exemplar, the high school art class, Feedback
Forum is used as a tool for their critiquing process. Feedback Forum transforms the way
students give and receive constructive criticism and feedback from peers and
professionals regarding their individual artwork and creative process. This exploration

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

13

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

done through and with the technology of Feedback Forum can expand the opportunity for
acquiring diverse and extensive types of responses from individuals around the
world. As a result, this opens the door for unique networking and mentoring
opportunities that revolutionize an individuals capacity for growth as they are
connecting and sharing in the exchange of ideas, pointers and strategies. This type of
experience is a coalescence of traditional art critique groups and the modern effects of
collective learning from online gaming.
In the previously introduced student-teaching exemplar case, Feedback Forum is a
transformative professional development tool for educators in training. Feedback Forum
employs four common characteristics for strategic professional development. As Alvin
Crawford, the CEO of Knowledge Delivery Systems, and an expert in professional
development, suggests high quality professional development must be focused, provide
opportunities for collegial learning, be continuous, sustained and intensive, and also give
professionals the chance to analyze and optimize their work. (Crawford,
2015). Participants engaged with the feedback forum will not only be focused on
acquiring new skills, they will also work in a virtual learning community that shares ideas
and best practices for teaching and learning. In both of these examples, the high school
art students, and the student-teachers, Feedback Forum allows for individuals to generate
personal inquiry, observe information, respond to observations, and acquire multiple
perspectives to transform themselves, their understandings and their specific learning.
Conclusion
Feedback Forum grew out of our desire to use technology to innovate and
transform teaching and learning practices within the K-12 and higher education spheres.
By applying the content knowledge gleaned from the Lesley University course, EAGRS

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

14

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

7121: Technology for Innovation and Transformation, and melding it with our practical
experience as educators responsible for providing feedback, we conceptualized a webbased learning management system for learners to maximize the benefits of feedback,
while minimizing the potential drawbacks and unintentional discouragements often
experienced by those receiving feedback.
Feedback Forum has the potential and power to challenge the norms of
communicating constructive feedback. Feedback Forum improves and enhances the
sensitive process of giving feedback. The primary benefits of being a participant and
BFF on Feedback Forum are the forming of networked connections, engaging in
authentic learning, and experiencing personal transformation and growth. Finally,
Feedback Forum serves as a nurturing learning community, and innovative technological
tool that provides opportunities for receiving constructive feedback that is timely,
relevant, and empowering, all in the service of supporting ones learning and education.

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

15

RUNNING HEAD: Feedback forum

References
Brown, B. (2012). Daring Greatly: How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way
we live, love, parent, and lead. New York, NY: Gotham Books, A Division of Penguin
Group, Inc. USA.
Brown, J. S. The Global One Room Schoolhouse. [video file]. Retrieved from
https://youtu.be/fiGabUBQEnM
Connected learning: Interests, peer culture, academics. [video file]. DML Research Hub.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFdzz26g-EE&feature=youtu.be
Crawford, A. (2015). 4 characteristics of transformative professional development.
Retrieved from http://gettingsmart.com/2015/09/4-characteristics-of-transformativeprofessional-development/
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. New York, NY. Touchstone
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A
framework for teacher knowledge. The Teachers College Record, 108(6)
Myung, J., & Martinez, K. (2013). Strategies for enhancing the impact of postobservation feedback for teachers. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching, Stanford, CA.
Bibliography
Cornell Center for Teaching Excellence. (2013, October 3). Michael Wesch: The End of
Wonder in the Age of Whatever. [Video file - 1:02:06].
Fight or flight response. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-orflight_response
Lemke, C. Chapter 11 in Bellanca, J., & Brandt, R. (Eds.). (2010). 21st century skills:
Rethinking how students learn. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
Lemke, C. (2013). Intelligent Adaptive Learning. In Dreambox Learning.
MacArthur Foundation. (2014). Leading thinkers: Digital media and learning. [iBook or
Kindle version]
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the
imagination for a world of constant change (Vol. 219). Lexington, KY: CreateSpace.
UDL at a glance. [video file]. CAST.org. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/ourwork/about-udl.html#.Vi09F2RViko

Griffiths & Strickland, 2015

16