eLearning: How to give and receive feedback

Feedback in learning is essential for the most effective and constructive approach to the long-term embedment of new information. However, it can often be a challenge to give employees and students, negative feedback.

If not dealt with carefully, feedback can sometimes be misconstrued and people can feel personally attacked even if there was no intention to. Ample attention must be paid to the way feedback is communicated, despite being positive or negative.

In this article, we will discuss five top tips on how to give and receive feedback in the eLearning sphere.

GIVING

1. Ensure Feedback Is Constructive

Providing constructive feedback to learners is essential for their personal and professional development. If learners sense that feedback provided is attack-like, they will be less inclined to improve their performance and may take personal offence.

2. Make Suggestions on Skills or Behaviours Which Can Be Changed

When making suggestions to alter the skills or behaviors of employees, ensure these mannerisms are able to be changed, otherwise it may result in employees, again, taking personal offence to the comment and withdrawing themselves in the workplace.

3. Provide Positives With Any Negatives

Negative feedback must always be coupled with some positive feedback to go with it. This simultaneously boosts the confidence of learners, as well as providing them with areas in which they can improve their performance.

RECEIVING

1. Interactive Quizzes

Feedback can be gained from employees through the provision of interactive quizzes. When tasks are interactive and game-like, learners are more likely to be honest in their responses, sharing more important information for the benefit of both parties.

2. Encourage Learner Participation

Learner participation can be encouraged in various ways, including by incentivising employees. This can be achieved through the sharing of rewards and recognition. When employees feel valued by an organization, they are more likely to work harder and achieve greater results in the workplace.

3. Provide Incentives To Provide Feedback

Incentives can include real prizes or verbal encouragement, instilling a sense of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the minds of employees. Gaining learner feedback on the effectiveness and worthwhileness of training modules is the most important aspect of designing and curating the perfect learning strategy.